ST. ISABEL 4i: for him, and she promised him the next she made, and sent the first to a poor sick woman. Two of her ladies of the bouse of Montfort, who heard the con- versation between the two saints, went and bought the cap for a large sum from the woman. They kept it as long as they lived, and after their death it was given to the nuns of St. Antony, who preserved it as a relic. Miracles having occurred at her tomb, numbers of pilgrims flocked to the shrine of Notre Dame du Lac de Boulogne. Some charities established by Isabelle brought together a large assemblage and gave rise to disorder ; instead of pilgrims, young noblemen went to visit the nuns, and scandals caused the resort to Bou- logne to go out of fashion. Then sacred concerts were instituted during Holy Week, the nuns sang, concealed from sight ; the church was beautifully deco- rated with flowers. All the fashion of Paris resorted to the concerts, the ladies appearing for the first time in their new spring costumes there. But new scandals arose; the church became a place of appointments, not at all spiritual or proper, and the concerts were suppressed by the bishop, but the promenade to Longchamps in Holy Week continued until the Revolution. On the site of the Abbey of Longchamps now stands the residence of Baron de Rothschild. A.B.M., Bomano Seraphic Mart. Baillet. Butler. Cronica Sernficn, vol. iv. White- hurst, Court and SocUU Life undar Napolcoti III. St. Isabel (2), July 8, l^, 11. Queen of Portugal, b. 1271, +1336. Called Isabel de Paz, the Mother of Peace, Mother of her country ; in Latin and German, Elisabeth. In a letter pre- served by Cardoso she signs her name Ilisabet. Youngest child of Peter III., king of Aragon (1276-1285); her mother was Constance of Sicily, granddaughter of the emperor, Frederick II. Isabel was bom during the life of her grandfather James the Conqueror, king of Aragon (1213-1276), whose wife was Violante of Hungary, half-sister of St. Elisabeth (11), landgravine of Hess and Thuringia. Isabel was bom at Saragossa. Her wonderful gift of peace-making began with her life or perhaps with her christen- ing, which placed her under the special patronage of her sainted great-aunt Elizabeth ; for before her birth, her father, the Infante Pedro, was not on speaking terms with his father. King Jayme, however, took a great fancy to his little granddaughter and made up his quarrel. In 1282, when scarcely eleven years old, she was married to Dom Diniz or Denis, king of Portugal (1279-1325), sumamed the husbandman. She had a son, Alfonso, who succeeded his father ; and a daughter, Constance, who in 1301 married Ferdinand lY., king of Castile (1295-1312). Diniz had a great admiration and re- gard for her, but he was by no means a pattern husband ; and her self-e£facing, peace-loving disposition was never more conspicuous than in her toleration of his infidelities and her kindness to his ille- gitimate children. She was rewarded for her patience and forbearance by the entire restoration of his affection and confidence. It was soon observed in her own and other countries that God had given her a special gift of peace-making, and princes from all parts of Europe referred their differences to her. Soon after her arrival at her husband's court, he quarrelled with his brother Alfonso. Isabel, who had hardly emerged from childhood, besought the bishops and the king's counsellors to bring the brothers to an agreement, and as the dispute turned upon the division of their property, she voluntarily gave up part of her ^own settlement and persuaded the king to give his brother the income ho demanded. Isabel's brother, James, king of Ara« gon, went to war with her son-in-law, Ferdinand, king of Castile, for the pos- session of some lands they had taken from the Moors. She prevailed on them to meet her and her husband at Turiaso, where their kingdoms touched, in July, 1304. They came there with their queens, so that it was a family gathering. Isabel met her relations so affectionately that they were all delighted to take her view of circumstances, and all agreed to accept the friendly arbitration of D6ni&.
