Isabella de Coucy, daughter of Edward III: The Exception Who Proves the Rule

Summary

Only a few leading noblewomen of the fourteenth century have been honoured with dedicated studies of their lives. Queen Isabella and Katherine Swynford are perhaps the most notable for their impact on the fourteenth century, and recent studies of these two women demonstrate the role that female members of the nobility could play in political, social and cultural developments. Other women were remarkable for the positions they forged for themselves, and Jennifer Ward's collective study of such women explores the range of roles that could be fulfilled. Some roles have not been scrutinised until recently. For example, medieval queens and queenship have been the subjects of fresh study, highlighting the significant role the wife of the king played. Leading on from this work, there is a place for the study of the role of the medieval princess. Penelope Lawne's recent thesis on Joan of Kent discusses the adoption of the role of a princess (as the first princess of Wales), but this does not shed light on princesses of royal blood. Mary Green's nineteenth-century study of the English princesses offers a useful overview and starting point, but analysis of the expectations and achievements of the role is somewhat lacking.

Isabella, countess of Bedford, the eldest daughter of Edward III (b. 1332), is a key figure of fourteenth-century society through whom an understanding of the role of a princess can be achieved. She has historically been at the centre of romanticised history, distinguished as an independent woman succeeding in a male-dominated society, but flawed in her extravagant and wilful habits. Indeed, she does stand out from other princesses of the medieval period, particularly as a result of her marriage at the relatively late age of thirty-three to the French nobleman Enguerrand de Coucy, followed by their separation after the renewal of war between England and France. However, her role at the English royal court and as a princess of royal blood has been overlooked. Isabella is a distinguished figure because she is one of the few royal women of the period to forge a role as a princess in her own right, even after her marriage to Coucy.