View source for Isabella de Braose

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'''Isabella, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon''' (c. 1222 &ndash; c. 1248) was the eldest daughter of [[William de Braose (died 1230)|William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny]], and his wife [[Eva Marshal]] (daughter of [[William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke]]). Isabella was married to [[Dafydd ap Llywelyn|Dafydd II, Prince of Wales]], though their marriage proved childless.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales">Lloyd, J.E., ''A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest'', Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. 2004, Isabella de Braose, pages 213, 222, 384 note 69, Earl Marshall as guardian of the Braose lands 214</ref>
== Marriage ==
William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny, one of the most powerful barons in the [[Welsh Marches]], had been captured in battle by [[Llywelyn the Great|Llywelyn, Prince of Gwynedd]], in 1228.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> William had to agree to three important principles before Llywelyn would release him.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> Firstly, William was to pay a ransom of £2,000, "a sum corresponding so precisely to that which Llywelyn had to pay the king that it is reasonable to conjecture that the prince meant the one liability to discharge the other," according to J.E. Lloyd.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> William de Braose then had to agree never to take up arms against Llywelyn ever again.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/>  Lastly, William had to agree to arrange the marriage between his eldest daughter and [[Abeyance|co-heiress]] Isabella, with the lordship and castle of Builth as her marriage dowry, to Dafydd, Llywelyn’s heir. With these terms agreed to, William was released in 1229.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/>
The alliance by marriage between the Welsh principality and the vast Braose holdings in mid and south Wales would solidify the principality’s southern borders. "The two magnates seemed to be about to enter into a close alliance when the tie was suddenly snapped by Llywelyn’s discovery of an intrigue, no doubt set on foot during the period of captivity, between William and [Llywelyn's] wife," wrote Lloyd.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> During a friendly visit paid by William de Braose to Llywelyn at his court at [[Abergwyngregyn|Aber]] at Eastertide, Llywelyn happened upon his wife Joan with William de Braose, "in the dead of night".<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> Discovering the affair, Llywelyn had Joan and William both separately imprisoned.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> As the scandal reached all across Wales and the March of William’s capture "the enemies of his house hastened from every quarter to see this scone of a hated stock brought to his account," wrote Lloyd, "even had Llywelyn been in the mood to resist the tide of popular passion, he might have found it hard to withstand the demand that William should die."<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/>
{{quote|On 2nd of May, at a certain manor called ‘Crokein, he was made ‘Crogyn, i.e. hanged on a tree, and this not privily or in the night time, but openly and in the broad daylight, in the presence of more than 800 men assembled to behold the piteous and melancholy spectacle.|Abbot of Vaundey as quoted by J.E. Lloyd., ''History of Wales from the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest, page 213.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/>}}
However, Llywelyn did not wish to jeopardize an otherwise shrewd political marriage, and wrote to William’s widow Eva and her brother [[William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke]], who was now guardian to Isabella and her sisters the Braose co-heiresses,  of his wish for the marriage to continue.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> Isabella was married to Dafydd, the future Prince of Wales, in 1230.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/><ref>Lloyd suggests their marriage was in 1230, ''History of Wales from the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest,'' page 222</ref>
==Later life==
Dafydd became ruler of [[Gwynedd]] and the prominent Welsh leader following Llywelyn's death in 1240, and was recognised as [[Prince of Wales]] by his uncle, King [[Henry III of England]].  Isabella's marriage with Dafydd proved childless. Her dowry of the [[Welsh peers and baronets|lordship]] and castle of [[Builth]] was contested by the English crown, and with the 1247 Treaty of Woodstock it was transferred to the crown.<ref name="Isabella, Princess of Wales"/> However, as heiress of her mother Isabella did inherit the castle of [[Haverfordwest Castle|Haverfordwest]], lands in [[Caerleon]] and in [[ Glamorgan]]. Additionally,  she inherited livestock and other property in [[Welsh law]] as widow of Prince Dafydd.  The cattle were transferred to the land of the Earl of Gloucester in August 1246.{{fact|date=November 2021}}
==Historical novels==
Princess Isabella appears as a minor character in several historical novels:
*Raymond Foxall (1959) ''Song for a Prince: The Story of Llywelyn the Great'' covers the period from King John's invasion in 1211 to the execution of William de Braose.
*[[Sharon Kay Penman]] (1985) ''[[Here be Dragons]]'' Isabella appears as a minor character wed to Dafydd, Prince of Wales.
*[[Edith Pargeter]] (1960–63) "The Heaven Tree Trilogy" features Llywelyn, Joan, William de Braose, and several of Llywelyn's sons as major characters, amongst them Dafydd with Isabella appearing as his wife.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.thepeerage.com/p4179.htm#i41783 The Peerage on Isabella de Braose]
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[[Category:Princesses of Wales]]
[[Category:1220s births]]
[[Category:1240s deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Welsh nobility]]
[[Category:13th-century Welsh women]]