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CHAPTER XII. ISABELLA OF FRANCE, QUEEN OF EDWARD II.
(A.D. 1295-1358.)
Isabella of France was a princess of the very highest rank, her father being Philip IV. of France, and her mother Queen of Navarre. But she was likewise one of the worst women that ever occupied the throne of England. She was born in 1295, and when only nine years of age was betrothed to Edward, Prince of Wales. At that time her father agreed to settle on her the sum of £18,000 for her marriage portion.
He was not rich enough to give her so much money, but he got possession of it by murdering and robbing the poor Knights Templars—a religious body first established at Jerusalem to protect pilgrims travelling in the Holy Land. Such ill-gotten gain could not be expected to bestow much pleasure or profit on the possessor of it.
When Edward I. was dying, he charged his son to lose no time in completing the arrangements for his marriage, and the prince had received such favorable reports concerning the personal charms of his lady-love that he hastened to obey. Before the king was buried he dispatched two earls to France to appoint the wedding day.
He was so much in love, that it is said he lost the kingdom of Scotland by hurrying away to get married when his presence in that country would have made him its sovereign.