King John's two Isabels
King John's wives, both named Isabel(le), are also characters in Sharon Kay Penman's Here Be Dragons. The first, Isabel of Gloucester, called "Avisa", is only mentioned briefly, and by John as a "bitch". His second wife, Isabelle, is a kittenish child bride of delicate beauty. But what was John's relationship with either Isabel like? In his book King John: New Interpretations, S.D. Church digs up some evidence to shed light on John's marriages.
In Penman's novel, Isabel is mentioned only briefly as John's cast-off "bitch" of a first wife. Church points out that throughout his reign, John supported Isabel with a household of knights and servants, bestowed gifts and pensions upon her, and lavished money on her little short of what he spent on his queen, Isabelle of Angouleme. He spent £80 annually on Isabel until 1207, when her expenses were scaled down to £50 annually. To give you an idea of how much this was, an English baron's annual income averaged around £200.
She's also found staying with him at Winchester castle, and she was sent away only after the birth of John's heir Henry in 1207. This does not appear to me to be the behavior of a conceited king casting aside a barren, unwanted bride. If anything, it suggests that John enjoyed Isabel's company and kept her with him as long as he was able, until propriety demanded that he send her away (must've been difficult for him when his queen and his ex-wife lived in the same castle together!). Even then he paid for her to live in high style. My suspicion is that John and Isabel had an amicable union, but after many childless years he divorced her out of his need for an heir.
Isabelle of Angouleme was alleged, as I mentioned in an earlier post, to have committed adultery and incest by several contemporary or near-contemporary chroniclers. This was a common charge leveled against medieval queens to discredit them, and I have my doubts about the truth of any such accusations. She was an extremely young girl, no more than twelve and possibly younger, when John married her, and surrounded at all times by watchful servants and courtiers. John himself may have done little to discourage the rumors, in case he needed to relieve himself of another barren wife at a later date.
There exists not a single letter or charter issued in Isabelle's name from King John's reign. She had no control whatsoever of her dower lands, which were controlled by John, and she received no revenue from them. Unlike her mother-in-law Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the queens of Henry III and Edward I to come, Isabelle's household had no one from Angouleme, and her only kinsman was her half-brother Pierre de Joigny, who visited occasionally. After John's death, Isabelle straightaway returned to Angouleme, remarried, and produced a litter of Lusignans.
In Penman's novel, Isabel is mentioned only briefly as John's cast-off "bitch" of a first wife. Church points out that throughout his reign, John supported Isabel with a household of knights and servants, bestowed gifts and pensions upon her, and lavished money on her little short of what he spent on his queen, Isabelle of Angouleme. He spent £80 annually on Isabel until 1207, when her expenses were scaled down to £50 annually. To give you an idea of how much this was, an English baron's annual income averaged around £200.
She's also found staying with him at Winchester castle, and she was sent away only after the birth of John's heir Henry in 1207. This does not appear to me to be the behavior of a conceited king casting aside a barren, unwanted bride. If anything, it suggests that John enjoyed Isabel's company and kept her with him as long as he was able, until propriety demanded that he send her away (must've been difficult for him when his queen and his ex-wife lived in the same castle together!). Even then he paid for her to live in high style. My suspicion is that John and Isabel had an amicable union, but after many childless years he divorced her out of his need for an heir.
Isabelle of Angouleme was alleged, as I mentioned in an earlier post, to have committed adultery and incest by several contemporary or near-contemporary chroniclers. This was a common charge leveled against medieval queens to discredit them, and I have my doubts about the truth of any such accusations. She was an extremely young girl, no more than twelve and possibly younger, when John married her, and surrounded at all times by watchful servants and courtiers. John himself may have done little to discourage the rumors, in case he needed to relieve himself of another barren wife at a later date.
There exists not a single letter or charter issued in Isabelle's name from King John's reign. She had no control whatsoever of her dower lands, which were controlled by John, and she received no revenue from them. Unlike her mother-in-law Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the queens of Henry III and Edward I to come, Isabelle's household had no one from Angouleme, and her only kinsman was her half-brother Pierre de Joigny, who visited occasionally. After John's death, Isabelle straightaway returned to Angouleme, remarried, and produced a litter of Lusignans.