Editing Isabella of France (section)

=== 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>