Queen Isabella of England, She-wolf of France

Hugh le Despenser's greed rapidly outgrew Gaveston's. He stole lands from relatives, disinheriting them. There were rumours that he tortured one heiress until she lost her mind and then confiscated her lands on grounds of insanity. He boasted of his cruelty and influence and rapidly became as hated as Gaveston had been.

In 1322 despite losses like the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Edward launched another campaign against the Scots. This time, when the action failed, he fled with Despenser, leaving Queen Isabella and her ladies at the mercy of the Scots. Facing torture, with two of her ladies killed, Isabella escaped by sea in a dangerous voyage, evading the Flemish navy.

Exiled briefly at the demand of Isabella and the Barons after the Scots campaing, Despenser turned to piracy. This earned him a death sentence in France, although as the King of France was Isabella's brother it was already an unsafe land for him to travel in. Despite this proof of Despenser's character, Edward quickly overruled his advisers and brought his favourite home.

Despenser's retaliation was simple. Isabella's lands were confiscated and she was placed under house arrest. This removed a rival for the King's attentions, and by playing on the suspicion that as a Frenchwoman she would not be loyal to England, he undermined her support. Even her household staff were changed to those of his choosing.

In 1325 events reached a head. Some say at the urgings of Despenser, Edward II refused to pay homage to the King of France over the French lands he held. Charles IV of France confiscated them.

Sir William Trufsell and Other Deputies
Receiving the Resignation of Edward II
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Edward II was deposed and imprisoned. In 1327 it is widely believed he was murdered in prison by means of a red hot poker.

His son, Edward III, took the throne under his mother's regency. He was only fourteen so under age to hold it in his own right. However he disapproved of Roger Mortimer who formed a close relationship with his mother. The dislike went both ways, and Mortimer did not treat the young king well.

"Fair son, have pity on the gentle Mortimer."

Isabella's unsuccessful plea to Edward III on behalf of Roger Mortimer.

Isabella of France Consort of Edward II
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Edward III began to suspect (probably correctly) that Mortimer planned to kill him. To prevent this, immediately after he came of age, he overthrew the regency and executed Mortimer despite his mother's pleas.

The traditional story is that Isabella went mad from grief and was banished from court, but this seems to have been a medieval chronicler's imagination, as she was known to have joined an convent, a usual retirement for widows or noble ladies who sought seclusion from the world. She was also known to have made many visits to her son's court, which is unlikely if she had actually been banished.

When she eventually died in 1358, despite having taken the nun's habit and joined the order of the Poor Clares, she was buried in her wedding dress.

Her son, Edward III, would become widely renowned as one of England's strongest monarchs.

This movie got more than a few things wrong about Isabella of France. Had she met William Wallace she would have been no more than a child, having been born in 1295. William Wallace was executed in 1305. Her oldest child, Edward III was born in 1312, so was definitely not Wallace's son.

Edward I tried repeatedly to break off the engagement so if it had played out as in the film, and she had been pregnant by William Wallace, he would have gleefully packed her off to France in disgrace or possibly executed her for treason as happened to her brother's wives.

Rather than falling in love with the Scottish leader she came closest to, Isabella barely escaped torture and disgrace (despite being the sister of his closest ally) because she fled by sea - unheard of for noble ladies of the time - and two of her ladies were killed during her escape.

Isabella and her husband's timeline make it exceptionally unlikely that any of the children were anyone other than Edward II's. And finally given Edward III's attitude to Scotland (which can be summed up as "conveniently placed for invasion") William Wallace would probably have been appalled to have him as a son.

But then, those are hardly the only problems with that movie (the Scots handed Wallace over to the English for very good reasons, conveniently omitted) so enjoy it as what it is - fiction.