Queen Isabella

Also known as: Isabella / Isabella, Queen of England / the queen · Family: England · Role: Queen of England; daughter of Philip · First appears: Book 1, Chapter 1

In Book 1, Chapter 1, Isabella is described as the daughter of Philip, King of France, surnamed the Fair and sister to Lewis, Philip the Great and Charles (son of Philip the Fair). After Charles (son of Philip the Fair) died, the French peers bypassed Isabella and her son in favor of Philip of Valois. In Chapter 2, a quarrel with King Edward the Second led him to refuse to see her; that night she secretly left for France with their son Edward, the Earl of Kent and Sir Roger Mortimer.

At Boulogne and then Paris in Chapter 3, Isabella sought help from her brother King Charles, telling him of the injuries she said Sir Hugh Spencer had done her. King Charles promised to provide a remedy and arranged apartments and provisions for her and Edward. In Chapter 4, the Pope ordered that she be sent back to her husband, and King Charles commanded her to leave France. Warned by her cousin Robert of Artois that she was in peril, Isabella left Paris in Chapter 5 with Edward and her company, traveling to Hainault.

There she accepted Sir John de Hainault’s offer to gather an armed force, promising that she and her son would put England under his management. She was received at Valenciennes by William, Earl of Hainault and Joan of Valois. By Chapter 8, with Sir John de Hainault and his companions’ aid, Isabella had recovered her kingdom; Sir Hugh Spencer and the king were brought back as prisoners and delivered to her and her son.