Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          5 Apr 1170 Valenciennes, Flanders
Death:          15 Mar 1190 Paris, France
Burial:         Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Hainault
Isabella of Hainaut (5 April 1170 in Valenciennes – 15 March 1190 in Paris) was Queen 
of France as the first spouse of King Philip II.
Early life[edit]

Isabella was born in Valenciennes on 5 April 1170, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count 
of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders. At the age of one, her father had 
her betrothed to Henry, the future Count of Champagne.[1] He was the nephew of 
Adèle of Champagne, who was Queen of France. In 1179, both their fathers swore 
that they would proceed with the marriage, but her father later agreed to her marrying 
Philip II of France.

Queen of France[edit]

She married King Philip on 28 April 1180 at Bapaume and brought as her dowry the 
county of Artois. The marriage was arranged by her maternal uncle Philip, Count of 
Flanders, who was advisor to the King.[2]

Isabella was crowned Queen of France at Saint Denis on 28 May 1180. As Baldwin V 
rightly claimed to be a descendant of Charlemagne, the chroniclers of the time saw in 
this marriage a union of the Carolingian and Capetian dynasties.

The wedding did not please the queen mother, since it had meant the rejection of her 
nephew and the lessening of influence for her kinsmen. Though Isabella received 
extravagant praise from certain annalists, she failed to win Philip's affections due to 
her inability to provide him with an heir, though she was only 14 years old at the time.
[3] Meanwhile, King Philip in 1184, was waging war against Flanders, and angered at 
seeing his wife's father, Baldwin, support his enemies, he called a council at Sens for 
the purpose of repudiating her. According to Gislebert of Mons, Isabella then 
appeared barefooted and dressed as a penitent in the town's churches and thus 
gained the sympathy of the people. Her appeals angered them so much that they went 
to the palace and started shouting loud enough to be heard inside.[4]

Robert, the king's uncle, successfully interposed and no repudiation followed as 
repudiating her would also have meant the loss of Artois to the French crown.[5]

Finally, on 5 September 1187, she gave birth to the needed heir, the future King Louis 
VIII of France.

Death[edit]

Her second pregnancy was extremely difficult; on 14 March 1190, Isabella gave birth 
to twin boys named Robert and Philip. Due to complications in childbirth, Isabella died 
the next day, and was buried in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. She was not 
quite 20 years old and was mourned for greatly in the capital, since she had been a 
popular queen.[6]

The twins lived only four days, both having died on 18 March 1190.[7] Her son Louis 
succeeded her as Count of Artois. Isabella's dowry of Artois eventually returned to the 
French Crown following the death of King Philip, when her son Louis became king.

Appearance[edit]

"Queen Isabelle, she of noble form and lovely eyes."[9] In 1858, Isabelle's body was 
exhumed and measured at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. At 90 cm from pelvis 
to feet, she would have stood about 5'8"-5'9", (1.72-1.75 m) tall. It was during this 
exhumation that a silver seal (now in the British Museum ) was discovered in the 
queen's coffin. Little used during her life time, it is one of the few medieval seals with 
a royal connection to survive from the Middle Ages.

Parents
____ Baldwin VIII (V) (ABT 1150 - 17 Dec 1195)
DE LORRAINE Margaret (Marguerite) (ABT 1135 - 15 Nov 1194)

Siblings
DE HAINAUT ET FLANDRES Isabelle (5 Apr 1170 - 15 Mar 1190)
____ Baldwin IX (VI) (Jul 1172 - 11 Jun 1205)
OF FLANDERS Yolanda (1175 - 26 Aug 1219)

Marriage To ____ Philippe Auguste II (22 Aug 1165 - 14 Jul 1223)
    m. 28 Apr 1180 Bapaume, France his 1st

Notes
contract marriage. Note date of child's birth (he was 15). See Book of French kings

Parents
____ Louis VII "the Young" (1119 - 18 Sep 1180)
OF BLOIS Adelaide (Adele) (Alix) (ABT 1140 - 4 Jun 1206)

Children by ____ Philippe Auguste II 22 Aug 1165 - 14 Jul 1223
____ Louis VIII "the Lion" (3 Sep 1187 - 8 Nov 1226)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017