Hello and welcome to the Queens of England podcast. Episode 22, Isabel of France, the daughter of the carbuncle.

Richard's grief over the loss of his first wife and of Bohemia cannot be understated.

He was devoted to his wife, his constant companion for 12 years of a reign, where he had very few people that he could rely on.

That said, he did not wait long before seeking a new bride.

He was still young, and the issue of succession had not yet been settled. Like I said last time,

there was a possibility that Richard chose a life of celibacy rather than his own infertility foisting that choice upon him. But the speed of his second marriage does suggest that perhaps

securing the

succession was on his mind. Of course, his motives could have been purely diplomatic as well,

we just don't know. Now, you may have noticed that this episode is a little shorter than you are

perhaps used to. That is because, spoiler alert, this marriage is not going to last very long.

Richard's nobles are about to see to that. That said, this does afford us an opportunity.

Normally, to squeeze everything in, I tend to rush past certain aspects such as the complex

negotiations leading out to a marriage, so that we can get to the good stuff. However, this

Queen's reign, as we will see, is unlike any other that we have seen so far,

so there will be a lot more focus on the lead-up to the marriage than normal.

Treat it as a case study in how a royal marriage is arranged, and the different motivations involved.

Trust me, it's worth a closer look.

First, let's take a look at what was going on in Europe at the death of Anabohemia in 1394.

On the foreign front, England was at peace with France.

While this period is all lumped together by history textbooks as being part of the quote-unquote 100 years' war,

the fact is that it wasn't one war, more a series of wars all fought over the same subject

over the period of 116 years from 1337 to 1453. There were two significant periods of peace

...