Eleanore of Aquitaine

  General Notes:

Princess of Aquitaine

Born: Cir 1122
Marriage: (1): Louis VII the Younger of France Capet on 22 Jul 1137 in Bordeaux Cathedral, Bordeaux, France
Marriage: (2): Henry II Curtmantle of England on 18 May 1152 in Bordeaux, France
Died: 31 Mar 1204, Fontevrault at age 82
General Notes:
Eleanor of Aquitaineby: Stephanie SmithEleanor of Aquitaine and her husband Henry II formed one of the most potent concentration of forces in feudal Europe. Their relationship contained enough sex, power, and ambition to fuel a Hollywood movie. She was 30 and he was 19 when they met. As the future King of England, she saw him as a lusty, youthful adventurer. He saw in her a chance for a brilliant political alliance, as she owned more than half of France. They married in 1152 (Jones and Wilson 573).For the next 20 years they would try to dominate each other. He ran around with other women and she sponsored many young troubadors. In the end she conviced her sons into making war on their father. He won and had her put in jail for 15 years. The last laugh was on him though -- she outlived him (Jones and Wilson 573). Eleanor's first husband was King Louis of France. Upon her entrance into royalty, she gained a shrewd knowledge of state affairs, as she refused to be the passive ornament of her husband's court. At the arrival of the crusades, she found herself eager to join in the fight and to leave the tiresome political scene in search of adventure. Far from her romanticised dreams, its trials and disasters turned out to be a maturing experience for her (Owen 214).Eleanor's inadequacy to produce royal heirs and the incompatible partnership of her and Louis led to their separation, which inclined her to sieze the chance of marriage with the dynamic and equally powerful King Henry of England. In the first thirteen years of their marriage she would produce a total of eight children: five boys and three girls. This satisfied her strong maternal instincts (Owen 215). Despite her frequent pregnancies in her early years as queen of England, her existence was far from sedentary. She was often found travelling about England with her restless husband, and she retained a lively interest in domestic and international affairs, always with her children's prospects in mind. As with Louis, her relations with Henry slowly deteriorated. It was not just his notorious bouts of temper or his well-known infidelities, which she had to tolerate. It was more that he lived in the frantic present and she was devoted to the long-term dynastic ambitions for her sons--he acted and she planned her strategy for the distant future (Owen 215).When her plan to have her children kill their father failed, he had her confined. Although imprisoned, she kept in touch with affairs. For her, this was a time for contemplation. When Henry gradually allowed her back on the public scene, she remained content acting as his pawn until she would be needed to play an active role once more (Owen 216.)Death soon struck Eleanor's family. Her sons Henry and Georffrey, and her daughter Matilda, were the first to go. This was soon followed by the death of her husband, Henry. But, in her late 60's, she found herself revitlilzed. Her remaining years were to be full of activity, even after the sad deaths of more of her children: Marie, Alice, Joanna, and particularly Richard, her favorite. Her final resting place ended up being in her cherished abbey of Fontevrault (Owen 216). Eleanor was a strong, willfull women, who definitely lived her life to the fullest. She was a legend of her time. No matter what tragedy or obstacle stood in her path, she always found a way to carry on!From the Columbia Encyclopedia:Queen consort first of Louis VII of France and then of Henry II of England. Daughter and heiress of William X, duke of Aquitaine, she married Louis in 1137 shortly before his accession to the throne. She accompanied him on the Second Crusade (1147-49). Eleanor bore Louis two daughters, but in 1152 their marriage was annulled. Soon afterward Eleanor married Henry, duke of Normandy and count of Anjou, uniting her vast possessions with those of her husband. Louis VII feared this powerful combination, and when Henry ascended the English throne in 1154, the stage was set for a long struggle between the English and French kings. Eleanor bore Henry three daughters and five sons, and two of the latter, Richard I and John, became kings of England. Because of Henry's infidelities, especially his relationship with Rosamond, Eleanor's relations with her husband grew strained, and in 1170 she established a court of her own at Poitiers. She supported her sons in their unsuccessful revolt against Henry in 1173 and was held in confinement by Henry until 1185. Her efforts helped Richard secure the throne in 1189. While Richard was on the Third Crusade and later held captive in Europe (1190–94), Eleanor was active in forestalling the plots against him by his brother John and in collecting the ransom for his release. She brought about a reconciliation between the two brothers, and on Richard's death in 1199 she supported John's claims to the throne over those of Arthur I of Brittany. Eleanor's court at Poitiers was the scene of much artistic activity and was noted for its cultivation of courtly manners and the concept of courtly love. She was the patroness of such literary figures as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-More, and Chrestien de Troyes. In literature Eleanor has appeared as the jealous murderess of the “fair Rosamond,â€� but she was apparently innocent of this crime. She was an able and strong-minded woman.
Noted events in her life were:
• She was a Queen of France; Queen of England.
Eleanor married Louis VII the Younger of France Capet, son of Louis VI the Fat of France and Adelaide of Savoy de Maurienne, on 22 Jul 1137 in Bordeaux Cathedral, Bordeaux, France. (Louis VII the Younger of France Capet was born circa 1120 and died on 18 Sep 1180 in Paris, France.)

Eleanore married Henry II Curtmantle of England Plantagenet, son of Geoffrey IV Le Bon Plantagenet Anjou and Empress Matilda Alice Normandy, on 18 May 1152 in Bordeaux, France. (Henry II Curtmantle of England Plantagenet was born on 25 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, Anjou, France, died on 6 Jul 1189 in Chinon Castle, France and was buried in Fontevraud Abbey, France.)

Eleanore next married King Louis VII the Younger of France Capet, son of Louis VI the Fat of France and Adelaide of Savoy de Maurienne, on 22 Jul 1137 in Bordeaux Cathedral, Bordeaux, France. (King Louis VII the Younger of France Capet was born about 1120 and died on 18 Sep 1180 in Paris, France.)