Queen: Isabella of Angouleme, 1188-1246

The women who married into the Plantagenet family could be just as turbulent as the men.  Isabella of Angouleme, 1188-1246, wife of King John and Countess of Angouleme in her own right, was a echo of John's own mother, Eleanor, and in many ways their lives were very similar.

Isabella was the daughter of Aymer, Count of Angouleme.  Through her mother, she was a descendant of King Louis VI of France.  John had been married to another Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, but the marriage had been less than successful.  After he became King in 1199, he had the marriage to Isabel annulled and sought an alliance with Aymer of Angouleme.  John and Isabella were married in 1200 and she became Queen of England.  He had neglected to seek the permission of Isabella's overlord, Phillip II of France, who confiscated her lands and declared war on England.  When her father died in 1202, Isabella became Countess of Angouleme in her own right.  She was only 12 years old, but her temper and will power were John's match.  Theirs was a passionate relationship from the start and it stayed that way through the birth of 5 children, all of whom lived to grow up.  Isabella was the mother of a Plantagenet lion, King Henry III.  Because of her foreign birth and tempestuous nature, she was disliked by her English subjects.  Constant war with France didn't endear them to her any more than John's high-handed ways made him popular with his barons.

John died in 1216 and Isabella arranged that 9 year old Henry be crowned.  The crown of England had recently been lost, so Isabella loaned her young son her own coronet instead.  A year later, she left Henry in charge of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and returned to rule Angouleme.  By 1220, she was married to Hugh X of Lusignan.  Orignally, her daughter Joan was to marry Hugh, but Isabella decided to keep him for herself.  Joan eventually became Queen of Scotland, so she probably got the better bargain.  Henry's council was furious that Isabella hadn't sought permission to remarry and confiscated her lands in England.  She and Hugh held onto Joan, not permitting her to return to England or Scotland until Isabella's lands were handed back.  Henry knew his mother and that it would be better to settle with her rather than battle her.

Isabella and Hugh had 9 children, giving Isabella a grand total of 14 children in all, most of whom survived and had kids of their own.  Though she ranked as a Queen Dowager in England, in France she was accorded only the rank of her husband, the Count of La Marche, and had to give precedence to other women when at the French court.  This rankled, as did the attitude of King Louis IX's mother Blanche, who snubbed Isabella whenever the two met at court.  She and Hugh attempted to enlist Henry's support for an invasion of Normandy and ultimately French territory, but Hugh got cold feet and backed out of the deal.  The conspiracy collapsed.  Rumors circulated that Isabella had plotted to have Louis poisoned but there is no proof of this.  In 1246, she retired to Fontevrault Abbey.  This was a common custom among noble women at the time, even while their husbands were still alive.  She died later that year, and was ultimately buried beside Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II and Richard I.  Her gisant survived the French Revolution, though her bones were scattered and destroyed during that time.

Places: Fontevrault Abbey, Chinon, France

The Plantagenets may have been a family on the move, going from one castle to another as needs be, the early members of the dynasty had a spiritual home, the Abbey of Fontevrault.

This abbey, with its village of Fontevraud l'Abbaye near Chinons in Anjou was in the heart the early Plantagenet possessions.  It was a double monastery, which meant that it housed both monks and nuns, albeit in separate compounds.  And, both sets of religious were under the direction of the Abbess, who was always either a royal or noble woman.  The Abbey was founded in 1101, by an itinerant preacher called Robert of Arbrissel.  With noble patronage, he founded the Order of Fontevrault, with this abbey as the motherhouse.  Under the Rule of St. Benedict, the Abbey was a strictly-run sanctuary of contemplation and prayer.  Eleanor of Aquitaine was the first member of the Plantagenet family to take the Abbey under her patronage.  In her declining years, she would sojourn at the Abbey, finally taking the veil before her death.  This was a common practice for nobles of the time, to make one last bid for the salvation of their soul by taking Holy Orders before dying.  Eleanor's daughter, Joanna, would do the same in 1199.

The later Plantagenets would turn their patronage to other orders and churches but Fontevrault continued to enjoy royal patronage, particularly under the Bourbon family.  Several Bourbon women served as Abbess.  In 1789, the Revolutionary government of France ordered the confiscation of all property of the church.  In 1792, the community at Fontevrault was dispersed and its last Abbess died in poverty in Paris.  At that time, the mortal remains of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II of England, Richard I of England, Isabella of Angouleme (wife of Henry I), Joanne of Sicily and her son Raymond of Toulouse were scattered to the four winds.  The gisants or tomb effigies were damaged, and some, such as Joanna's effigy which was intended to kneel at the head of Henry's tomb, were never replaced.  The Abbey was later used as a prison (1804-1963), and some members of the French Resistance in World War II were shot there.  After 1963, the Abbey was turned over to the French Ministry of Culture and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.