Ysabella

Who is Ysabella?

Ysabel or Ysabella was a 13th-century trobairitz. Almost nothing is known about her with certainty, but many conjectures have been put forward. She has been identified with:

⁕Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem, daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and Maria Comnena, widow of Conrad of Montferrat

⁕Isabella, Marchioness of Bodonitsa, daughter of Guy Pallavicini

⁕Isabella, Triarch of Negroponte, widow of Ravano dalle Carceri

⁕An otherwise unnamed daughter of William V of Montferrat, sister of Boniface of Thessalonica, and wife of Albert Malaspina

⁕An otherwise unknown woman from the Périgord

Ysabella is mentioned three times in the verses of Elias Cairel. "Estat ai dos ans" is addressed a ma dona Ysabelh. The tornada of "Mout mi platz lo doutz temps d'abril" contains the line Don'Izabel, ma chanso prezen: to Lady Isabel, my love song. "Pois chai la fuoilla del garric" also mentions ma dona Izabel. Elias travelled to Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and was in Thessalonica, at the court of Boniface, by 1207. By 1215 he was back in Italy, where he remained until 1225. It is possible that he met Isabella either in Greece or in Italy, if she was a relative of Boniface or the Pellavicini.