Well, the first illustration is of a younger Isabella than is indicated in what follows. This Isabella was, of course, the wife of Edward II and the mother of Edward III. Hughes is very specific about her this time, whereas on another occasion he was vague and it was impossible to know to which Isabella he was referring. It could have been the second queen of Richard II. The so-called She-wolf of France supposedly died at around the age of 62, which rather makes a mockery of the little story I have come upon in the book called The Rise of Alchemy in Fourteenth-Century England by Jonathan Hughes.
According to Hughes (and BL. MS Sloane 964, fol.93) “….Isabella’s continuing interest in pharmacological alchemical medicine and its ability to prolong youth and life was shown by her use of an elixir vitae recorded by the physician John Argentine (another of them!) so that when she was 70 years old and decrepit she availed herself of it with such gratifying results that she was still capable of copulating with young men forty times….”
Um…cripes! That was quite some feat for a woman who’d been dead for up seven to eight years! It must have been one heck of a pick-me-up!
So, either she was older that 62-ish when she died, or she can’t have been 70. As for the efficacy of the miracle brew, I’ve added my name to the list of eager purchasers! I’ll let you know.
In the meantime – Have an excellent Christmas, everyone!
The New Murrey and Blue blog 
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