The history of Europe's greatest royal houses is fascinating and amazing. And it is surprising, first of all, with the intricacies of the fate of persons and states, intrigues and secrets. And the life of Isabella of Valois, Queen of England, is no exception.
Capetians and Valois: the beginning of a new dynasty
When the last of the heirs of Philip IV the Handsome died, the Capetian family ceased. The French throne was torn by the grandson of Philip the Handsome Edward III - the son of the daughter of Philip the Handsome and the English king Edward II. However, the French, who did not want to see an Englishman on their throne, elected the nephew of Philip IV of Capet Philip of Valois to the throne. Including because of this, a war broke out between France and England, which lasted a hundred years and was called the Hundred Years.
Origin story
Isabella was born in France, in the Louvre, on November 9, 1387 (according to some sources - 1389) and was the second child in the family of the French king Charles VI the Mad and his wife IsabellaBavarian. The years of the life of Isabella Valois fell on the difficult period of the Hundred Years War. She had an older brother and sister, but they died in infancy.
The father of Princess Isabella of France, Charles VI, was not in power for long, as a severe mental illness drove him into a state of insanity during several years of reign in the conditions of the most severe internecine wars. In fact, Isabella of Bavaria and his cousin Louis of Orleans ruled France during his lifetime.
Young Princess Isabella of Valois was pretty, smart and charming. Her mother instilled in her refined manners. Since there were no claims about her pure origin, it was Isabella who was chosen to be the wife of the King of England.
Queen of England
At the age of nine, Isabella of France was married to Richard II and lived with him in marriage until his mysterious death in 1400. At the time, Richard was 29 years old and his second marriage to Isabella.
The coronation of Isabella of Valois as Queen of the English state took place on January 8, 1397 at Windsor Castle, where she then lived. The wedding was played a few months earlier (in October or November) in Calais. The meeting of the spouses was attended by 400 knights from each side. The newlyweds arrived at the meeting accompanied by their uncles.
The bride was given a considerable dowry - 800 thousand francs in gold, although 120 thousand were promised. The marriage was concluded for important political reasons, beneficial to both powers: forextension of the truce in the Hundred Years War. However, the newlyweds had mutual genuine sympathy. Perhaps Richard also had paternal feelings for the young queen.
In 1399, Isabella moved from Windsor to Wallingford, and her husband was away from his young wife - at war with Ireland.
In the same year, Heinrich Bolingbroke arranged a conspiracy, during which Richard was lured to his homeland, where he was captured, deposed and imprisoned in the dungeons of the Tower. Isabella managed to escape, but was then arrested and exiled to the village of Sonning as queen dowager - by that time her husband had already died. Isabella Valois was stripped of all her jewelry, stripped of her French entourage, and kept under lock and key.
The new king, Henry IV, or rather, the same Lord Bolingbroke, refused to return her to France, hoping to marry his son, but having been refused on the terms of leaving a dowry in the English treasury, he nevertheless let her go to her homeland, to France.
Return and finale
Some time after returning to France, Isabella married her cousin Charles of Orleans, a military commander and one of the greatest poets of France, who shortly before that had lost his father, who was allegedly killed on the orders of a political rival of the Duke of Burgundy.
It should be noted that the family of the Duke of Orleans, during and after the death of Charles VI, claimed the royal throne in the same way as the family of the Dukes of Burgundy. Both those and others were looking for an ally in the English king. However, their aspirations were not destined to come true, as the young Dauphin Charles, son of Charles VI and brother of Isabella, ascended the throne after long attempts.
They had a daughter, Joan, after which Isabella of England died in 1409. At that time she was only 21 years old. The widower did not long mourn the death of his young wife and soon remarried. And this marriage was not the last. And Jeanne, who inherited Navarre, was also successfully married - to Jean V de Valois, Duke of Alencon, a member of the Royal Council of France, a major military leader during the Hundred Years War.
