Isabella was born into the world of nobility as the daughter of the Count of Angoulême (a region in the medieval kingdom of Aquitaine in southwest France). She had originally been betrothed to some other important French count until King John of England came a’callin’. Isabella was sent to England to marry King John at the tender age of 12, much to the chagrin of the King of France (Philip II). Isabella of Angoulême was actually King John’s second wife, his first being Isabel of Gloucester (which was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity which means, as second cousins, they were too close ancestrally to be married. The Pope only agreed to the union provided the couple never engage in sexual relations). Um, ok, so we understand that annulment. Well, John, who was now King, hit the jackpot when he snagged Isabella of Angoulême out of France. She was already well-known for her great beauty and John was apparently whipped. Isabella was also quite fertile and produced five children in all with King John (her first son would later become King Henry III of England). Her reign as queen consort was a turbulent one; under King John, England lost its duchy of Normandy and there were on-going squabbles with the English nobles, the French and the Pope. In the end, John was forced to sign the Magna Carta limiting the powers of the monarchy. He died shortly thereafter of dysentery in 1216. Queen consort Isabella, then about 28 years old, first secured the throne for her nine-year-old son Henry, established his regency, and then returned to France to tend to her own inheritance. She remarried a French count and produced another nine children, remaining in France. Her position as Countess in France wasn’t as high-flying as Queen dowager of England which bothered the vain Isabella (especially after being publically snubbed by the Queen dowager of France, mother to the then King Louis IX’s mother). Deeply insulted, Isabella embarked upon revenge, going as far as amassing other disgruntled French nobles and attempting to take out Louis IX. This plan was ultimately botched, and Isabella escaped to England where she was hidden in an Abbey until her death. Disgraced, her nine children in France jumped the channel to England where they mingled with their other half-siblings in the court of Henry III.
