Eleanor of Aquitaine of the House of Poitiers, was first Queen of France, then Queen of England. One of the most influential women of the Middle Ages.
Day One of the tour began with a visit to my favorite cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris. The first stone was laid in 1163, under the supervision of the Bishop of Paris, Maurice Sully, and the consecration of the high altar in the choir was done in 1182. It would become one of the gems … Continue reading ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE TOUR–DAY ONE, PARIS →
We talk about Eleanor's life after her divorce from Louis VII...and there is a lot of life to talk about.
The husbands and wives of the monarch who managed to carve out their own roles in society - whether through wielding their own political influence, or impacting social causes close to their own hearts
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The house Anjou-Plantagenet was a French-born dynasty. From 1154 to 1399 she put in a direct line, the kings of England.
Product Information Height: 14 in Style: 461 Intro Date: 1971 Retired Piece Piece Code: NB49 Condition: Used (each item is inspected for quality and is guaranteed to be in excellent condition) Web ID: 629501
Women crusaders were a reality, not a myth, and it's only 20th century historians that can't accept this says Tony McMahon
Eleanor of Aquitaine was an influential queen. Know about her childhood, family, life, marriages, accomplishments and death through these 10 facts.
Eleanor of Aquitaine is considered to have been one of the wealthiest and most powerful women of medieval Europe during the 12th century. For a start, Eleanor was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, which made her the most eligible bride on the continent at that time.
Synopsis Expand/Collapse Synopsis In this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman and provides new insights into her intimate world. Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. Eleanor of Aquitaine lived a long life of many contrasts, of splendor and desolation, power and peril, and in this stunning narrative, Weir captures the woman—and the queen—in all her glory. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, she recreates not only a remarkable personality but a magnificent past era.
Eleanor of Aquitaine of the House of Poitiers, was first Queen of France, then Queen of England. One of the most influential women of the Middle Ages.
Eleanor of Aquitaine. - Queen of both France (Louis VII) and England (Henry II) - Joined the second crusade dressed herself and her ladies in knights armour. - Gave birth to 10 children, 2 of which became Kings of England (Richard the Lion-Hearted/John)
When I was about ten years old, I read about Eleanor of Aquitaine in the book De Gouden Dolk by Thea Beckman. Eleanor is a minor character in the book; the employer of a servant that the main character, a young crusader, fell in love with. Learning about Eleanor Queen Eleanor fascinated me.
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most captivating figures of the medieval period. In a time when women were meant to be seen and not heard, Eleanor of Aquitaine became one of the most famous – or infamous – women in Europe. What we know about much of Eleanor…
History books from WildBlue Press cover ranges from Rasputin to North Korea and many other controversial and interesting historical topics between.
Eleanor was the richest woman in Europe during her lifetime. She went on Crusade, had her marriage annulled and left a lasting impact on Western culture.
Eleanor of the House of Poitiers was born somewhere between 1122 and 1124, the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and Aenor de Chatellerault. At a young age she was granted title of Duchess of Aquitaine, and by the age of thirteen/fifteen, on the death of her father in 1137, Eleanor inherited the Duchy in her own right. William had anticipated her value and had her betrothed to the soon to be Louis VII who was approximately two years older, the marriage took place in July of 1137, around which time both William and Louis VI passed away, and the Aquitaine lands passed as dowry to her husband. The marriage however was not a happy one. By the age of 19 Eleanor of Aquitaine had become so bored with her deeply religious husband, Louis that she had started dreaming of more adventure in her life. She declared her intent to accompany Louis on the second crusade. Noble born ladies did not go on crusades and Louis immediately forbade her. But being the strong willed woman that she was, she went anyway. In 1147 she accompanied her husband, thousands of knights and three hundred attendant ladies and set out for Constantinople. This journey awakened something she had been missing for so long, romance and adventure, being free. In fact on entering Antioch, and meeting her equally courtly and passionate uncle, Raymond, it was claimed she enjoyed herself a little too much. When Louis went on to Jerusalem Eleanor refused to accompany him, and when eventually they returned to France they did so in separate ships. Eleanor had grown bored of the pious king and had no intention of becoming once more, a cloistered wife. Back in France, Louis became even more immersed in Church affairs while Eleanor held court for the Princes and nobles of Europe. One of these was 17 year old Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy, great-grandson of William the Conqueror and prospective heir to the English throne, provided he could oust the usurper, Stephen. Henry, born in 1133 to Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I, was eleven years younger than Eleanor and obviously caught her eye. Eleanor’s life was soon to undergo a dramatic change. Eleanor had her marriage to Louis annulled two years later following the birth of her second daughter, on the grounds of consanguinity, an extremely versatile political weapon as all the royal families of Europe were related to some degree. Eleanor was even more closely related to Henry. The powerful territories of Aquitaine reverted to its Duchess and she happily left for her castle of Poitiers. As Eleanor traveled to Poitiers, two lords –Theobald V, Count of Blois, and Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (brother of Henry II, Duke of Normandy) tried to kidnap and marry her to claim her lands. As soon as she arrived in Poitiers, Eleanor sent envoys to Henry, Duke of Normandy and future king of England, asking him to come at once to marry her. It was rumored by some that Eleanor had had an affair with Henry’s own father, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, who had advised his son to avoid any involvement with her. On May 18, 1152, Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry of Normandy. It was one of the most powerful unions in European history and with half of France already in their possession they resolutely set about to reclaim England. On October 25, 1154 Henry was crowned King Henry II of England at Westminster Abbey and Eleanor became Queen again but this time of England. For the second time she seemed to be satisfied with her life. She had found a husband who was 11 years younger and although their relationship was reputed to be tumultuous and argumentative, over the next thirteen years, she bore him five sons and three daughters: William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan. Adela Related posts: THE BATTLE OF CRECY THE DEATH OF THE BLACK PRINCE The Marriage of John of Gaunt & Blanche of Lancaster Women and Sexual Inequality
The story of that amazingly influential and still somewhat mysterious woman, Eleanor of Aquitaine, has the dramatic interest of a novel. She was at the very center of the rich culture and clashing politics of the twelfth century. Richest marriage prize of the Middle Ages, she was Queen of France as the wife of Louis VII, and went with him on the exciting and disastrous Second Crusade. Inspiration of troubadours and trouvères, she played a large part in rendering fashionable the Courts of Love and in establishing the whole courtly tradition of medieval times. Divorced from Louis, she married Henry Plantagenet, who became Henry II of England. Her resources and resourcefulness helped Henry win his throne, she was involved in the conflict over Thomas Becket, and, after Henry's death, she handled the affairs of the Angevin empire with a sagacity that brought her the trust and confidence of popes and kings and emperors. Having been first a Capet and then a Plantagenet, Queen Eleanor was the central figure in the bitter rivalry between those houses for the control of their continental domains--a rivalry that excited the whole period: after Henry's death, her sons, Richard Coeur-de-Lion and John \"Lackland\" (of Magna Carta fame), fiercely pursued the feud up to and even beyond the end of the century. But the dynastic struggle of the period was accompanied by other stirrings: the intellectual revolt, the struggle between church and state, the secularization of literature and other arts, the rise of the distinctive urban culture of the great cities. Eleanor was concerned with all the movements, closely connected with all the personages; and she knew every city from London and Paris to Byzantium, Jerusalem, and Rome. Amy Kelly's story of the queen's long life--the first modern biography--brings together more authentic information about her than has ever been assembled before and reveals in Eleanor a greatness of vision, an intelligence, and a political sagacity that have been missed by those who have dwelt on her caprice and frivolity. It also brings to life the whole period in whose every aspect Eleanor and her four kings were so intimately and influentially involved. Miss Kelly tells Eleanor's absorbing story as it has long waited to be told--with verve and style and a sense of the quality of life in those times, and yet with a scrupulous care for the historic facts.
She was most powerful as a widow.
