[00:02.228]As a young bride
[00:03.484]she'd been little more than a decorative accessory to a diplomatic alliance,
[00:07.924]but as the mother of the future King of England,
[00:10.782]she had the possibility of real power.
[00:15.635]But what Isabella was seeking at this time
[00:17.999]was no more than the conventional role of a Queen,
[00:20.840]not power for herself,
[00:22.980]but to support her husband.
[00:28.946]Tradition gave the Queen a formal role as a peacemaker.
[00:32.234]Even a warrior King could show mercy
[00:34.165]if his consort knelt before him in public to beg for peace.
[00:38.159]Isabella's husband was no warrior king,
[00:40.357]but she was a peacemaking Queen,
[00:42.527]and now she helped to forge a brittle truce between Edward and his nobles.
[00:49.499]But almost immediately her husband undermined her efforts.
[00:55.916]In 1314 the army he led 1314
[00:58.608]suffered the most humiliating defeat
[01:00.756]of any English King at the hands of the Scots.