ornamented sword-belt set with gems, white embroidered gloves, one adorned with an emerald, and another with a topaz, and a sceptre studded all over with sparkling diamonds and rubies. Isabella had been a Queen but a few years, when John, guilty as he himself was of gross conjugal infidelity, upbraided ber with jealous suspicions. According to a contemporary writer, her character was not the most seemly, and, therefore, the brutal King, her husband, revenged himself on the man he supposed to be her paramour, by having him and two others, thought to be his accomplices, put to death with revolting cruelty, after which he secretly hanged their dead bodies at the foot of her bed, in plight so shocking to behold, that when she unexpectedly discovered them, she swooned, and was sorely sick for more than a week afterwards. History saith not when this tragedy was perpetrated, but Isabella certainly was imprisoned immediately afterwards. Coggcshall mentions that she was confined at Duiistcr, in 1209 ; and there is an order in the Patent Polls, directing Theodoric de Tecs " to hasten to Gloucester with our Lady Queen, and keep her in the chamber where our Princess Joanna was born till we otherwise direct." We, therefore, cannot err much in naming 1208 as the year when her incarceration commenced. How long it continued is unknown ; but as she inherited the province of Angoumoisin 1213, and as her mother, the Countess of Angoulême, to avoid the troubles of Aquitaine, then came to England of her own free will, and resided on terms of amity with John, it is probable that, at that period, Isabella was restored to her husband's affections and her queenly state. This conjecture is further strengthened by the dates of the births of her children by John—two Princes and three Princesses. Henry, afterwards King of England, was horn at Winchester, in 1207; Richard entered the world in the following year ; the Princess Joanna came into existence, probably in Normandy, in 1203 ; Isabella first saw the light, in England, about the year 1204; and Eleanora, the youngest daughter, in tha year following. Thus, between the birth of Richard and Isabella there is a period of about six years, which, doubtless, was occasioned by the imprisonment of the Queen. CHAPTER II. The King of France having conquered Normandy, Anjou, and Maine, invades Poitou —Count Hugh marries Isabella's daughter, Joanna—He drives the French out of Poitou—John causes Matilda the Fair to be murdered—Signs Magna Charta— His violent rage—lie retires to the Isle of Wight—Einerges from his concealment, and ravages the country—Barons offer the crown to Louis—He lands in England —John is joined by some of the Barons—Loses his regalia and treasure—Dies— Cause of his death—His burial-place—Progress of the nation during his reign— Isabella causes Prince Henry to be crowned King—The French driven from the land—Isabella hated by the nation—She retires to AngouUme—Marries her first lover, Count Hugh—Her dower is withheld from her—She detains the Princess Joanna— Causes a war with France—Sues and obtains pardonfrom the French King —Attempts the life of King Louis—Retires to Fontevraud—Narrow escape of her husband and son—She dies—Her tomb—Death of her husband—Her children. ' Τ taking advantage of the cowardice, the weakness, and the cruelty of John, the crafty and energetic Ercnch King, Philip, had already reunited to France the vast territories of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine ; and, flushed by these successes, he, the year after John's disgraceful surrender of his crown into the hands of the legate, Pandufph, invaded the Poictevin provinces, whither John, in a fit of desperation, proceeded with his Queen, and formed an alliance with Count Hugh de Lusignan, who, up to this time, had remained a bachelor, and