Isabel,

called She-wolf of France. The adulterous queen of Edward II., daughter of Philippe IV. (le Bel) of France. According to tradition, she murdered her royal husband by thrusting a hot iron into his bowels.

“Mark the year and mark the night

When Severn shall re-echo with affright

The shrieks of death through Berkley’s roofs that ring,

Shrieks of an agonising king.

She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,

That tearʹst the bowels of thy mangled mate!”

Gray: The Bard.

Isʹabel. The Spanish form of Elizabeth. The French form is Isabelle.

· ·

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.