Isabella of England Isabella of England Isabella of England (1214 – 1 December 1241) was Holy Roman Empress, Queen of the Germans, and queen consort of Sicily. She was the fourth child and second daughter of John, King of England and Isabella of Angoulême. At a friendly meeting at Rieti, Pope Gregory IX suggested to Emperor Frederick II that he marry princess Isabella, a sister of King Henry III of England. At first Frederick II was concerned to lose his French allies; but when he realized that an English marriage might end the ongoing Anglo-French feud and constitute an important step towards the
John, King of England however, was already engaged to Hugh of Lusignan, an important member of a key Poitou noble family and brother of Count Raoul of Eu, who possessed lands along the sensitive eastern Normandy border. Just as John stood to benefit strategically from marrying Isabella, so the marriage threatened the interests of the Lusignans, whose own lands currently provided the key route for royal goods and troops across Aquitaine. Rather than negotiating some form of compensation, John treated Hugh "with contempt"; this resulted in a Lusignan uprising that was promptly crushed by John, who also intervened to suppress Raoul in Normandy. Although