Queen Isabella: A Gothic Tale
Derek Wilson looks at the life of a French princess, who married and helped depose an English king during a tumultuous period of Anglo-French relations that was to end in the Hundred Years War.
"Mother, you are suspected for his death,
And, therefore, we commit you to the Tower
Till further trial be made thereof.
If you be guilty, though I be your son,
Think not to find me slack or pitiful."
- The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward II, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer, Act V, Scene 6.
So, at the end of his play, Christopher Marlowe dramatised the rejection of the adulterous murderess, Queen Isabella, with the strong hint that she was about to pay for her appalling crimes. In fact the widow of Edward II (r. 1307-27) lived for almost another 28 years after the confrontation in 1330 with her son, Edward III (r. 1327-77), represented in this scene and spent those years in honourable and comfortable retirement. However the lack of a suitably melodramatic end to her tumultuous story does not rob it of romance and horror.
This article is available to History Today online subscribers only. If you are a subscriber, please log in.
Please choose one of these options to access this article:
- Purchase an online subscription
- Purchase a print and online subscription
- If you are already a print subscriber, purchase the online archive upgrade
Call our Subscriptions department on +44 (0)20 3219 7813 for more information.
If you are logged in but still cannot access the article, please contact us
If you enjoyed this article, you might like these:
This Month's Magazine
From The Current Issue
Paul Reynolds
|
Santiago Martínez Hernández
|
Michael Paris
|
