30,000 marks (an amount sought by the Emperor in order to fund his wars in northern Italy), which was to be paid within two years, and as a wedding gift he gave her all the necessary utensils, jewelry, horses and rich clothes, all made according to the latest German fashion; also, the princess received patent letters from the Emperor, giving Isabella, as Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress the possession of the lands due to her. On 27 February both parties signed the marriage contract: the marriage of the English princess with the Holy Roman Emperor was greeted with enthusiasm by both King Henry III and by the common people, although the latter was greatly disappointed by the enormous "help" required of him on this occasion: the King had to levy an unpopular tax of two marks of silver per hide in order to afford Isabella's dowry. In early May 1235, Archbishop Heinrich I of Cologne and Duke Henry I of Brabant arrived in England to fetch the bride to her new homeland; Isabella departed from London on 7 May under the care and tutelage of the Bishop of Exeter, William Briwere. The princess's brothers accompanied her from Canterbury to Sandwich, from where Isabella sailed on 11 May; four days later they landed at Antwerp. Before Isabella's departure from England, the Emperor's ambassadors swore to King Henry III that if the Emperor died before marriage to the princess could be completed, she would return home without hindrance and in complete safety. It was rumored that on the way, the Emperor's enemies, allied with the French king, tried to kidnap Isabella, but the escort provided by Emperor Frederick II was able to protect the princess. In 22 or 24 May, Isabella arrived in Cologne and stayed at the house of provost of St. Gereon, where the princess had to spend six weeks, while the Emperor was at war with his own son. Empress After a six-week wait, Emperor Frederick II summoned his bride to Worms, where their official wedding took place and Isabella was crowned at Worms Cathedral by Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz. Researchers disagree on the date of this double event: Alison Weir and Mary Anne Everett Green date it 20 July 1235; Kate Norgate, author of the article on Isabella in the Dictionary of National Biography, writes about Sunday 15 July, while James Panton lists both dates