Eleanor Of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England

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Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of a truly eceptional woman, and provides new insights into her life." ( Koen Pacific) Louis became involved in a war with Count Theobald by permitting Raoul I, Count of Vermandois and seneschal of France, to repudiate his wife Eleanor of Champagne, Theobald's sister, and to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, the Queen's sister. Eleanor urged Louis to support her sister's marriage to Count Raoul. Theobald had also offended Louis by siding with the Pope in the dispute over Bourges. The war lasted two years (1142–44) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry. More than a thousand people sought refuge in the town church, but the church caught fire and everyone inside was burned alive. Horrified, and desiring an end to the war, Louis attempted to make peace with Theobald in exchange for his support in lifting the interdict on Raoul and Petronilla. This was duly lifted for long enough to allow Theobald's lands to be restored; it was then lowered once more when Raoul refused to repudiate Petronilla, prompting Louis to return to Champagne and ravage it once more. Let me just say that I love Tudor historian Alison Weir’s biographies. She is one of those historians that make history sing.

Fiona Harris-Stoertz, "Pregnancy and Childbirth in Twelfth-and Thirteenth-Century French and English Law". Journal of the History of Sexuality 21, n°. 2 (2012), pp. 263–281. JSTOR 41475080. As Eleanor travelled 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. On 18 May 1152 ( Whit Sunday), eight weeks after her annulment, Eleanor married Henry "without the pomp and ceremony that befitted their rank." [25] This book strips away much of the myth. It reads like a medieval legend. This is readable history at its best, and a fascinating insight into the medieval mind." ( Northern Echo and various other local papers)

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Eleanor was a fascinating woman: she was the wife of two kings and the mother of three more (if you count Henry, the “Young King” as an actual king, which British history does not, since he doesn’t have a numeral.) Anyway, she wanted out of her first marriage w/ King Louis of France, whom she accompanied on the First Crusade, and abandoned their two daughters when she left him. She secretly negotiated her marriage w/ Henry of Anjou, daughter of Empress Matilda of England, who was in a civil war w/ her cousin, Stephen, to control England. Her marriage to Henry was a brilliant coup; their partnership created a political entity that covered most of modern-day France. And then Henry became King of England, so their realm was enormous, and nearly always troubled. Eleanor and Henry had ten children together and married their daughters into various European houses. So truthfully, Eleanor was Europe’s grandmother before Queen Victoria was. A letter From Eleanor of Aquitaine to Pope Celestine III (1193)". Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters . Retrieved 21 October 2021. This woman did more in a week than I have done in my lifetime. She is quite simply amazing despite her many errors and foibles. I would certainly be a fan if I were a male of minor nobility during those times. As a noble female I would likely run run run and hide. In 1137 Duke William X left Poitiers for Bordeaux and took his daughters with him. Upon reaching Bordeaux, he left them in the charge of the archbishop of Bordeaux, one of his few loyal vassals. The duke then set out for the Shrine of Saint James of Compostela in the company of other pilgrims. However, he died on Good Friday of that year (9 April). Chambers, Frank McMinn (1941). "Some Legends Concerning Eleanor of Aquitaine". Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies. University of Chicago Press. 16 (4): 459–468. doi: 10.2307/2852844. JSTOR 2852844. S2CID 162522341.

Within two months of her annulment, after fighting off attempts to marry her off to various other high-ranking French noblemen, Eleanor married Henry, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy. She had been rumored to have had an affair with her new husband’s father, and was more closely related to her new husband than she had been to Louis, but the marriage went ahead and within two years Henry and Eleanor were crowned king and queen of England after Henry’s accession to the English throne upon the death of King Stephen. The character Queen Elinor appears in William Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John, with other members of the family. On television, she has been portrayed in this play by Una Venning in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre version (1952) and by Mary Morris in the BBC Shakespeare version (1984). Duby, George (1997). Women of the Twelfth Century, Volume 1: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Six Others. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-16780-0.

In The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Howard Pyle, retelling the ballad Robin Hood and Queen Katherine, made the queen Queen Eleanor to fit historically with the rest of the work. Louis's tenure as count of Poitou and duke of Aquitaine and Gascony lasted only a few days. Although he had been invested as such on 8 August 1137, a messenger gave him the news that Louis VI had died of dysentery on 1 August while he and Eleanor were making a tour of the provinces. He and Eleanor were anointed and crowned king and queen of France on Christmas Day of the same year. [9] [16] Elvins, Mark Turnham (2006). Gospel Chivalry: Franciscan Romanticism. Gracewing. ISBN 978-0-85244-664-5. Louis and Eleanor were married in July 1137, but had little time to get to know one another before Louis’ father the king fell ill and died. Within weeks of her wedding, Eleanor found herself taking possession of the drafty and unwelcoming Cîté Palace in Paris that would be her new home. On Christmas Day of the same year, Louis and Eleanor were crowned king and queen of France.

A warm thank you to Bam for recommending this author to me. Also to a gent named Julio (I hope I remembered that right) who recommended another book on Eleanor to me. I've been curious about the historical figure of Eleanor of Aquitaine for a long time. Finally, through Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life I was able to sate my eagerness to know what kind of life this woman, that was the Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right and Queen of both France and England, lived. One thing for sure, it wasn't an easy life. She had difficult husbands, but compensated somewhat through a constant struggle for power. We could say that she was fairly successful, since she lived in an era were women had no power at all. Despite her struggles she was imprisoned by her second husband for many years. But in the end she won this battle, since she outlived him.Porque la leyenda normalmente tiene un origen, y parece ser que en verdad Leonor fue una mujer inteligente, sagaz, capacitada para la política, culta, hábil y resiliente. Incluso en una época donde las reinas tenían un papel muy restringido, y pese al cautiverio sufrido en manos de su propio marido, se las arregló para vivir hasta una avanzada edad y seguir en la política y al frente del gobierno aun cuando sus hijos fueran reyes. Alison Weir meets a subject well-worthy of her mettle…her exciting story merits our attention." ( BBC History Magazine) Eleanor was again unwell in early 1201. When war broke out between John and Philip, Eleanor declared her support for John and set out from Fontevraud to her capital Poitiers to prevent her grandson Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, posthumous son of Eleanor's son Geoffrey and John's rival for the English throne, from taking control. Arthur learned of her whereabouts and besieged her in the castle of Mirebeau. As soon as John heard of this, he marched south, overcame the besiegers, and captured the 15-year-old Arthur, and probably his sister Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany, whom Eleanor had raised with Richard. Eleanor then returned to Fontevraud where she took the veil as a nun. The Court of Love in Poitiers [ edit ] The Palace of Poitiers, the seat of the counts of Poitou and dukes of Aquitaine in the 10th through to the 12th centuries, where Eleanor's highly literate and artistic court inspired tales of Courts of Love.