Isabella and the Little Ice Age

after a surge of population in the early second millennium, the climate started to chill, and the famines started.

For example, here is a link to the 1315 famine that killed millions in Europe, including England, but the problems of slightly cooler weather probably weakened the population so that it was vulnerable to the Black death in the 1340's.

the episode is called the "little ice age", but there is a lot of disagreement on when it started.

However, scientists are now blaming the episode on volcanoes.

Now a team of geologists led by Gifford Miller of the University of Colorado, Boulder, has identified an abrupt start for the cool spell, sometime between 1275 and 1300 A.D. Repeated, explosive volcanism cooled the climate and set off a self-perpetuating feedback cycle involving sea ice in the North Atlantic Ocean that sustained the cool spell into the 19th century, they reported this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

so what does that have to do with Isabella?

The character of Isabella is known to most folks from the movie Braveheart (too bad much of it was fictional since Wallace died in 1304, and Isabella was probably only a child then, since she didn't marry Edward II until 1308 when she was probably age 12.) A recently discovered letter proves that Wallace actually existed.

However, the stories of her husband and his "favorites" and Isabella and her dissatisfaction with him are probably similar to that of the movie, and date back to Marlow's play about him.

Indeed, some call her the "she wolf of France" because she eventually overthrew and probably murdered her husband, never mind that the barons were just as disgusted at the state of affairs as she was.

And the fact that she had four children with her husband suggests a more complex problem than the movie.Were her kids Edwards, or did she play a trick on him? And if she did, one wonders why he didn't get rid of her. DNA testing might show this one way or another.

In a blog defending Edward II, the author notes that Edward's response to the 1315 famine was to lower foodprices, which of course merely resulted in hoarding and less food available.

But back to Isabella. She was deeply involved in various intrigues, sometimes helping his "favorite" sometimes the rebellious barons.

But she also was involved in another scandal: That of the Tower of Nesle, where she spilled the beans on her sisters in law:

The accusations centred on suggestions that Blanche and Margaret had been drinking, eating and engaging in adultery with Gautier and Philippe d'Aunay in the Tour de Nesle over a period.^[15] The Tour de Nesle was an old guard tower in Paris next to the river Seine and had been bought by Philip IV in 1308.^[16] The third sister-in-law, Joan, was initially said to have been present on some of these occasions and to have known of the affair; later accusations were extended to have included suggestions that she had also been involved in adultery herself.

the affair was made into a play by Dumas.
But more importantly, it resulted in the Salic law that resulted in denying the crown to the daughter of questionable birth and so the french crown went to Louis' brother instead.

Louis' brother, Philip took power instead.^[38] Philip died unexpectedly young as well, and his younger brother Charles did not live long after remarrying after his coronation, similarly dying without male heirs. The interpretation of the Salic Law then placed the French succession in doubt. Despite Philip of Valois, the son of Charles of Valois, claiming the throne with French noble support, Edward III of England, the son of Isabella was able to press his own case, resulting in the ensuing Hundred Years War (1337–1453).^[39]

and that war was devastating to France

Bubonic Plague and warfare depleted the overall population of Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. France, for example, had a population of about 17 million, which by the end of the Hundred Years War had declined by about one-half.^[1]

Sigh.

So love, war, and the little ice age all contributed to this sad story.

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Update: if Wikipedia make your eyes glaze over with bordom, try reading this very funny summary of Isabelle's escapades HERE. (warning: A bit vulgar).