Isabella: And the Strange Death of Edward II

by Paul Doherty

Book Overview

For good reason, the queen in chess inherits its fearsome power on the game board from the reputedly murderous maneuvers of the fourteenth-century Queen Isabella of England, as historian and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786711930
• ISBN13: 9780786711932
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Thought provoking and well researched

Compared to Alison Weir's biographical work on Isabella, this book, as the title would suggest, is concentrated mostly on the events surrounding her husband's death. As such, I think the book does a very good job of describing the generally accepted version of events, while exploring less-supported, though quite possible, alternate theories. What I liked most about the second half of the book was that the author analyzed numerous parts of significant documents almost line by line, which helps the reader develop his or her own conclusions about the likelihood of certain events. Also, the main text is just over 200 pages, which is very digestible. In other words, non-history fanatics will be able to take something away from this book. The book is definitely not sympathetic toward Queen Isabella, which is a large contrast with Weir's work (I don't mean to make Weir's book the standard, but it is probably the only other modern and well-circulated book on these events). At the same time, the book is not overly critical of her, either. While there are several references to Isabella as feigning the "grieving widow," following Edward II's death, I think most readers would assess that as a fair interpretation of her anyway. Overall, if you are mostly interested in the "main event" in the marriage of King Edward II and Queen Isabella of France, you will not be disappointed by this book. It is a good, quick and informational read. I'd also recommend Alison Weir's book "Queen Isabella" which includes more information on the couple's earlier years.

Did Edward Bluff His Way Out of the Poker Game?

If your knowledge of Edward II is as sketchy as mine was, you'll think that the strange death in the title of Paul C. Doherty's book refers to the gruesome manner in which Edward was supposedly assassinated. Edward is widely thought to have been killed by, in the translated words of a contemporary chronicler, "a red hot poker being thrust up into his bowels." Certainly that is a strange death, but Doherty finds evidence that there is much more strangeness in what happened after Edward's downfall. Doherty agrees with most historians up to the point where Edward is captured, imprisoned in Berkeley Castle, and forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Edward III. Only fifteen years old, Edward III would be subject to his mother's control, and that of his mother's lover, Roger Mortimer. Accepted history says that Edward II tried to escape from Berkeley Castle in 1327, was quickly captured, then killed by agents of Mortimer. Doherty thinks Edward's escape was successful and that Isabella and Mortimer buried a look-alike to prevent attempts to reinstate Edward II. He offers several possibilities about what happened to Edward II after escaping, but comes to no definitive conclusion other than that he was not murdered at Berkeley Castle and is probably not buried in the tomb that bears his name in Gloucester Cathedral. Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II is a short book, only 262 pages including footnotes, bibliography, and index. Doherty explains everything lucidly enough so that I was swept up right into history without knowing much about the characters beforehand. He explains the sources and their biases, and how he came to his conclusions. If you enjoy Doherty's book, you may also like Alison Weir's Queen Isabella (2005), in which Weir goes a step beyond Doherty, and decides that Edward II not only escaped, but ended up a hermit in Italy until he died in 1341.

An Engaging Entry Into Edward II & Isabella's World

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written, logically formatted book. Unlike many non-fiction works covering this period in history, the auther manages to provide a great many pertinent facts without confusing the reader. Mr. Dougherty's hypothesis is that perhaps Edward II was not killed and may well have escaped his imprisonment and lived out the rest of his life abroad in exile. Could it be that the body contained in a tomb in Gloucester Cathedral does not belong to King Edward II? The arguments in this regard are convincing, reasonable and thus, most interesting to ponder. The absence of photographs was a slight disappointment but they are not integral to the understanding of this very good book.