Isabella of Gloucester is a unique individual in the story of Magna Carta. She is, in many ways, a shadow in the pages of history, and yet she held one of the greatest earldoms in England. There are no pictures of her, not even a description of her personality or appearance. At one time, no one even seemed certain of her name; she has been called Isabel, Isabella, Hawise, Avice — but Isabella is how she appears in the Close Rolls. Although her date of birth has been lost to history, it seems likely she was born in the early s.
The unfortunate earl died whilst still a captive, on 23 November John was 9 years old at the time of the betrothal, while Isabella was probably a few years older. The marriage was to be a way for Henry II to provide for his youngest son. King Richard I, on the other hand, thought it expedient to get his brother safely married, on his own accession to the throne in The wedding took place at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire on 29 August ; John was 21 and Isabella may have been approaching Baldwin, the archbishop of Canterbury at the time, opposed the marriage as the couple were related within the third degree of consanguinity; they were second cousins, both being great-grandchildren of Henry I.
John had to promise to seek a papal dispensation and, even then, the couple were ordered, by the archbishop, not to sleep together.
Although Isabella and John were married for ten years, their marriage was neither happy nor successful. They spent some time together in the first years of their marriage as they issued charters together during a visit to Normandy around — Nothing eventually came of the marriage proposal, but it was an implicit rejection of Isabella as his wife.
John succeeded to the throne on the death of his older brother, Richard the Lionheart, on 6 April He was crowned, alone, on 27 May ; the fact that Isabella was not crowned with him suggests that John was already looking for a way out of the marriage. The bishops of Lisieux, Bayeux and Avranches, sitting in Normandy, provided the required judgement. Little is known of her day-to-day life, although she does appear to have remained on civil terms with King John. Things may well have been a little awkward at times, especially after John found himself another wife.
