latristereina:UNDERRATED RELATIONSHIP/PARTNERSHIP/FRIENDSHIP MEME 3/?: @edwardslovelyelizabeth pick
latristereina:UNDERRATED RELATIONSHIP/PARTNERSHIP/FRIENDSHIP MEME 3/?: @edwardslovelyelizabeth pick: Isabella of France & Edward II of EnglandThere’s a tendency nowadays to depict their relationship in the most one-dimensional manner imaginable, as though it was nothing but a unloving, unhappy disaster from start to finish, which is just silly if you ask me. Surely we all know as human beings that relationships which last for many years change and evolve over time, they’re not static, and for heaven’s sake, people feel much more than one emotion towards their partner of nearly two decades! There is much evidence that Edward and Isabella’s marriage was, for a long time, a successful and mutually affectionate, even loving, one. It ended spectacularly badly, of course, but that doesn’t mean it had always been bad or was doomed from the beginning, and much of Isabella’s behaviour in 1325/26 strongly suggests to me that she was deeply distressed at the breakdown of her marriage and the intrusion into it of Edward’s last and most powerful favourite, Hugh Despenser. There is no evidence at all that she disliked Edward’s previous favourites such as Piers Gaveston and Roger Damory, whose relationships with Edward she seemed to view as entirely separate from her own. Edward showed little interest in Isabella at the start of their marriage, but given that he was twenty-three and she only twelve it’s hard to blame him for that, and as she grew older, he grew to love her. Probably not in the same passionate all-consuming way he loved Piers Gaveston, but love nonetheless, as an eyewitness to Edward and Isabella’s visit to Paris in 1313 declared. For her part, Isabella addressed Edward in letters as ‘my very sweet heart’ and ‘my very dear and very sweet lord and friend’, which is highly unconventional and hints at her strong feelings for him.- Kathryn Warner, (x)However, although Edward and Isabella’s marriage began and ended badly, for most of their relationship, there was genuine affection between the couple. Few of their personal letters survive, but one in which Edward called Isabella his ‘dear heart’ is still extant, as is one of Isabella’s, in which she addressed Edward as ‘my very sweet heart’ five times.49 Although often depicted as a neglectful husband, Edward frequently demonstrated great concern for Isabella’s well-being, and for many years she supported him with notable loyalty.- Kathryn Warner, Edward II: The Unconventional KingIsabella fell ill on 22 August 1358 and died later that same day at the age of sixty-two, venerable for the time. She was given a royal funeral and, according to legend, she was buried, at her own request, wearing her wedding dress and clutching Edward II’s heart in a silver casket. This demonstrates that, with the passing of time, Isabella had learnt to feel remorse for all that had occurred in her marriage and the terrible way in which it ended. - Elizabeth Norton, She Wolves: The Notorious Queens of Medieval England -- source link
#edward ii#awwwwwww#sweeties