Isabella of France

Isabella of France (c. 1295–1358), later called the She-Wolf of France, was the daughter of Philip IV. She married Edward II in 1308 but could not tolerate his favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger, and by 1325 the marriage was at breaking point.

Sent to France on a diplomatic mission, she joined the exiled baron Roger Mortimer, and in 1326 landed in England with a small mercenary army while the king's forces deserted him. Edward II was deposed in January 1327 and died at Berkeley Castle that September. As regent for her son Edward III she made an unpopular but successful peace with Scotland.

On 19 October 1330 Edward III's men entered Nottingham Castle through a secret tunnel and seized Mortimer, who was executed at Tyburn. Isabella was held under house arrest for two years, then lived richly at Castle Rising until her death in 1358 as a Poor Clare.