Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England

by Alison Weir

  But the union of Isabella and Mortimer was also a meeting of minds and shared interests. Both were fascinated by the Arthurian legends;104 both loved fine objets d’art and the luxuries of life. Yet this appears to have been no equal relationship. By all accounts, Mortimer dominated Isabella, probably because of the sexual hold he had over her, and also because he was a jealous, possessive man. He seems to have made the decisions, while she, by virtue of her position, helped him to implement them. It seems, too, that, after their early days together, she did not venture to question what he did but willingly complied. Modern women might conclude that she had sold out, but few females enjoyed any autonomy in the Middle Ages, and after all she had suffered, Isabella was probably greatly relieved to have a strong and domineering man take up her cause.

  Although, in private, Mortimer was reportedly very familiar with the Queen, in public, the couple seem to have taken care to be discreet. But royal courts were hotbeds of gossip, and their servants would have been in a position to spread some very revealing items of information. Within two months, the affair was notorious in diplomatic circles, even in England. Their becoming lovers in so short a time suggests either an upflaring of sudden passion or a previous understanding. It has been claimed105 that Isabella gained the dubious distinction of being the only English queen to live in open adultery, but in fact, a century earlier, Isabella of Angoulême, the wife of King John, had taken lovers, whom her husband had had hanged from her bed frame.

  Several medieval sources106 assert that the breakdown of the royal marriage occurred at the same time as Isabella’s liaison with Mortimer, and some even state that her true purpose in going to France was to meet up with him there, but there is no evidence prior to December 1325 that there was any emotional bond between them, and if there had been, the Queen and her lover would for years have had very few opportunities for dalliance. It is possible that Isabella had been in secret contact with Mortimer through intermediaries, but if so, it is more likely to have been in connection with their joint aim to unseat the Despensers than with any intimate understanding. What we will never know, but which is certainly possible, is whether there had long been a mutual undeclared attraction between them.

  Through her valet, Gawain Cordier, Isabella was still in regular communication with the wise and perceptive Prior Eastry, and on Christmas Day, Eastry commented on her hatred of Despenser to Archbishop Reynolds. No one, he wrote cautiously, could be liked by everyone, and some, through no malice and evil on their own part, are always disliked. The Queen, he added, had stressed that “no real or personal calumnious charge should be instituted against our lord the King of England, or any people subject to him.”107 Except, of course, Hugh le Despenser. Isabella was well aware that any attempt to oust the favorite would meet with popular support; a move against the King was another matter entirely and was better kept secret for the present.

  Mortimer was not the only man able to influence the Queen at this time, for Richmond still rode high in her counsels. At Christmas, at Isabella’s instance, the thirteen-year-old Prince Edward, as Duke of Aquitaine, received the “faith and homage” of Richmond, who agreed to surrender to young Edward all his lands in England in return for 10,000 Tournai livres petites from the revenues of Aquitaine.108 This contract was subject to the approval of both Charles IV and Edward II, but it was primarily an alliance between Isabella and Richmond and also perhaps a means of raising funds for the invasion.

  In England, at the beginning of January, Despenser, aware that the threat of an invasion from Hainault was no idle rumor, moved the bulk of his treasure to his stronghold at Caerphilly.109

  But the threat of invasion was not just from Hainault. By 2 January, Archbishop Reynolds had learned from the well-informed Prior Eastry, who had again got his information from Gawain Cordier, that Charles IV had formally proposed a marriage between Prince Edward and one of the daughters of William V of Hainault and Jeanne of Valois; more alarmingly, the French King had also asked the Count to lend his assistance to a French offensive against England. This scheme was almost certainly the result of the talks that had taken place between Charles IV, Isabella, the Countess Jeanne, and Mortimer during December, and the very nature of the alliance betokened a plot against Edward II himself. In some alarm, Reynolds immediately alerted the King.110

  The next day, a concerned Edward ordered watches set up along the south coast to prevent troops, arms, and letters from being smuggled into England.111 Evidently, he feared that France might now join forces with Hainault in an offensive on England. That same day, he ordered that Mortimer’s mother be seized and shut up in a convent for life for holding seditious meetings; fortunately, the indomitable old lady had gone into hiding and thus managed to evade arrest.112 On the thirteenth, restrictions were imposed on anyone trying to leave England, while on the twentieth, the King’s worst fears appeared to be realized when Reynolds told him he had heard from Eastry that France and Hainault had formed a secret alliance and would indeed mount a joint invasion of England soon after Candlemas; there were reports that an invasion fleet was already gathering in Normandy and the Low Countries. Eastry, however, was at pains to stress that these were rumors and expressed the opinion that King Charles was merely trying to intimidate Edward on Isabella’s behalf, to make him dismiss the Despensers, and that he had no real intention of declaring war on England.113

  Eastry’s opinion was founded probably on reports that claimed the Pope had urged the French King to use caution in his support of his sister, for the rift between her and Edward was having a destabilizing effect on European politics and might well plunge England into a bitter civil war.114

  Nevertheless, Edward took the invasion threat seriously. On 22 January, he wrote a placatory letter to Count William, offering to come to some friendly agreement, but this met with no response.115 He also wrote letters to Charles IV and sixteen French peers, asking that the Queen and the Prince be sent back to him forthwith. Again, his plea was ignored. Meanwhile, the King continued to put his defenses in place and to take precautions against any attack.116

  During January and February 1326, some of the remaining members of the Queen’s depleted retinue deserted her to return to England;117 most of them abandoned her because they were shocked at her liaison with Mortimer and her disloyalty to the King.118 It may well have been from these retainers that Edward II learned the truth about his wife’s activities in Paris, which would explain why he rewarded them.119 The King and the Despensers must have been appalled to learn that the Queen was consorting with Mortimer, his chief enemy and a convicted traitor. It was intolerable enough that she was refusing to return to him and detaining their son, but that she should cuckold him with Mortimer, of all people—it would make him an object of derision and mockery in the eyes of Christendom.

  Throughout February, Isabella was in correspondence with the Countess Jeanne,120 doubtless in connection with the planned alliance and invasion. That month, Edward was staying at Barnwell Priory, discussing his collegiate foundation, King’s Hall. But he was more preoccupied with his wife’s betrayal and the threat from abroad, and on 3 February, he ordered that Henry de Beaumont’s lands be seized.121

  Isabella was still maintaining the pretense that her quarrel was only with Despenser. In a letter written to Edward on 5 February, she insisted that no one must think she had left him “without very great and justifiable cause.” That cause, she stated, was Hugh le Despenser, who had “wished to dishonour us by all means in his power.” She admitted that she had, for a long time, held secret her hatred, but only as a means of escaping from danger. She concluded, “We desire above everything else, after God and the salvation of our soul, to be in the company of our said lord, and to die with him.”122

  But the moral emphasis was now shifting, for Edward knew she was lying to him. On 8 February, in a proclamation ordering a general commission of array, the King made his first reference to Isabella’s having deserted him for Mortimer: this commission had been issue
d, he declared, “because the Queen will not come to the King, nor permit his son to return, and the King understands that she is adopting the counsel of the Mortimer, the King’s notorious enemy and rebel, and that she is making alliances with the men of those parts and with other strangers, with intent to invade.” The King instructed that, if the Queen, the Prince, and the Earl of Kent returned, they were to be honorably received, but if they arrived with banners unfurled, bringing foreign soldiers, they were to be taken prisoner and the foreigners hanged as hostile invaders.123 Four days later, the King began raising men to defend the Southeast.

  Fearful that his heir would be used as a pawn in an alliance that was distasteful to him, Edward wrote to the Pope, begging him not to issue any dispensation for the boy’s marriage without first obtaining the King’s consent.124 Actually, Pope John was becoming concerned about the reports that had been reaching him from Paris. Aware that he himself had suggested Isabella’s mission, he must have felt to a degree responsible for what had happened. On 15 February, in an attempt to put matters right, he commissioned two nuncios, the Archbishop of Vienne and the Bishop of Orange, to mediate between Edward and Isabella, in the hope of effecting a reconciliation.125 Two days later, he wrote to Despenser, suggesting that, since his interference had been cited by the Queen as the reason why she could not return to the King without danger to herself, he should retire from court at once and devise a way whereby she would no longer fear to rejoin her husband.126

  The invasion of Isabella and Mortimer had initially been planned for February 1326. Doherty has suggested that it did not take place then because the Pope had persuaded Charles IV to adopt a less aggressive stance, and that the negotiations with Hainault were put on hold pending the outcome of the nuncios’ mission. But even without the active support of Charles and Hainault, Isabella was clearly determined to press on with her plans. That she was preparing for an invasion may be inferred from the likelihood that, before 25 February, she, Mortimer, and Kent were making astonishing overtures to Robert the Bruce, almost certainly promising him recognition as King of an independent Scotland in return for an undertaking that he would not, once the Queen’s forces landed, invade England through her northern border and thus prejudice the success of Isabella’s offensive. In making such an offer, Isabella showed herself to be aware that the war with Scotland could never be won, and that it was better to bow to the inevitable, since a pragmatic solution was to everyone’s advantage. These negotiations were conducted through Bruce’s envoy to France, Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, who was in Paris at this time but was ordered home by the Pope on 25 February.127

  The Queen knew for certain that Edward II would never have agreed to recognize Bruce as King of Scots, so these negotiations, together with the mooted marriage alliance with Hainault, offer compelling evidence that her husband’s deposition was now her ultimate goal. It is significant that these developments all took place soon after Isabella teamed up with Mortimer, which suggests that Mortimer was now making the decisions; up until December, Isabella seems to have been unable to see her way clearly to committing herself to any decisive course of action. Now, “on the advice of her lover, she [had] finally made firm her resolve.”128

  March arrived with no sign as yet of any invasion, and Prior Eastry expressed the view that it would only happen if Charles IV stood to gain some profit from it. Charles could hope for little material advantage from the removal of the favorites. But there were others, notably, Isabella, Mortimer, and William V, who stood to gain a great deal. The question was, would Charles go so far as to back them?

  On 3 March, Edward ordered that the Tower defenses be strengthened129 and gave instructions that all letters leaving the kingdom were to be inspected in case they were treasonable communications. Shortly afterward, he summoned Airmyn and Richmond home from France to appear before him and account for why they had misled him over the peace treaty of 1325, giving him to believe that Charles would restore the Agenais.130 Edward also had a score to settle with Airmyn over the bishopric of Norwich, but the official reason for the summons may have been a pretext to remove these influential men from Isabella’s orbit.

  The King still believed that any invasion force would come from France. On 10 March, the constable of Portchester was ordered to be especially vigilant, and the Mayor of London was commanded to inform the citizens of all that had happened in the current conflict between their King and Charles IV and to demonstrate to them that the King was not at fault; the sheriffs were served with a similar order on the fifteenth.131

  By March, the affair between Isabella and Mortimer was gaining notoriety in both France and England. Seemingly, Isabella was not unduly troubled about the effect of this on her reputation. Later evidence strongly suggests that her son the Prince disliked and resented Mortimer, but Isabella either did not realize this or was determined to ignore it. She even went so far as to make Mortimer young Edward’s adviser, thus ensuring that the two of them were often in each other’s company. It was fortunate for her that the boy’s innate courtesy prevented him from revealing his hostility to this man who had supplanted his father. Isabella must have been well aware that Edward would regard it as highly inappropriate for the heir to England to be associating with his father’s declared enemy, a convicted traitor, but she was almost certainly of the opinion that Mortimer had been forced into opposition by the Despensers and was no traitor at all: his previous record of service and loyalty to the Crown proved that and eminently qualified him to act as a counselor to her son, the future King. Again, her defiance of Edward’s known wishes strongly suggests that she was plotting his overthrow.

  By now, the papal envoys had arrived in Paris and were doing their best to convince Isabella that she should become reconciled with her husband. On 12 March, Eastry reported to Reynolds that they had persuaded her and Charles to agree to a plan that would result in her peaceful return to Edward. The Prior knew no details but advised the Archbishop that, if the Queen returned peacefully, she should be honorably received. He warned him, however, that matters might not turn out as well as they were hoping, since the Pope openly favored the French.132

  Apparently, Isabella had agreed to return to Edward on two conditions: first, that the Despensers withdraw from court, and second, that Edward offer sworn guarantees concerning her status as queen and the restoration of her estates.133 Again, it was unlikely that Edward would agree to the first and most crucial of these demands, but Mortimer was apparently incensed at the prospect of Isabella’s going back to her husband and dramatically threatened to kill her if she set foot in England.134 This was probably said in the heat of the moment, for Isabella seems to have ignored his threat, but it reveals his jealousy and his fear that she would abandon the plans upon which he was so set.

  Kent, who apparently disliked Mortimer, and whose conscience was troubling him on account of his intended treason, was also alarmed at the prospect of returning to England and explaining his conduct to the King, his brother, who had cut off his allowance at the end of January;135 in a panic, Kent sent a member of his household to Edward to assure him that, while staying in Paris with Isabella, he had done nothing prejudicial to the King’s interests.136

  Isabella also asked the nuncios to negotiate the safe return of Richmond and Cromwell to England.137 The King had repeatedly ordered them home, but they had merely sent him feeble excuses. It may be that they needed to go back now to attend to urgent business, or perhaps Isabella wanted them to make contact with her friends in England. If so, she was expecting Edward to turn down the proposals for a reconciliation and was broadening her network of supporters. In so doing, she may have been placating Mortimer, having had to convince him that she must appear to be complying with the Pope’s desire for her and Edward to be reconciled. But he remained implacably opposed to such a prospect.

  The nuncios were now due to go to England to urge the King to receive his wife kindly, but, having learned how far he felt they had let him down during the peace
negotiations in 1325, they were too scared to cross the Channel.138 Their failure to arrive led to unfounded rumors of intimidation on Edward’s part,139 which were damaging in the extreme, since Isabella’s refusal to return had led many people in England to conclude that he had behaved badly toward both her and their son, and rumors to this effect were proliferating throughout the kingdom.

  On 14 March, Edward again commanded Richmond to return and give an account of his conduct, but again, Richmond defied him.140 The King continued to take defensive measures, on 18 March, ordering that any suspicious-looking persons entering the kingdom be arrested.141

  In a fever of agitation, he wrote again to the son he had not seen for more than six months now. He was still perturbed by the unconfirmed reports of a projected marriage alliance between the Prince and a princess of Hainault but even more horrified by the knowledge that the boy was being exposed to the inappropriate influence of the traitor Mortimer and risked being tainted by the adultery of that traitor with his mother. Evidently, the King no longer wanted his wife back, but he was determined to have his son and heir. Somehow, the Prince must be extricated from this situation, by his own wits if necessary, but first, he must be made aware of the enormity of his mother’s conduct, and his duty to his father. The King’s letter therefore amounted to an attack on Isabella and was written in a stern tone. It read: