Isabella of France: The Rebel Queen

Isabella of France married Edward II in 1308, and later became one of the most notorious women in English history. In 1325, sent to her homeland to negotiate a peace settlement between her husband and her brother Charles IV, king of France, she refused to return. Instead, she began a relationship with her husband’s deadliest enemy, English baron Roger Mortimer. With the king’s son and heir, the future Edward III, under their control, the pair invaded England, ultimately resulting in Edward II’s forced abdication in 1327. A rebel against her husband and king, and regent for her son, Isabella was a powerful, capable, and intelligent woman. She forced the first ever abdication of a king in England, changing the course of English history.