as possible. Wedding celebrations lasted for four days, and, as they say, they attended "four kings, eleven dukes, counts and margraves, thirty or fewer prelates and minor nobles". On 14 August, Emperor Frederick II called an assembly to which representatives from all over the Empire were invited; they met the new empress and brought her their congratulations. Isabella (or Elizabeth, as some of her husband's subjects called her) seems to have been a very dignified and beautiful woman. Frederick was delighted with his new wife, but immediately after the wedding he got rid of the Isabella's English entourage "of both sexes", leaving only her nurse Margaret Biset and one maid with her, and transferred her to seclusion in Hagenau, where the couple spent most of the winter. Earlier, the English embassy, which arrived with Isabella, left for their homeland; they brought gifts to their king from the emperor, among whom were three living leopards —animals depicted on the coat of arms of the English king. Soon after the wedding, Emperor Frederick II was forced to leave and leave his wife in the care of his son Conrad. In early 1236, Isabella and her husband visited Ravenna; part of the year the imperial couple spent in Italy, after which they returned to Germany. Already being married, Isabella continued to maintain a relationship with her brother King Henry III: they maintained a regular correspondence, in which they communicated as warmly as strict etiquette allowed. Warm correspondence with the English king was conducted by the Emperor himself, but the name of his wife was mentioned in these letters occasionally and only regarding political issues. In July, Emperor Frederick II was preparing for a military campaign and was forced to leave his wife in Germany for almost a year. By Michael's Day, Emperor Frederick II returned to Lombardy, where he summoned his wife and where he spent the winter with her. In September 1238, the emperor sent his wife to Andria, where Isabella remained until December, when the archbishop of Palermo escorted her back to Lombardy. In early 1239, Isabella spent some time in Noventa Padovana while her husband was in Padua; in February 1240 she returned to southern Italy, where the emperor soon arrived. Emperor Frederick II, it seems, respected and loved his wife, but in a quite strange manner: taking care of her safety and surrounding her with luxury and splendor, but