Rumour and reputation management in fourteenth-century England: Isabella of France in text and image

The extraordinary political actions of Queen Isabella of France between 1325 and 1330 provoked intense public discussion, partly as a result of deliberate efforts made by the queen, her allies and her opponents to influence public opinion through the dissemination of defamatory rumours. This essay explores the role of art and architecture in this process, discussing stained glass, manuscript illuminations and satirical protest badges. Analysis of the east window of the St Lucy Chapel of St Frideswide's Priory, Oxford, in the context of local rumours and information sources suggests that even the most expensive, public, permanent and monumental artistic commissions could be drawn into more ephemeral political debates. Intersecting with defamatory political discourses from which the majority of chronicle accounts sought to keep a careful distance, these sources offer a new perspective on the norms of early fourteenth-century English political culture.