Editing Isabella of France (section)

== Invasion of England ==
By 1325, Isabella was facing increasing pressure from Hugh Despenser the Younger, Edward's new royal favourite. With her lands in England seized, her children taken away from her and her household staff arrested, Isabella began to pursue other options. When her brother, King Charles IV of France, seized Edward's French possessions in 1325, she returned to France, initially as a delegate of the King charged with negotiating a peace treaty between the two nations. However, her presence in France became a focal point for the many nobles opposed to Edward's reign. Isabella gathered an army to oppose Edward, in alliance with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, whom she may have taken as a lover. Isabella and Mortimer returned to England with a mercenary army, seizing the country in a lightning campaign. The Despensers were executed and Edward was forced to abdicate — his eventual fate and possible murder remains a matter of considerable historical debate. Isabella ruled as regent until 1330 when her son Edward deposed Mortimer and began to rule directly in his own right.{{sfn|Castor|2011|pp=312–313}}

=== Tensions in Gascony, 1323–1325 ===
[[File:Isabela Karel Eda.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|An early 15th-century [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature]] showing the future [[Edward III]] as a boy, giving homage to [[Charles IV of France]] at centre right, under the guidance of Edward's mother, and Charles' sister, Isabella, in September 1325<ref>Ainsworth, p. 3.</ref>]]

Isabella's husband Edward, as the [[Duke of Aquitaine]], owed [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] to the King of France for his lands in [[Gascony]].<ref name=HolmesP16>Holmes, p. 16.</ref> Isabella's three brothers each had only short reigns, and Edward had successfully avoided paying homage to Louis X, and had paid homage to Philip V only under great pressure. Once Charles IV took up the throne, Edward had attempted to avoid doing so again, increasing tensions between the two.<ref name=HolmesP16/> One of the elements in the disputes was the border province of [[Agenais]], part of Gascony and in turn part of Aquitaine. Tensions rose in November 1323 after the construction of a [[bastide]], a type of fortified town, in [[Saint-Sardos, Lot-et-Garonne|Saint-Sardos]], part of the Agenais, by a French vassal.<ref>Neillands, p. 30.</ref> Gascon forces destroyed the bastide, and in turn Charles attacked the English-held [[Montpezat, Lot-et-Garonne|Montpezat]]. The assault was unsuccessful,<ref>Neillands, p. 31.</ref> but in the subsequent [[War of Saint-Sardos]], Isabella's uncle, [[Charles, Count of Valois|Charles of Valois]], successfully wrested Aquitaine from English control.<ref>Holmes, p. 16; Kibler, p. 201.</ref> By 1324, Charles declared Edward's lands forfeit and occupied the entirety of Aquitaine apart from the coastal areas.<ref>Kibler, p. 314.</ref>

Edward was still unwilling to travel to France to give homage due to England's precarious condition. Criminal gangs were occupying most of the country and there had been an assassination plot against Edward and Hugh Despenser in 1324, with the famous magician [[John of Nottingham]] being hired to kill the pair using [[necromancy]].<ref>Doherty, pp. 80–1.</ref> Edward was deeply concerned that, should he leave England, even for a short while, the barons would take the chance to rise up and take their revenge on the Despensers. Charles sent a message through [[Pope John XXII]] to Edward, suggesting that he was willing to reverse the forfeiture of the lands if Edward ceded the Agenais and paid homage for the rest of the lands.<ref>Sumption, p. 97.</ref> The Pope proposed Isabella as an ambassador, and Isabella saw this as a perfect opportunity to resolve her situation with Edward and the Despensers.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

Having promised to return to England by the summer, Isabella reached Paris in March 1325 and rapidly agreed to a truce in Gascony, under which Prince Edward, then thirteen years old, would come to France to give homage on his father's behalf.<ref name=DohertyP81>Doherty, p. 81.</ref> Prince Edward arrived in France, and gave homage in September. At this point, however, rather than returning, Isabella remained firmly in France with her son. Edward began to send urgent messages to the Pope and to Charles IV, expressing his concern about his wife's absence, but to no avail.<ref name=DohertyP81/> Edward instructed Isabella to come home in September, but she expressed concern the young Despenser would try to kill her upon her arrival, or the Earl of Richmond.<ref name=Parsons/> She also feared her own husband might attempt to have her killed.<ref name=Parsons/> For his part, Charles replied that the, "queen has come of her own will and may freely return if she wishes. But if she prefers to remain here, she is my sister and I refuse to expel her." Charles went on to refuse to return the lands in Aquitaine to Edward, resulting in a provisional agreement under which Edward resumed administration of the remaining English territories in early 1326 whilst France continued to occupy the rest.<ref>Kibler, p. 314; Sumption, p. 98.</ref>

Meanwhile, the messages brought back by Edward's agent [[Walter de Stapledon]], [[Bishop of Exeter]] and others portrayed a steadily worsening situation. They wrote that Isabella had publicly snubbed Stapledon; Edward's political enemies were gathering at the French court and threatening his emissaries; and that Isabella was dressed as a widow, claiming that Hugh Despenser had destroyed her marriage with Edward. Additionally, Isabella surrounded herself with mostly exiles, including [[Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent|Edmund of Kent]], [[John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond]],<ref name="DohertyP81" /> and her rumored lover Roger Mortimer.<ref name=Parsons/>

=== Roger Mortimer, 1325–1326 ===
[[File:Retour d Isabelle de France en Angleterre.jpg|thumb|Isabella landing in England with her son, the future [[Edward III]] in 1326]]

Roger Mortimer was a powerful Marcher lord, married to the wealthy heiress [[Joan de Geneville]], and the father of twelve children. Mortimer had been imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 following his capture by Edward during the Despenser wars. Mortimer's uncle, Roger Mortimer de Chirk finally died in prison, but Mortimer managed to escape the Tower in August 1323: making a hole in the stone wall of his cell and then escaping onto the roof, before using rope ladders provided by an accomplice to get down to the [[River Thames]]. He then crossed the river and eventually made it to safety in France.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 153.</ref> Victorian writers suggested that, given later events, Isabella might have helped Mortimer escape. Additionally, some historians continue to argue that their relationship had already begun at this point, although most believe that there is no hard evidence for their having had a substantial relationship before meeting in Paris.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 154; see Mortimer, 2004 pp. 128–9 for the alternative perspective.</ref>

Isabella was reintroduced to Mortimer in Paris by her cousin, [[Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainaut|Joan, Countess of Hainault]], who appears to have approached Isabella suggesting a marital alliance between their two families, marrying Prince Edward to Joan's daughter, [[Philippa of Hainault|Philippa]].<ref>Weir 2006, p. 194.</ref> Mortimer and Isabella may have begun a physical relationship from December 1325 onwards. If so, both Isabella and Mortimer were taking a huge risk in doing so. Female infidelity was a very serious offence in medieval Europe, as shown during the Tour de Nesle Affair. Both of Isabella's former French sisters-in-law had died by 1326 as a result of their imprisonment for charges of adultery,<ref>A point born out by Mortimer, 2004, p. 140.</ref> and their alleged lovers had been brutally executed.<ref name="Weir_P100">Weir 2006, p.100.</ref> As a result, Isabella's motivation has been the subject of discussion by historians. Some believe that there was a strong sexual attraction between the two, that they shared an interest in the [[King Arthur|Arthurian legends]], and that they both enjoyed fine art and high living.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 197.</ref> One historian has described their relationship as one of the "great romances of the Middle Ages" in spite of the fact that they are reputed to have murdered her husband.<ref>Mortimer, 2004, p. 141.</ref> They also shared a common enemy: the regime of Edward II and the Despensers.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

Taking Prince Edward with them, Isabella and Mortimer left the French court in mid-1326 and travelled north to [[William I, Count of Hainaut]]. As Joan had suggested the previous year, Isabella betrothed Prince Edward to Philippa of Hainault, the daughter of the Count, in exchange for a substantial dowry.<ref>Kibler, p. 477.</ref> She then used this money, plus an earlier loan from Charles,<ref>Lord, p. 47.</ref> to raise a mercenary army, scouring [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] for men, which were added to a small force of Hainaut troops.<ref name=WeirP221>Weir 2006, p. 221.</ref> William also provided eight [[men-of-war]] ships and various smaller vessels as part of the marriage arrangements. Although Edward was now fearing an invasion, secrecy remained key, and Isabella convinced William to detain envoys from Edward.<ref name=WeirP221/> Isabella also appears to have made a secret agreement with the Scots for the duration of the forthcoming campaign.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 222.</ref> On 22 September, Isabella, Mortimer and their modest force set sail for England.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 223.</ref>

=== Seizure of power, 1326 ===
{{Main|Invasion of England (1326)|Parliament of 1327}}
[[File:Bristol1326.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Isabella (left, wearing crown) directing the [[Siege of Bristol (1326)|Siege of Bristol]] in October 1326]]

Having evaded Edward's fleet, which had been sent to intercept them,<ref name=DohertyP90>Doherty, p. 90.</ref> Isabella and Mortimer landed at [[River Orwell|Orwell]] on the east coast of England on 24 September with a small force; estimates of Isabella's army vary from between 300 and around 2,000 soldiers, with 1,500 being a popular middle figure.<ref>Mortimer, 2004, pp. 148–9.</ref> After a short period of confusion during which they attempted to work out where they had actually landed, Isabella moved quickly inland, dressed in her widow's clothes.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 225.</ref> The local levies mobilised to stop them immediately changed sides, and by the following day Isabella was in [[Bury St Edmunds]] and shortly afterwards had swept inland to [[Cambridge]].<ref name=DohertyP90/> [[Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk|Thomas, Earl of Norfolk]], joined Isabella's forces and [[Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster|Henry of Lancaster]] – the brother of the late Thomas, and Isabella's uncle – also announced he was joining Isabella's faction, marching south to join her.<ref name=DohertyP90/>

By the 27th, word of the invasion had reached the King and the Despensers in London.<ref name=DohertyP90/> Edward issued orders to local sheriffs to mobilise opposition to Isabella and Mortimer, but London itself was becoming unsafe because of local unrest and Edward made plans to leave.<ref name=DohertyP90/> Isabella struck west again, reaching Oxford on 2 October where she was "greeted as a saviour" – [[Adam Orleton]], the [[Bishop of Hereford]], emerged from hiding to give a lecture to the university on the evils of the Despensers.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 227.</ref> Edward fled London on the same day, heading west towards Wales.<ref>Doherty, p. 91.</ref> Isabella and Mortimer now had an effective alliance with the Lancastrian opposition to Edward, bringing all of his opponents into a single coalition.<ref>Doherty, p. 92</ref>

[[File:Isabella's invasion route (1326).svg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Isabella and [[Edward II of England|Edward]]'s [[Invasion of England (1326)|campaign in 1326]]<ref>From Weir 2006, chapter 8; Mortimer, 2006, chapter 2; and Myers's map of Medieval English transport systems, p. 270.</ref>]]

Isabella now marched south towards London, pausing at [[Dunstable]], outside the city on 7 October.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 228.</ref> London was now in the hands of the mobs, although broadly allied to Isabella. [[Walter de Stapledon|Bishop Stapledon]] failed to realise the extent to which royal power had collapsed in the capital, and tried to intervene militarily to protect his property against rioters; a hated figure locally, he was promptly attacked and killed — his head was later sent to Isabella by her local supporters.<ref>Weir 2006, pp. 228–9; p. 232.</ref> Edward, meanwhile, was still fleeing west, reaching [[Gloucester]] by 9 October. Isabella responded by marching swiftly west herself in an attempt to cut him off, reaching Gloucester a week after Edward, who slipped across the border into Wales the same day.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 232.</ref>

Hugh Despenser the Elder continued to hold [[Bristol]] against Isabella and Mortimer, who placed it under siege between 18–26 October; when it fell, Isabella was able to recover her daughters [[Eleanor of Woodstock|Eleanor]] and [[Joan of The Tower|Joan]], who had been kept in the Despensers' custody.<ref>Doherty, p. 92; Weir 2006, pp. 233–4.</ref> By now desperate and increasingly deserted by their court, Edward and Hugh Despenser the Younger attempted to sail to [[Lundy]], a small island in the [[Bristol Channel]], but the weather was against them and after several days they were forced to land back in Wales.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 233.</ref> With Bristol secure, Isabella moved her base of operations up to the border town of [[Hereford]], from where she ordered Henry of Lancaster to locate and arrest her husband.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 236.</ref> After a fortnight of evading Isabella's forces in South Wales, Edward and Hugh were finally caught and arrested near [[Llantrisant]] on 16 November.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

[[File:Isabela spol.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|left|[[Hugh Despenser the Younger]] and [[Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel|Edmund Fitzalan]] brought before Isabella for trial in 1326; the pair were gruesomely executed.]]

The retribution began immediately. Hugh Despenser the Elder had been captured at Bristol, and despite some attempts by Isabella to protect him, was promptly executed by his Lancastrian enemies – his body was hacked to pieces and fed to the local dogs.<ref>Doherty, p. 93.</ref> The remainder of the former regime were brought to Isabella. [[Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel|Edmund Fitzalan]], a key supporter of Edward II and who had received many of Mortimer's confiscated lands in 1322, was executed on 17 November. Hugh Despenser the Younger was sentenced to be brutally executed on 24 November, and a huge crowd gathered in anticipation at seeing him die. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him, and scrawled Biblical verses against corruption and arrogance on his skin. He was then dragged into the city, presented to Queen Isabella, Roger Mortimer and the Lancastrians. Despenser was then condemned to hang as a thief, be castrated, and then to be [[drawn and quartered]] as a traitor, his quarters to be dispersed throughout England. Simon of Reading, one of the Despensers' supporters, was hanged next to him, on charges of insulting Isabella.<ref>Mortimer The Greatest Traitor, pp. 159–162.</ref> Once the core of the Despenser regime had been executed, Isabella and Mortimer began to show restraint. Lesser nobles were pardoned and the clerks at the heart of the government, mostly appointed by the Despensers and Stapledon, were confirmed in office.<ref>Doherty, p. 107.</ref> All that was left now was the question of Edward II, still officially Isabella's legal husband and lawful king.<ref>Weir 2006, p. 242.</ref>

=== Death of Edward, 1327 ===
[[File:Eduard2 arest.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|An imaginative medieval interpretation of [[Edward II of England|Edward's]] arrest by Isabella, seen watching from the right]]

As an interim measure, Edward II was held in the custody of Henry of Lancaster, who surrendered Edward's Great Seal to Isabella.<ref>Doherty, p. 108.</ref> The situation remained tense, however; Isabella was clearly concerned about Edward's supporters staging a counter-coup, and in November she seized the Tower of London, appointed one of her supporters as mayor and convened a council of nobles and churchmen in [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]] to discuss the fate of Edward.<ref>Doherty, p. 109.</ref> The council concluded that Edward would be legally deposed and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life. This was then confirmed at the [[Parliament of 1327|next parliament]], dominated by Isabella and Mortimer's followers. The session was held in January 1327, with Isabella's case being led by her supporter [[Adam Orleton]], [[Bishop of Hereford]]. Isabella's son, Prince Edward, was confirmed as [[Edward III of England]], with his mother appointed regent.<ref>Doherty, pp. 114–15.</ref> Isabella's position was still precarious, as the legal basis for deposing Edward was doubtful and many lawyers of the day maintained that Edward II was still the rightful king, regardless of the declaration of the Parliament. The situation could be reversed at any moment and Edward II was known to be a vengeful ruler.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Edward II's subsequent fate, and Isabella's role in it, remains hotly contested by historians. The minimally agreed version of events is that Isabella and Mortimer had Edward moved from [[Kenilworth Castle]] in the [[Midlands]] to the safer location of [[Berkeley Castle]] in the Welsh borders, where he was put into the custody of [[Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley|Lord Berkeley]]. On 23 September, Isabella and Edward III were informed by messenger that Edward had died whilst imprisoned at the castle, because of a "fatal accident". Edward's body was apparently buried at [[Gloucester Cathedral]], with his heart being given in a casket to Isabella. After the funeral, there were rumours for many years that Edward had survived and was really alive somewhere in Europe, some of which were captured in the famous [[Fieschi Letter]] written in the 1340s, although no concrete evidence ever emerged to support the allegations. There are, however, various historical interpretations of the events surrounding this basic sequence of events.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

[[File:Berkeley Castle.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Berkeley Castle]] in [[Gloucestershire]], where [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] was popularly said to have been murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer; some current scholarship disputes this interpretation.]]

According to legend, Isabella and Mortimer famously plotted to murder Edward in such a way as not to draw blame on themselves, sending a famous order (in {{langx|la|Eduardum occidere nolite timere bonum est}}) which, depending on where the comma was inserted, could mean either "Do not be afraid to kill Edward; it is good" or "Do not kill Edward; it is good to fear". In actuality, there is little evidence of anyone deciding to have Edward assassinated, and none whatsoever of the note having been written. Similarly, accounts of Edward being killed with a red-hot [[Fireplace poker|poker]] have no strong contemporary sources to support them. The conventional 20th-century view has been that Edward did die at Berkeley Castle, either murdered on Isabella's orders or of ill-health brought on by his captivity, and that subsequent accounts of his survival were simply rumours, similar to those that surrounded [[Joan of Arc]] and other near contemporaries after their deaths.

Three recent historians, however, have offered an alternative interpretation of events. [[Paul C. Doherty|Paul Doherty]], drawing extensively on the Fieschi Letter of the 1340s, has argued that Edward in fact escaped from Berkeley Castle with the help of William Ockle, a knight whom Doherty argues subsequently pretended to be Edward in disguise around Europe, using the name "William the Welshman" to draw attention away from the real Edward himself. In this interpretation, a look-alike was buried at Gloucester.<ref>Doherty, pp. 213–15.</ref> [[Ian Mortimer (historian)|Ian Mortimer]], focusing more on contemporary documents from 1327 itself, argues that Roger de Mortimer engineered a fake "escape" for Edward from Berkeley Castle; after this Edward was kept in Ireland, believing he was really evading Mortimer, before finally finding himself free, but politically unwelcome, after the fall of Isabella and Mortimer. In this version, Edward makes his way to Europe, before subsequently being buried at Gloucester.<ref>Mortimer, 2004, pp. 244–264; Mortimer, 2006, appendix 2.</ref> Finally, [[Alison Weir (historian)|Alison Weir]], again drawing on the Fieschi Letter, has recently argued that Edward II escaped his captors, killing one in the process, and lived as a hermit for many years; in this interpretation, the body in Gloucester Cathedral is of Edward's dead captor. In all of these versions, it is argued that it suited Isabella and Mortimer to publicly claim that Edward was dead, even if they were aware of the truth. Other historians, however, including [[David Carpenter (historian)|David Carpenter]], have criticised the methodology behind this revisionist approach and disagree with the conclusions.<ref>See Carpenter 2007a, Carpenter 2007b.</ref>