Isabel, the only surviving daughter of King Philip IV of France and his wife Juana I, Queen of Navarre, came to England at the age of twelve to marry King Edward II. Such a beautiful and honorable princess finally killed her husband in a cruel way, which is lamentable. In literature, Isabelle has always been known as the "Snake and Scorpion Beauty", usually portrayed as a beautiful, but cruel, manipulative woman.
Isabel was born into the Capetian family, which ruled the most powerful kingdom in Europe. Not only Isabel, but also her father and brothers were considered very beautiful by their contemporaries. His father, King Philippe, was a strangely cold man, and the bishop of Pamier, Bernard Sassette, said of him: "He is neither a man nor a beast. He is a statue". He consolidated the concentration of royal power in the country and became obsessed with wealth and land. But throughout his reign, his projects often ran out of money. When Isabelle was ten years old, Queen Juana died, supposedly poisoned by her husband, King Philip.
Isabel grew up in the Louvre and the Cité de la Cité and was raised by her nanny, Theophania de Saint Pierre. She received a good education, learned to read, and developed an interest in books that she maintained throughout her life.
Despite being a woman, Isabella showed extraordinary talent at a young age. Someone once commented that of Philip IV's four children, the most suitable king was Princess Isabella. She was well educated from an early age, had a strong and determined personality, and was a fairly courageous woman, so much so that in her later years she was called the "French she-wolf". Like her beauty, her political and diplomatic prowess has attracted attention, especially in terms of persuasion and provocation.
As was customary, Philip's children married early for political reasons. As early as 1298, during the Franco-English armistice negotiations, Isabel, who was only two years old at the time, was promised to the heir of King Edward I of England, with the intention of settling the contradictions between France and England and the dispute over land.
An unforgettable grand wedding took place on 25 January 1308 in Boulogne-sur-Mer. At this time, Isabel was probably only 12 years old, and Jeffrey of Paris described her as "the beauty of the kingdom, if not the beauty of all of Europe." ”
On 25 February 1308, Edward II and Isabella held a coronation ceremony in Westminster, but her self-esteem was humiliated by Edward II's favorite, Pierce Gaviston. The coat of arms used in the coronation ceremony is not the coat of arms of Isabella and Edward II, but the coat of arms of Gaveston and Edward II. Pierce held the crown of Edward II, dressed in a magnificent outfit, and walked at the front of the line like the god of war, which made the French tour group, Isabella's brother Charles (i.e., King Charles IV) angry and angry. Edward II also transferred gifts from Isabella's uncle and part of the queen's dowry to Gaveston, much to the humiliation of the young Isabella.
Edward II had a penchant for breaking sleeves, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested in women. However, he was very fond of the sons and sons of Gaveston and Huuds Penther, knights of Gascon, and Edward II once said that Gaviston was like his brother.
Edward II was not an ambitious monarch who was simply unwilling to run the mighty state. Thus, power fell into the hands of Edward II's lover, Pierce Gaverston. Edward II later granted the Earldom of Cornwall to Gaverston, which caused resentment among the nobility.
In the spring of 1312, when Isabella became pregnant for the first time, and Edward traveled to Yorkshire in northern England, Gaveston fled to Cabler Castle for refuge, and the Counts and nobles of Lancaster prepared to remove the scourge. Led by the Earl of Lancaster, they executed Gaveston, tried him in Warwick and cut off Gaviston's head.
After Gaviston's death, Edward II began to pamper the Huuders Penthers and sons and gave them Territory of Wales, which the nobles could not tolerate. By this time, the conflict between Edward and the domestic barons had reached a tipping point.
Isabella realized that her husband was a brave man, and as queen of England, she had to negotiate between the king and the nobles. In the end, she persuaded her husband to exile Hughes Penther, avoid civil war in the kingdom, and won a short truce.
In 1324, King Charles IV of France (Isabel's brother) had been threatening to take away the Gascony region, and a crisis broke out between England and France. The Gasconier region was in the southwest of France, and during the reign of King Edward I of England, war was declared around the Gasconian region, and England's trade was important to the Gascony region. Edward II announced the arrest of the French in England, declaring them allies of the enemy. Hughes Penther took the opportunity to rob Isabella of her property, and Edward II gave the queen poor treatment and detained his wife's French attendants and servants to separate her from the children, which caused Isabella to turn from loyalty to Edward II into hatred.
Isabella left England on 9 March 1325, and she managed to make a deal with her brother Charles (King Charles IV). But Edward II was reluctant to bow to Charles, so Isabella offered to have her 12-year-old son sign an agreement with France as a sign of respect for King Charles IV. After the agreement was signed, Edward wrote to his wife and son to return home, but Isabella was reluctant to return to the dangerous country, with a son in her hands to fight against her husband's tyranny. The following is the original text of Isabella's political declaration at the French court about her refusal to return to England: "I feel that marriage is a close connection between a man and a woman, and that there is a happy union between husband and wife, and that someone is crowding between me and my husband to destroy this relationship, and I will abandon the attire of my wife and put on the black robe of a widow mourning her dead husband, and I will never return to my country unless I have a great vendetta, unless this person disappears."
At the end of 1325, the Queen committed what seemed unforgivable at the time, forming a political alliance with roger Mortimer, the king's political enemy, and by the way, an alliance of life. Roger Mortimer was one of the nobles who rebelled against Edward II, and after the failed rebellion fled to France, where he was sheltered by King Charles IV. Isabella became lovers with him, and according to medieval law, the queen's derailment was morally disloyal and treasonous.
In February 1326, Edward II learned of his wife's infidelity and was furious and demanded that King Charles IV send Isabella back to England and severely punish Mortimer. King Charles IV stated that he would not expel Isabella. Edward II wrote to Pope John XXII of Rome, hoping that the Pope would put pressure on Charles IV. The Pope threatened Charles with expulsion of Isabella, but Charles complied, and Isabella resented.
Subsequently, Isabella arranged for Edward III to be engaged to Philippa, daughter of William, Count of Heno, thus receiving troops and warships, and King Charles IV of France also funded her a sum of money. In 1326, when Edward II's reputational approval reached its lowest point, Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer led a hundred warships to England to crusade against her husband in the name of her son. Edward's power collapsed, and he fled to Wales and was captured. Hugh Despenser was castrated and later hanged.
In January 1327 Isabella deposed her husband and installed her son Edward III as king. Edward II was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire after his dethronement, where he was later executed. After Edward's death, the cause of his death was kept secret. There is a saying that Edward II was burned to death by inserting a red-hot soldering iron into the anus and burning it from the inside.