About Me
Important: Even though some modern Historians insist in calling me "Eleanor"(Sorry Alison Weir), my real name is "Alienor".I signed all my letters and documents as "Alienor d'Aquitaine"."Eleanor" came from the same root (Aenor), but it's a different name nonetheless.
THE WEALTHIEST HEIRESS IN EUROPE
The exact date of my birth remains a mystery as well as my birth place. I was born around 1124 in Aquitaine (South West of France), probably in the city of Bordeaux.My father was duke Guillaume X of Aquitaine, my mother was duchess Aenor de Chatellrault.Aquitaine was one of the largest and most powerful duchys in Europe.Our ducal domains were far larger than the Royal domains of France and England.They extended from the region of Poitiers to the snowy Pyrenees mountains in the South, facing the Northern Atlantic Ocean.We were vassals of the King of France which means we had to pay him tributes every now and then.
In fact, the dukes of Aquitaine were closely related to the French monarchs since both families descended from Charlemagne, the Frankish Emperor that gave birth to France.My family had always remained very independent from France as well as independent from the Catholic Church. It is no surprise then, that every monarch in Christiandom wanted my hand in marriage.Indeed, I was my parent's eldest daughter, and since my brother Aigret died in 1130, I was the sole heiress of Aquitaine.Thus, I grew up fully aware of my importance in the European political game. I was proud but not arrogant.My education consisted in learning Latin, as well as Poitevin (local dialect), hunting, hawking, and typical female activities such as weaving. This is one of the ducal fortresses in Aquitaine:
The ducal court in Aquitaine was also famous for being an important cultural center.The troubadours became very fashionable under my extravagant and controversial grand father duke Guillaume IX.They sang about Love and the values of Knighthood and Chivalry. It is not surprising then, that I grew up being in contact with many forms of music and poetry. My relatively pleasant life however, changed when my dear father died suddenly in 1137 during a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.I then became officially the new duchess of Aquitaine, at merely 13 years of age. The French King, Louis VI "the Fat", became my tutor. He soon negotiated my marriage to his son the dauphin Louis.This marriage made me Queen of France since Louis the Fat died shortly after. I married the new Louis VII of France at the Cathedral of Bordeaux on July 25 1137:
QUEEN OF THE FRANKS
So I moved to the Paris of Heloise and Abelard along with my only sister Petronille.I was surprised to see Abbot Suger, a man of the Church, ruling France along with the queen mother Adelaide of Savoy. My Southern upbringing didn't conceive that the Catholic Church could have so much power.Abbot Suger was rather critical of my "frivolous" ways. Most sources coincide that I was a very beautiful young lady.I was very inclined to buying fine clothes and jewelry.My husband Louis VII was very attracted to me but he was extremely religious and austere.I soon nicknamed him "le moine" (the monk).Our characters were so incompatible that many said our marriage was doomed for failure.
As Queen of France I helped Louis negotiate a peace treaty with the rebels in my domains in Poitiers. I also supported the marriage between my sister Petronille and Raoul de Vermandois, Louis's cousin around 1142. The problem is that Raoul was already married to Eleonore, niece of the powerful count Thibaut de Champagne.Pope Innocent II refused to annul the marriage between Raoul and Eleonore.Enraged, I encouraged Louis to declare war against Thibaut. Raoul and Pretonille were excommunicated by the Pope since they were living together in "sin".The Church condemned Louis's ferocious attacks against Thibaut de Champagne which made my pious husband feel very guilty.He abandoned his war against Champagne.By 1145 I gave birth to my daughter Marie after 8 years of sterility.Petronille and Raoul lived together in "sin" until Eleonore's death.Louis was already planning a Crusade so God could wash away his sins against the Church.
THE SCANDAL OF THE SECOND CRUSADE
I convinced my husband to take me with him to Palestine. Along with myself, many court ladies decided to accompany their husbands in this second crusade.The first stop was the extravagant and beautiful city of Constantinople.I had never seen so much grandiosity and luxury in my life.Emperor Manuel and his Court were quite refined...and two faced.They made a pact with the Turks telling them of our whereabouts.So when we left the city to continue our way, we were ambushed by Turks who ended up killing many of our men.
Not used to the terrible heat of the area, many people in our company died of disease before we reached Antioch. In Antioch we were received by my uncle, prince Raymond de Poitiers.I immediately developed an infatuation for he was tall, muscular, with fiery reddish blond hair and an overall charm that my husband was severely lacking.I grew frustrated with my marriage to the overly religious and Ling of France. Raymond encouraged to leave the King of France.Hence, I announced I wanted a divorce on grounds of consanguinity (Louis was my cousin on 4rth degree). I never had a carnal relation with Raymond but the scandal made Louis take me to Jerusalem with him by force.After a few victories over the infidels and a rather difficult journey back home, my marriage to the King of France was annulled by Holy Mother Church.Later on I found out that uncle Raymond was butchered by Shirkuh, uncle of Saladin.
ALIENOR DE PLANTAGENET, QUEEN OF THE SAXONS.
I was forced to leave my two daughters Alix and and Marie with their father Louis but I was again an independent and powerful duchess.On my way to Poitiers I nearly got kidnapped twice by men who intended to marry me by force.Despite these incidents, I had already set my eyes upon another: Henri Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Maine, Duke of Normandy and potential heir to the English throne. We had planned my separation from Louis VII together and 2 months later we got married in secret on May 18th 1152.We didn't want people to know about us since we were cousins on 5th degree. I don't need to recall my excuse for divorcing my first husband...Realizing the huge mistake he made by losing Aquitaine to one of his rivals, the King of France became allies with Geoffroy of Anjou, Henri's younger brother.
Louis attacked Normandy while Geoffroy attacked Anjou. They proved to be no match for my new husband Henri as he crushed the Royal Troops. He also defeated Etienne de Blois as his rival for the throne of England and by December 19th 1154, I was crowned Queen of England. Our lands combined were 3 times bigger than the Louis VII Royal domains.Through marriage and war, we slowly built the largest Empire Western Europe had seen since the days of Charlemagne. This painting represents Henri and I as a couple:
And so England had a new King and Queen, both of whom hardly had a drop of English blood in their veins. Indeed, I didn't feel like a stranger in my new Kingdom since most people spoke French and courtiers were either related to my husband or myself.The first years of our reign I gave Henry 8 children: Henry, John (or Jean), Richard, Geoffroy, Alienor, Jeanne, Mathilde, and Guillaume who died in infancy.My duty as a Queen was fulfilled.Henry's mother, the Queen Mother Mathilde was in charge of ruling Normandy.Henry took the control of England while I helped him rule Aquitaine.Nevertheless, it wasn't uncommon for Henry to ask me to rule England while he was fighting in the continent and vice versa.
By 1156 however, a religious man from Normandy called Thomas Becket began to influence my husband and his politics. He orchestrated the peace treaty between Henry and Louis VII after the Toulouse conflict which resulted in our children being engaged. Louis's daughter Marguerite came to live with us in England.She married my son Henry around 1160.Meanwhile, Thomas Becket, now archbishop of Canterbury, became one of the most powerful and wealthy men in the Plantagenet Empire. He did however challenge my husband when it came to reaffirming the power of the Pope in our land.Henry and I wanted to control Church elections instead of the Pope so when Becket chose to support the Pope instead of us, we forced him to leave court. He took refuge with Louis VII in France.
We managed to expand our Empire by conquering Bretagne, but in 1168, Louis VII encouraged the rebellion of many magnates in Aquitaine.Just after we crushed the rebels, Thomas Becket refused to crown my son Henry "the young" as King of England.That was an affront to our authority. By 1170 Becket returned to England threatening to excommunicate Henry and I. My husband ordered his execution. This is a painting of my husband and Becket:
The murder of Becket outraged all monarchs in Europe.He became a Saint in the eyes of the people while my husband was seen as a cruel tyrant.I myself became distanced from him since he had taken a whore publicly: Rosamund Clifford.
TURNING MY CHILDREN AGAINST THEIR FATHER
When my son Henry "the young" turned 18 years old we felt he was old enough to rule along side with his father. After all my husband had become a drunkard and his affair with Rosamund was causing public scandal. I secretly corresponded with Henry's enemy (and my ex husband), Louis VII of France. He agreed to recognize my son Henry as Henry III of England. By 1173, I had already named my favorite son Richard sole duke of Aquitaine, and my son Geoffroy was the ruling duke of Bretagne. I took Richard with me to Aquitaine and Henry "the young" sought refuge at the court of Louis VII.I had concocted a rebellion that would make my three eldest sons fight and overthrow their despotic father with the help of Louis VII.
So I rallied the forces of France, Bregtagne, Aquitaine and Scotland to fight against Henry II. The latter however, had gathered a strong army composed of mercenaries that proved to be more able in the battle field than the rebels lead by me. My son Richard was defeated at La Rochelle, and Henry managed to capture me near Chartres on November 1173. I was wearing men's clothes but got caught nevertheless, and imprisoned at the fortress of Chinon. Soon Henry managed to defeat most rebels. He forgave my sons Henry, Richard and Geoffroy, but knowing I was the mastermind behind the rebellion, he decided to imprison me for life at the Tower of Salisbury in England. There, he also decided to divorce me and take Rosamund Clifford as his new Queen of England.I was very happy to find out she suddenly died in 1176.Some people claim I stabbed her myself but how could I do such a thing from my cell? The whore died of natural causes.
The truce between my husband and my sons didn't last very long.Henry foolishly encouraged Geoffroy and Jean to raise arms against Richard after the death of my eldest son Henry:In their jealousy, they wanted Aquitaine for Jean since Richard was the new heir to the English throne.This time the conflict lasted long, and after the accidental death of Geoffroy, my dear Richard crushed his father's army with the help of the new French King, Philippe Auguste.My husband died in 1189 and I was finally released after 15 long years of imprisonment. Here is the ring of power of the dukes of Aquitaine:
FREED FROM PRISON, ABSOLUTELY DEVOTED TO MY SON RICHARD
I was 66 years old when I was released by my son Richard I of England. I was considered quite old but I had more energy than ever.The first thing I did as Queen Mother was to release all of my late husband's political prisoners which made me very popular amongst my subjects.My son Richard decided to embark on a Crusade against Saladin and he named me the sole regent of the Plantagenet Empire.He was joined by King Philippe Auguste of France and the German Emperor Henry VI in Messina, in 1190.Richard was formally engaged to Aelis of France, sister of King Philippe Auguste. Yet, rumours of my late husband's affair with the young Aelis kept Richard from marrying her.He wanted to marry the daughter of the King of Navarre, the pretty princess Berangere.
Hence, he asked me to cross the Alps and bring the little princess so he could marry her in Cypres. I stayed there merely 3 days to later go back to England and rule in the name of my son.Problems soon arose when Philippe Auguste left the Crusade falsely accusing Richard of treason. He offered my son Jean (or John) the hand of his sister Aelis in marriage, in addition to military support in his quest to steal the English crown from his brother Richard.I quickly fortified every castle in England and wrote Richard requesting his prompt return.Helas! he got arrested by the duke Leopold of Austria on his way back and he was delivered to the traitor Henry VI of Germany.That kidnapping incident broke every conceivable rule of Chivalry.
The German Emperor demanded the incredible sum of 70,000 silver marks as ransom for my son Richard. I had to do almost the impossible in order to gather all that money and keep my son Jean from further trying to cease the English Crown.At 70 years old I crossed the Chanel once more to set my son free from his captors. Philipe Auguste and my son Jean had actually paid Henry VI money to keep Richard prisoner. I rallied many German lords who were against Henry VI to force the terrible German emperor to release my son.Finally in 1196 we were back in England where I pushed towards a reconciliation between Jean and Richard.The happiness of having my favorite son back with me didn't last long. On April 6 1199, he got killed by an arrow while trying to crush a rebellion in Limoges. I was devastated.Broken hearted, I retired myself from the political life and spent most of my days at the Abby of Fontevraud:
THE END OF THE PLANTAGENET EMPIRE
I didn't have much time to relax since Philippe Auguste encouraged my grandson Arthur of Bretagne to take arms against my son Jean.He wanted my ambitious Breton grandson to become King of England, but I gave my support to my son Jean instead since I hated Arthur's mother, Constance of Bretagne.So I engaged in many military campaigns designed to consolidate my son Jean as head of the Plantagenet Empire.I particularly was ruthless with the supporters of the French King in Anjou.Soon a treaty was formulated that would tentatively end the eternal conflict between the Capet and Plantagenet houses.I was supposed to marry one of my Spanish granddaughters to the Crown Prince of France, the future Louis VIII.I went all the way to Spain to pick the little girl up.I chose my grand daughter Blanche of Castille, daughter of King Alphonse of Castille.
With Philippe Auguste out of the way, my son Jean decided to find a new wife that would give him a male heir. He fell madly in love with the beautiful Isabelle d'Angouleme. The problem is that the young girl was already engaged to the count de la Marche, a member of the powerful Lusignan family. Jean married Isabelle nonetheless, and Philippe Auguste took this as yet another chance to turn my grand son Arthur against us.Arthur actually had the nerve to attack the Castle of Mirebeau where I was staying near Poitiers.Jean managed to arrive in time to set me free and arrest the conspirators.My grand son Arthur was sent to prison in Normandy where he was killed by orders of Jean.Victory didn't last long though for Jean's cruelty made many of his allies abandon him.The French King attacked and conquered many of the Plantagenet territories, but I didn't get to witness those disastrous events since I died in Fontevraud on April 1204. Here you can see my grave:
