Isabella of Scotland
Encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Isabella of Scotland, Countess of Norfolk
Isabella Stewart (autumn of 1426 – 13 October 1494/5 March 1499) was a Scottish
princess and by marriage the Duchess of Brittany. Also known as Isabel Stewart and Isabel of Scotland, she was the second daughter of James I of Scotland
and Joan Beaufort
and the second wife of Duke Francis I of Brittany
.
It was said she was more beautiful than her elder sister Margaret, who married the Dauphin of France, and that John VI, Duke of Brittany
proposed to marry her to his son; thus he sent ambassadors to Scotland to take a description of her. They reported she was handsome, upright and graceful but she seemed simple too. The Duke's reply was "My friends, return to Scotland and bring her here, she is all I desire, and I will have no other; your clever women do more harm than good".
Isabella was married to Francis I, Duke of Brittany
at the Château d'Auray on October 30, 1442, after which the whole court went to Rennes
for eight days of festivities.
Upon the death of her sister Margaret, Isabella penned an illuminated prayer book of hours Livre d'Isabeau d'Escosse, which is still in preserved to this day. Like her father she had some reputation as a poet.
She had two children:
Upon her husband's death in 1450, there were talks of Isabella's marrying Charles, Prince of Viana, heir to the disputed Kingdom of Navarre
, but this proposal fell through due to the disapproval of Charles VII of France
. Her brother James II made vigorous efforts to persuade her to return to Scotland , where he hoped to arrange a second marriage for her. Isabella however refused,saying that she was happy and popular in Brittany and was in any case too frail to travel, and complaining that her brother had never paid her dowry. Isabella died in 1494, which suggests that her claims of ill health 40 years earlier were much exaggerated.
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Isabella of Scotland, Countess of Norfolk
Not to be confused with Isabella of Scotland, Duchess of BrittanyIsabella of Scotland also known as Isobel or Isabel was a daughter of William the Lion, King of Scotland and his wife Ermengarde de Beaumont...
Isabella Stewart (autumn of 1426 – 13 October 1494/5 March 1499) was a Scottish
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
princess and by marriage the Duchess of Brittany. Also known as Isabel Stewart and Isabel of Scotland, she was the second daughter of James I of Scotland
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
and Joan Beaufort
Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland
Joan Beaufort was the Queen Consort of Scotland from 1424 to 1437 as the spouse of King James I of Scotland. During part of the minority of her son James II , she served as the Regent of Scotland....
and the second wife of Duke Francis I of Brittany
Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Francis I , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort and titular earl of Richmond, from 1442 to his death. He was son of Duke John VI and Joan of France.He first married, at Nantes in 1431, Yolande of Anjou Francis I (in Breton Fransez I, in French François I) (Vannes/Gwened, May 14, 1414 –...
.
It was said she was more beautiful than her elder sister Margaret, who married the Dauphin of France, and that John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI the Wise , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort, and titular earl of Richmond, from 1399 to his death...
proposed to marry her to his son; thus he sent ambassadors to Scotland to take a description of her. They reported she was handsome, upright and graceful but she seemed simple too. The Duke's reply was "My friends, return to Scotland and bring her here, she is all I desire, and I will have no other; your clever women do more harm than good".
Isabella was married to Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Francis I, Duke of Brittany
Francis I , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort and titular earl of Richmond, from 1442 to his death. He was son of Duke John VI and Joan of France.He first married, at Nantes in 1431, Yolande of Anjou Francis I (in Breton Fransez I, in French François I) (Vannes/Gwened, May 14, 1414 –...
at the Château d'Auray on October 30, 1442, after which the whole court went to Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
for eight days of festivities.
Upon the death of her sister Margaret, Isabella penned an illuminated prayer book of hours Livre d'Isabeau d'Escosse, which is still in preserved to this day. Like her father she had some reputation as a poet.
She had two children:
- Margaret of Brittany (1443–1469, Nantes), married Francis II, Duke of Brittany
- Marie of Brittany (1444–1506), married John II, viscount of Rohan and count of Porhoët
Upon her husband's death in 1450, there were talks of Isabella's marrying Charles, Prince of Viana, heir to the disputed Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
, but this proposal fell through due to the disapproval of Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
. Her brother James II made vigorous efforts to persuade her to return to Scotland , where he hoped to arrange a second marriage for her. Isabella however refused,saying that she was happy and popular in Brittany and was in any case too frail to travel, and complaining that her brother had never paid her dowry. Isabella died in 1494, which suggests that her claims of ill health 40 years earlier were much exaggerated.
Ancestry
Sources
- Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families
- Annie Forbes Bush Memoirs of the Queens of France
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