Isabella Of Hainaut

Isabella Of Hainaut (1170-1190), queen of France, was the daughter of Baldwin V., count of Hainaut, and Margaret, sister of Philip of Alsace, and was born in 1170 at Lille. She was married to Philip Augustus, and brought to him as her dowry the province of Artois. She was crowned at St Denis on the 29th of May 1180. As Baldwin V. claimed to be a descendant of Charlemagne, the chroniclers of the time saw in this marriage a union of the Carolingian and Capetian dynasties. Though she received extravagant praise from certain annalists, she failed to win the affections of Philip, who, in 1184, waging war against Flanders, was angered at seeing Baldwin support his enemies, and called a council at Sens for the purpose of repudiating her. Robert, the king’s uncle, successfully interposed. She died in childbirth in 1190, and was buried in the church of Notre Dame in Paris. Her son became Louis VIII. of France.