Isabel of Conches, (–1102) wife of Ralph of Tosny, rode armed like a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

during a conflict in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the late 11th century and was born in Montfort sur Risle, Eure, Normandy, in 1057.

Early life

She was the daughter of

Simon I de Montfort Simon I of Montfort or Simon de Montfort ( – 25 September 1087) was a French nobleman. He was born in Montfort l'Amaury, near Paris, and became its Seigneur, lord. He was the son of Amaury I de Montfort and Bertrade. At his death he was buried ...

Marriage and issue

Isabel married Raoul II of Tosny, they had: *Roger, died young. * Raoul IV de Conches, married Alice of Huntingdon, daughter of

Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria (, ) (died 31 May 1076) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I. Early life Waltheof was the second son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. ...

, and

Judith of Lens Judith of Lens (born Normandy, between 1054 and 1055 - died Fotheringhay, c. 1090) was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Adelaide of Normandy (Countess of Aumale), the sister of William the ...

. * Godehilde married

Baldwin I of Jerusalem Baldwin I (1060s – 2 April 1118) was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblew ...

The legend

The chronicler

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...

in the Ecclesiastical history describes Isabel in some detail. Orderic describes Isabel "joyful, generous, daring and well loved by all." He describes her in the hall of Conches, listening to knights talk about their dreams. Isabel unfortunately also had a conflictual relationship with her sister-in-law, Helewise of Évreux. The disagreement reached a point that her husband took up arms against

William, Count of Évreux William of Évreux or William d'Évreux (; died 18 April 1118) was a member of the House of Normandy who played an influential role during the Norman people, Norman Norman conquest of England, conquest of Anglo-Saxon England, England, one of the ...

.Hicks, Leonie V., ''A Short History of the Normans'' Both families came to open war in 1091–92, when William attacked Conches. During the ensuing conflict, Isabel is said to have worn armor, joined her knights on the battlefield. The chronicler describes her in the following manner: "In war she rode armed as a knight among the knights; and she showed no less courage among the knights in hauberks and sergeants-at-arms than did the maid Camilla, the pride of Italy, among the troops of Turnus. She deserved comparison with Lampeto and Marpesia, Hippolyta and Penthesilea and the other warlike Amazon queens." He gives no further description of her role in the battle. Isabel may have encouraged the knights, or perhaps fought actively, as the comparisons to these warlike heroines seem to suggest. A settlement was finally reached between the warring families.

Later life and death

According to the chronicle, Isabel ended up in a nunnery where she "worthily reformed her life". Isabel died on 24 April 1102, in Saint-Rémy-l'Honoré, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France, at the age of 44, and was buried in Rambouillet, Seine-et-Oise, Île-de-France, France.

References

Bibliography

* * * Johns, Susan M
''Noblewomen, aristocracy and power in the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm''
Manchester University Press, 2003, p. 14. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isabel of Conches Medieval French knights Women in medieval European warfare Women in war in France 11th-century French women 11th-century French people 11th-century French nobility Women in 11th-century warfare 1050s births 1102 deaths