John, King of England Normandy and Anjou until 1259, but John's continental losses and the consequent growth of Capetian power in the 13th century proved to mark a "turning point in European history". John's first wife, Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, was released from imprisonment in 1214; she remarried twice, and died in 1217. John's second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, left England for Angoulême soon after the king's death; she became a powerful regional leader, but largely abandoned the children she had had by John. John had five legitimate children, all by Isabella. His eldest son, Henry III, ruled as King of England for the
Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile him arrested and tried. King John did as his wife asked, and the de Luna was executed. The death of his favourite saddened the king, and his health began to decline rapidly. On 15 November 1453, Isabella gave birth to a son, Alfonso, and nine months later, John came to his deathbed, expiring at last on 20 July 1454. Henry IV, newly divorced from Blanche, became king. After Henry ascended the throne, he sent his stepmother, who was three years younger than himself, and his two little half-siblings to the Castle of Arévalo. While there, the dowager queen and her