Isabella of Angoulême

Who was Isabella of Angoulême?

Isabella of Angoulême was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. She was also reigning Countess of Angoulême from 1202 until 1246.

She had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III. In 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children.

Some of her contemporaries, as well as later writers, claim that Isabella formed a conspiracy against King Louis IX of France in 1241, after being publicly snubbed by his mother, Blanche of Castile for whom she had a deep-seated hatred. In 1244, after the plot had failed, Isabella was accused of attempting to poison the king, and to avoid arrest, sought refuge in Fontevraud Abbey where she died two years later, but none of this can be confirmed.