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Hello and welcome to the Queens of England podcast.

Episode 12, Isabel of Ombulam, Isabel or Jezebel?

Music To start with this week, we need again to backtrack a little bit, and look back at the early life of King John before his marriage to Isabel of Angouloglem.

So the year is 1183. Eleanor was 10 years into her period of captivity.

Henry the young king had just died, and Henry II was desperate to find something for his

favourite son John to rule over. If you pull your minds back to episode 9, a major source of

confrontation between the king and his

sons was over this question of John's inheritance. Indeed, it can be argued that it was the reason

behind pretty much every conflict that Henry had had with his sons after the imprisonment of Eleanor.

With his heir dead, Henry tried to reshuffle the realm by getting Richard to give up his inheritance

in Akritain in favour of John, and Richard would be the new heir to the throne. Richard liked the

being the heir part of the deal, but refused to give John anything. This led to yet another

civil war which lasted for a year. So what could Henry give his whiny, ambitious son?

Well, he sent him to Ireland.

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