Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis, 90, 2012, p. 493-512 Isabella of France, Queen of England. A Postscript
Sophia MENACHE
University of Haifa
Medieval queens have attracted much attention in recent years, as clearly reflected in the rich literature on the subject (1). It has become rather clear that though queens often played a political role, their image was shaped, at least in part, by gender expectations (2). The queen’s main functions included producing heirs, mediating quarrels, and tempering royal justice with mercy. Isabella of France – queen consort of England between 1308 and 1327 and ruler de facto, as her son’s regent, from 1327 to 1330 – presents in this regard a real challenge that has not yet received satisfactory answers in research. The only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and, as such, a foreigner in the Kingdom of England, Isabella led the opposition to her husband, Edward
II, which brought about the king’s deposition and eventually his murder. Furthermore, in contrast to the pious image of other medieval queens (3),
Isabella not only deposed her husband but afterwards lived blatantly with her paramour and main political partner, Roger Mortimer. During the first stages of her stay in England, which coincided with the turbulent years of Edward II’s reign, Isabella had enjoyed wide support among the English nobility, both ecclesiastical and secular. Her popularity is faithfully reflected in the narrative sources, despite the monastic identity of most authors. Yet, her standing noticeably deteriorated between 1327 and 1330, the years she became ruler of England in actual practice. This paper elucidates the most important stages in Isabella’s political career while focusing on the different, sometimes conflicting aspects of her character and, no less important, the dissonances that have characterized her image up to the present time. These aims dictate reliance on medieval chronicles, which offer the most faithful perspective of Isabella’s image in the eyes of her contemporaries.
(1) John Carmi PARSONS, “ Family, Sex, and Power : The Rhythms of Medieval Queenship”, in ID., ed., Medieval Queenship, New York, St. Martin Press, 1993, p. 1-11 ; Louise Olga FRADENBURG, “ Introduction : Rethinking Queenship”, in EAD., ed., Women and Sovereignty, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1992, p. 1-13. (2) Though focusing on a later period, see, also, Marilyn YALOM, Birth of the Chess Queen. A History, New York, Harper Collins Publishers, 2004, passim.
(3) Miriam SHADIS, “ Blanche of Castille and Facinger’s Medieval Queenship : A Reassessing”, in Kathleen NOLAN, ed., Capetian Women, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, p. 137-161. See also Sean GILSDORF, Queenship and Sanctity. The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid, Washington, D. C., Catholic University of America Press, 2004, passim.
