Eleanor of Aquitaine was born in Bordeaux in 1222 to William the Tenth and his wife. Not much is know about her childhood except that she traveled around Aquitaine frequently and her mother died when she was eight.
At the age of fifteen, Eleanor was the most eligible women in the western world having come into the Duchy of Aquitaine, an independent coastal duchy in southern France, after her father and brother’s deaths. Considered well educated, she was literate in both Latin and Provencal, the local language of Aquitaine. She engaged in these pursuits due to the fact that Aquitaine was an extremely liberal duchy where women had rights found almost nowhere else.
After her father’s death, Eleanor turned to King Louis the Sixth of France for protection and guidance. He promptly engaged her to his seventeen year old son, Louis le Jeune or "Louis the Younger." They were married and became king and queen shortly after their honeymoon in 1137.
Eleanor and her new husband soon decided to fight in the crusades. Upon reaching Antioch they also reached a changing point in their marriage. They were joined in their military meetings by Prince Raymond of Poitiers, Eleanor’s cousin. Eleanor sided with Raymond on a military decision and Louis decided that Eleanor and Raymond must be lovers and the couple was quick to fight over this point.
Following the end of the crusade, Eleanor and Louis returned home by separate ships. Once in France, Eleanor gave birth to her second daughter Alix, her first daughter having been born in 1144. In 1152 a divorce was granted to Eleanor and Louis on the grounds that they were related. Eleanor reclaimed her lands while Louis received custody of the children.
At the age of fifteen, Eleanor was the most eligible women in the western world having come into the Duchy of Aquitaine, an independent coastal duchy in southern France, after her father and brother’s deaths. Considered well educated, she was literate in both Latin and Provencal, the local language of Aquitaine. She engaged in these pursuits due to the fact that Aquitaine was an extremely liberal duchy where women had rights found almost nowhere else.
After her father’s death, Eleanor turned to King Louis the Sixth of France for protection and guidance. He promptly engaged her to his seventeen year old son, Louis le Jeune or "Louis the Younger." They were married and became king and queen shortly after their honeymoon in 1137.
Eleanor and her new husband soon decided to fight in the crusades. Upon reaching Antioch they also reached a changing point in their marriage. They were joined in their military meetings by Prince Raymond of Poitiers, Eleanor’s cousin. Eleanor sided with Raymond on a military decision and Louis decided that Eleanor and Raymond must be lovers and the couple was quick to fight over this point.
Following the end of the crusade, Eleanor and Louis returned home by separate ships. Once in France, Eleanor gave birth to her second daughter Alix, her first daughter having been born in 1144. In 1152 a divorce was granted to Eleanor and Louis on the grounds that they were related. Eleanor reclaimed her lands while Louis received custody of the children.
Henry, the Duke of Normandy, was quickly chosen as her next husband. Eleanor married him eight weeks after her divorce to Louis. Henry was in a powerful position; as Duke of Normandy he was heir to the English crown. He, however, was only eighteen to Eleanor’s twenty nine and this later added conflict to their relationship. Two years later he inherited the throne, and he and Eleanor were crowned as King and Queen of England. Over the next thirteen years the couple raised five sons and three daughters.
While in France, she hatched plots against Henry with the help of her sons and the French lords of her lands. It involved putting her eldest son, also named Henry, on the throne and the plan was supported by her children and many lords because Henry’s (her husbands) reign had become increasingly unbalanced.
The plan backfired. Henry the Younger met with King Henry and the meeting did not go as planned. So, Henry the Younger went to Louis, King of France and together they raised an army.
Quickly, Henry the Younger and Louis’s army was defeated and Eleanor was imprisoned by Henry in the Castle of Chinon. During this period she was rarely allowed out. After a plea from her sons’ she was allowed small pleasures like walking in the garden and visiting her children at Christmas.
Eleanor was freed fifteen years later upon the ascension of her son Richard to the throne after Henry’s death. Richard decided to go fight in the Crusades only a year into his kingship earning the name King Richard the Lionheart due to his prowess in battle.
While Richard was in the Holy Land fighting in the Crusades Eleanor had her hands full at home with her youngest child, John, while also attending to the business of running the empire. John had decided that he wanted to be king and rallied his supporters around him. This comprised of many corrupt church personnel along with military men, including the King of France.
To make matters worse, Richard had been captured while traveling back home. Eleanor used her governmental control to begin raising the exorbitant ransom. Meanwhile, she was also fending off attacks from John. Once John was defeated, Eleanor traveled to Germany to bring Richard back to England.
In the spring of 1194, at the age of 72 Eleanor withdrew to the Abbey of Fontevrault, France where she kept an eye over politics. There was a lot for her to keep watch over as one of her grandson’s was elected emperor of Germany, Richard was shot by crossbow and traveled to die in her arms, and overseeing the appointment John as king. She did all of this from the abbey before peacefully passing away on April 1, 1204, age 82.
While in France, she hatched plots against Henry with the help of her sons and the French lords of her lands. It involved putting her eldest son, also named Henry, on the throne and the plan was supported by her children and many lords because Henry’s (her husbands) reign had become increasingly unbalanced.
The plan backfired. Henry the Younger met with King Henry and the meeting did not go as planned. So, Henry the Younger went to Louis, King of France and together they raised an army.
Quickly, Henry the Younger and Louis’s army was defeated and Eleanor was imprisoned by Henry in the Castle of Chinon. During this period she was rarely allowed out. After a plea from her sons’ she was allowed small pleasures like walking in the garden and visiting her children at Christmas.
Eleanor was freed fifteen years later upon the ascension of her son Richard to the throne after Henry’s death. Richard decided to go fight in the Crusades only a year into his kingship earning the name King Richard the Lionheart due to his prowess in battle.
While Richard was in the Holy Land fighting in the Crusades Eleanor had her hands full at home with her youngest child, John, while also attending to the business of running the empire. John had decided that he wanted to be king and rallied his supporters around him. This comprised of many corrupt church personnel along with military men, including the King of France.
To make matters worse, Richard had been captured while traveling back home. Eleanor used her governmental control to begin raising the exorbitant ransom. Meanwhile, she was also fending off attacks from John. Once John was defeated, Eleanor traveled to Germany to bring Richard back to England.
In the spring of 1194, at the age of 72 Eleanor withdrew to the Abbey of Fontevrault, France where she kept an eye over politics. There was a lot for her to keep watch over as one of her grandson’s was elected emperor of Germany, Richard was shot by crossbow and traveled to die in her arms, and overseeing the appointment John as king. She did all of this from the abbey before peacefully passing away on April 1, 1204, age 82.
Sources
Gormley, Larry. "EHistory at OSU | Hundred Years War." EHistory at OSU |HundredYears War. Ohio State University, 2001. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/hundredyearswar.cfm>.
"Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen." Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen. Ohio State University, n.d. Web.23 Feb. 2014.
< http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=394>
Peter of Blois. "Letter 154." Letter to Queen Eleanor. 1173. Interne History Sourcebooks Project. Fordham University, May 1997. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/eleanor.asp>
"Louis VII of France." Princeton University. Princeton University, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Louis_VII_of_France.html>.
"The Great Crusades:" Women-article. University of Michigan, 8 Dec. 1997.Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.umich.edu/~eng415/topics/women/women-article.html>
Gormley, Larry. "EHistory at OSU | Hundred Years War." EHistory at OSU |HundredYears War. Ohio State University, 2001. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/hundredyearswar.cfm>.
"Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen." Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen. Ohio State University, n.d. Web.23 Feb. 2014.
< http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=394>
Peter of Blois. "Letter 154." Letter to Queen Eleanor. 1173. Interne History Sourcebooks Project. Fordham University, May 1997. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/eleanor.asp>
"Louis VII of France." Princeton University. Princeton University, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Louis_VII_of_France.html>.
"The Great Crusades:" Women-article. University of Michigan, 8 Dec. 1997.Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.umich.edu/~eng415/topics/women/women-article.html>