Isabella of France

Isabella arrived in England at twelve to marry Edward II, supporting him through early baronial wars and working alongside his controversial favourite, Piers Gaveston. After Gaveston's death in 1312, Edward took a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger, whose influence Isabella could not tolerate; by 1325 the marriage had collapsed. On a diplomatic trip to France she likely began an affair with Roger Mortimer, returned in 1326 with a mercenary army, and watched the king's forces desert him entirely. She deposed Edward, became regent for her young son Edward III, and may have arranged her husband's murder. Her regime with Mortimer began to crumble under lavish spending and unpopular policies, and in 1330 the eighteen-year-old Edward III seized control by force, executing Mortimer and ending her regency. Isabella was briefly imprisoned, then released to live out three decades as a wealthy courtier, reconciling with her family and growing close to her daughter Joan and grandson Edward.