Isabella, considered a great beauty in her day, was the daughter of Philip IV of France and married Edward II in 1308. But it was only after his favourite Piers Gaveston was murdered in 1312 that the couple proceeded to have four children.
When Edward sent Isabella to France in 1324 after the outbreak of war to negotiate peace with her brother Charles IV, she refused to return. Instead she took a lover, the powerful Marcher lord Roger Mortimer, who was already married with 11 children. In 1326, they landed in England with the aim of freeing it from the influence of the hated Despenser clan – the family of Edward's new favourite Hugh.
Despite her irregular relationship with Mortimer, Isabella still retained a great deal of popular sympathy, built up during her years of ill treatment by the king. Now, although her invasion force was small, virtually no one came out in Edward's defence and he was captured easily.
After engineering Edward's deposition and (probably) his murder in 1327, Isabella and Mortimer ruled for three years as regents for her young son Edward III. But their extravagant lifestyle and their ruthless disposal of opponents made them unpopular.
In 1330, the 17-year-old Edward stormed Isabella's bedchamber at Nottingham Castle and took her prisoner. She was compelled to surrender much of her property but was given an annual allowance of £3,000. In her later years, she joined a religious order called the Poor Clares and was buried at Newgate. (Mortimer had a less happy time – Edward had him hanged.)
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 Edward II, Part II: The she-wolf of France
www.historyhouse.com/in_history/isabella
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The story of Isabella and Mortimer, told in the inimitable style of the History House.
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Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II by Paul Doherty (Constable & Robinson, 2004)
Isabella was, for a time, a loyal consort, while Edward lurched from one crisis to another at home and abroad, and transferred his affections from Piers Gaveston to the more sinister favourite Hugh Despenser. After 13 years, she fled abroad, where she fell in love with the exiled Roger Mortimer. Between them, they raised an army of mercenaries and successfully deposed Edward and inflicted a gruesome death on Hugh Despenser. During her years as regent for her young son, Isabella is believed to have organised the notorious fate of her husband at Berkeley Castle, which eventually resulted in the hanging of Mortimer at Tyburn.
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The Writings of Agnes of Harcourt: The 'Life of Isabella of France' and the 'Letter' on Louis IX and Longchamp by Agnes of Harcourt, edited by Sean L Field (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003)
An abbess at the Franciscan abbey of Longchamp, this little-known author wrote a biography of Isabella of France. These texts were based on Agnes' first-hand observations and contained many lively stories about their royal subjects.
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 Nottingham Castle
In the centre of Nottingham.
Although William the Conqueror erected the first (wooden) castle on this site, and Henry II constructed a stone one in 1170, most of what you see today dates only from c. 1663, following the castle's demolition by Cromwell 14 years earlier. However, still intact is Mortimer's Hole, a 98-metre (322-foot) tunnel carved into the soft stone on which the castle is built. It leads from the foot of Castle Rock to the upper bailey in the castle grounds. Legend has it that, on the night of 19 October 1330, Edward III and his men crept into the castle and captured both his mother Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, so ending their disastrous regency.
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