1535944

[charlemegne.FTW]

Mirabell Castle, Poitiers, France.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine Born c. 1122, Bordeau x/Berlin Acceded: 19 Dec 1154, Westminster Abbey, London, Englan d Died 1 Apr 1204, Fontevraud Abbey, France Interred: Fontevrau d Abbey, France Other sources say she died 26 Jun 1202 and she w as born Chateau de Belin. Burke states she died 1162. Countes s of Saintonge, Angoumois, Limousin, Auvergne, Bordeaux, Agen.

Accompanied Louis VII on the Second Crusade (1147-1149).

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), renowned for her cultivated in telligence and great beauty, was queen to two kings and mother o f two others. She was one of the most powerful and fascinating p ersonalities of feudal Europe. Eleanor was a granddaughter of Gu illaume (William) IX of Aquitaine (1070-1127), who was one of th e first and most famous troubadours. He was a cheerful man and a n ardent lover of women, who joined the First Crusade. When he r eturned from this disastrous crusade early in the century in a v ery cynical mood, he found his countess, Philippa of Toulouse, t aken up with one of those religious movements perennially arisin g on the soil of Aquitaine. He abandoned his lady and took up wi th the Countess of Chatellerault to enliven his middle years. Th e new countess was the mother of a daughter, Anor (Eleanor) by h er previous marriage and this young woman the troubadour marrie d to his own heir Guillaume X, born of Philippa. Anor and Guilla ume X were the parents of Eleanor, a sister, Petronilla and a br other, Agret who did not survive childhood. The court of Guillau me X was the centre of western European culture. Unlike most o f her contemporaries, male and especially female, Eleanor was ca refully educated and she was an excellent student. Eleanor's hap py childhood ended with the subsequent deaths of her mother, he r little brother and, in 1137, her father. Heiress of the duch y of Aquitaine, the orphaned Eleanor was married to Louis VII Ki ng of France in 1137 at age 15, bringing into the union her vas t possessions from the River Loire to the Pyrenees. Louis had be en brought up for an office in the church, but he had become hei r to the French throne after the death of his elder brother. H e was a weak, dull, grave and pious man and he and the lively El eanor were ill matched. Louis never understood his young wife, b ut he appears to have adored her with a passionate admiration. I t wasn't until 1145 that a daughter, Marie, was born. A few year s after her marriage, at age 19, Eleanor knelt in the cathedra l of Vezelay before the celebrated Abbe Bernard of Clairvaux off ering him thousands of her vassals for the Second Crusade whic h included "many other ladies of quality": Sybille, Countess o f Flanders, whose half brother was King of Jerusalem, Mamille o f Roucy, Florine of Bourgogne, Torqueri of Bouillon, Faydide o f Toulouse, and scores of others whom the chroniclers could no t afford the parchment to enumerate. No one appears to have aske d publicly what these female warriors were to inflict upon the S aracens. The historians do not well explain why hordes of wome n took up the cross, however, most deplore the fact that the que en's example made other ladies intractable and to the Second Cru sade went "a good many women who had no business to be include d in the army." A legend tells us that the queen and her ladie s disappeared and presently reappeared on white horses in the gu ise of Amazons, in gilded buskins, plumed and with banners and t hat the queen and her cavalcade galloped over the hillside of Ve zelay, rallying laggard knights. The tale is in character, and l ater allusions to Amazons en route, found in Greek histories, gi ve some substance to it. While the church may have been please d to receive her thousand fighting vassals, they were less happ y when they learned that Eleanor, attended by 300 of her ladies , also planned to go to help "tend the wounded." The presence o f Eleanor, her ladies and wagons of female servants, was critici zed by commentators throughout her adventure. Dressed in armor a nd carrying lances, the women never fought. In the papal bull fo r the next Crusade, it expressly forbade women of all sorts to j oin the expedition. All the Christian monarchs, including King L ouis, agreed to this. When they reached the city of Antioch, Ele anor found herself deep in a renewed friendship with Raymond, he r uncle, who had been appointed prince of the city. Raymond, onl y a few years older than Eleanor, was far more interesting and h andsome than Eleanor's husband, Louis. When Raymond decided tha t the best strategic objective of the Crusade would be to recapt ure Edessa, thus protecting the Western presence in the Holy Lan d, Eleanor sided with his view. But Louis VII, fixated on reachi ng Jerusalem, rejected the plan and a quarrel followed. Louis de manded that Eleanor follow him to Jerusalem. Eleanor, furious, a nnounced to one and all that their marriage was not valid in th e eyes of God, for they were distantly related to an extent proh ibited by the Church. Wounded by her claim. Louis began preparat ions for his departure and after dark Eleanor was forcibly condu cted from Antioch. Soon the crusade became a complete failure an d even Louis' brother Robert quickly rushed home. On their way b ack to France, Louis and Eleanor visited the pope to plead fo r a divorce. Instead, the pope tried to reconcile them and induc ed them to sleep in the same bed again. On her way home, while r esting in Sicily, Eleanor was brought the news that her uncle Ra ymond had been killed in battle, and that his head delivered t o the Caliph of Baghdad. Although her marriage to Louis continue d for a time, the relationship was over. In 1152 the marriage wa s annulled and her vast estates reverted to Eleanor's control. A lthough consanguinity was the official reason for the annulmen t of their marriage in 1152, basic incompatibility was the rea l reason. Hardly had her marriage to Louis been dissolved when E leanor married Henry of Anjou, soon to become (1154) King Henr y II of England. Eleanor's inheritance passed to the English cro wn, which, when combined with his English possessions, made Henr y much more powerful than Louis, and he was a frequently hostil e neighbor. The marriage of Eleanor and Henry was as stormy as h er first. Although Eleanor's first marriage had resulted in onl y two daughters born in fifteen year, Eleanor bore Henry five so ns and three daughters. As the children grew up and Henry openl y took mistresses, the couple grew apart. Eleanor was 44 years o ld, when she gave birth to their youngest son, John Lackland. B y then she had discovered the existence of "Fair" Rosamund Cliff ord, the most famous of Henry's mistresses. Later Henry even man aged to seduce the fiancee of his son Richard, who was a daughte r of Louis VII and his second wife. In 1169 Henry sent Eleanor t o Aquitaine to restore order as its duchess. Her proceedings fro m the time she resume her residence in Poitou indicate a resolut ion to cut herself away from feudal kings and to establish a Pou tevin domain. She was no mere game piece as were most feudal wom en, to be moved like a queen in chess. In this, her third import ant role in history, she was the pawn of neither king, and arriv ed as her own mistress, equipped with plans to establish her ow n assize. She was resolved to escape from secondary roles, to as sert her independent sovereignty, to dispense her own justice, a nd her own patronage. Though continuing now and then to cooperat e with Henry outside her provinces in the interests of her othe r sons, she took measures to establish her own heir, son Richard , in Poutou and Aquitaine and to restore throughout her province s the ancient glories of the native dukes and counts. Once mor e the ducal palace at Poitou became the center of all that was c ivilized and refined. Troubadours, musicians and scholars were w elcomed at Poitiers. There, in 1170 Eleanor reconciled with he r first born daughter Marie of France, countess of Champagne. Ma rie had a "code of love" written down in thirty-one articles. Th ey described feminist ideas far beyond the 12th century cult o f chivalry. In addition, Eleanor sponsored the "courts of love " in which men having problems with the code of love could brin g their questions before a tribunal of ladies for judgement. Whe n in 1173 their sons revolted against their father, Eleanor back ed them and was subsequently imprisoned by Henry until his deat h in 1189. By then three of their sons had already died and Henr y's successor was Eleanor's favourite son, Richard I Lionheart ( 1157-1199), who appreciated his mother's advice. When he went o n crusade, Eleanor became regent. Although Richard was reputedl y a homosexual, he was supposed to provide England with heirs, s o Eleanor escorted his bride-to-be to Sicily. When Richard was k illed in 1199, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, John La ckland (1166-1216). Eleanor returned to Aquitaine and retired i n the abbey of Fontevraud. She remained busy and active and pers onally arranged the marriage of her Castilian granddaughter to t he grandson of Louis VII. Thus she lived to be about 82, an extr aordinary age in the middle ages.

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