Isabella of France, Queen of Navarre

For other people named Isabella of France, see Isabella of France (disambiguation).

Isabella of France
Queen consort of Navarre Countess consort of Champagne
Tenure	1258–1270
Spouse	Theobald II of Navarre
House	House of Capet House of Champagne
Father	Louis IX of France
Mother	Margaret of Provence
Born	2 March 1241
Died	17 April 1271 (aged 30) Provence
Burial	Provins, France

Isabella of France (2 March 1241 – 17 April 1271) was a daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence. She was married to Theobald II of Navarre, eldest son of Theobald I of Navarre and Margaret of Navarre on 6 April 1255. Isabelle became Queen consort of Navarre.

Family

Isabella was the second of eleven children and the eldest surviving child on the death of her sister Blanche in 1243. Of the eleven siblings, eight of them lived to adulthood. Isabella's brother was Philip III of France, who succeeded their father in 1270. Isabella's sisters included Blanche, Princess of Castile, Margaret, Duchess of Brabant and Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy.

Isabella's paternal grandparents were Louis VIII of France and his wife Blanche of Castile, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. Isabella's maternal grandparents were Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy. Eleanor of Provence was Isabella's aunt, this made her cousin of Edward I of England.

Life

Louis IX wanted to make peace with Navarre so he married Isabella off to Theobald. Some written parental directives of Louis IX for his daughter survive, an unusual feature since the preparation of royal ladies for marriage was usually entrusted to their mothers, not their fathers. The Archbishop of Rouen celebrated the marriage between Isabella and Theobald II, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne, on 6 April 1255 in Melun. The bridegroom was 18 and the bride 13 years old. They are usually said to have remained childless, but a contemporary Spanish chronicle states that Isabella and Theobald produced and lost a child around 1258, and a rather later Spanish chronicler says that Isabella died in 1271, shortly after Theobald's death, "siendo prenada," presumably meaning that she died in childbirth. Contemporary reports of the couple's extreme modesty had it that they refused to disrobe completely when retiring for the night, and that as she lay dying, Isabella ordered her attendants to see that her corpse was well shrouded so that nothing of it should become visible when it was boiled to remove the flesh from her bones. It seems likely, however, that the couple did not have a chaste or "white" marriage.

Isabella receiving a messenger from her father

Together with her husband and her father, the very pious Isabella travelled to the Seventh Crusade in July 1270. Her father died there in August of the same year. Then, in December, Isabella's husband died of an epidemic while in Sicily. After the deaths of both her father and husband, Isabella returned to France and lived in Provence until her death only two months later in 1271.

Isabella is buried next to her husband in Provins.

Ancestors

French Monarchy
Direct Capetians
Louis IX
Isabella, Queen of Navarre
Louis of France
Philip III
John Tristan, Count of Valois
Peter, Count of Perche and Alençon
Blanche, Infanta of Castile
Marguerite, Duchess of Brabant
Robert, Count of Clermont
Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy

External links

• Marek, Miroslav. "House of Capet". Genealogy.EU. 

See also

• List of Navarrese royal consorts
• French monarchs family tree

Isabella of France, Queen of Navarre Capetian Dynasty Born: 2 March 1241 Died: 17 April 1271
Royal titles
Preceded by Margaret of Bourbon	Queen consort of Navarre Countess consort of Champagne 1258–1270	Succeeded by Blanche of Artois