Ladies of Magna Carta by Sharon Bennett Connolly;

Author:Sharon Bennett Connolly; [Connolly;, Sharon Bennett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History / Europe / Great Britain / General
ISBN: 9781526745255
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2020-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Isabella of Scotland

Isabella had come south as a hostage with her older sister, Margaret, in 1209. In the treaty of Norham, King John had agreed to arrange the marriage of Isabella to an English nobleman of rank, possibly even his second son, Richard, who was only a baby at the time. Isabella’s date and year of birth is unknown; she was older than her brother, Alexander, who was born in 1198, but may have been born any time in the ten years before. She is not mentioned in the succession crisis of 1195, but that does not mean that she was born after, just that, being the younger daughter, she was not a subject of discussions. Jessica Nelson, in her article for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, suggests that Isabella was born in 1195 or 1196.34 When the sisters were brought south, they were housed comfortably, as evidence demonstrates. Payments for their upkeep were recorded by sheriffs and the king’s own wardrobe, which suggests the two princesses spent some time at court.35 In 1213 Isabella was residing at Corfe Castle in the household of John’s queen, Isabelle d’Angoulême; John’s niece, Eleanor of Brittany, held captive since the failed rebellion of her brother, Arthur of Brittany in 1202, was also there.

Despite the fact that John had agreed to arrange the marriages of both Margaret and Isabella, no move had been made to find suitable husbands for the princesses before the king’s death in October 1216. As the younger sister, Isabella could not expect to be wed before Margaret, but the fact that Margaret’s wedding was still not on the horizon meant that Isabella’s was even further in the future. In June 1220, at a meeting of King Henry III’s minority council, it was agreed that Margaret and Isabella would be married by October 1221 or allowed to return to Scotland. In the event, Margaret was married to Hubert de Burgh on 3 October 1221; a controversial marriage given the disparity in rank between the Scottish princess and her self-made husband. Isabella, however, remained unmarried and returned to Scotland in November 1222. Isabella’s own marriage prospects may have been damaged by the relatively lowly marriage of her older sister. Nevertheless, Alexander II was keen to look after his sister’s interests and continued to search for a suitable husband. A letter from Henry III alludes to a possible match between Isabella and William (II) Marshal, Earl of Pembroke but the earl was, instead, married to the king’s own younger sister, Eleanor.36

Isabella’s future was finally settled in June 1225, when she married Roger Bigod, fourth Earl of Norfolk, at Alnwick in Northumberland. On 20 May, the archbishop of York was given respite from his debts in order to attend the wedding of the King of Scots’ sister:

Order to the barons of the Exchequer to place in respite, until 15 days from Michaelmas in the ninth year, the demand for debts they make by summons of the Exchequer from W. archbishop of York, because

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