Eleanor of Aquitaine
-Chrissie

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            Eleanor was the daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine and his wife Aénor de Chatellerault. She became her father’s heir when her only brother died, but it was a precarious position. In order to protect her and the duchy, her father made her a ward of the French King Louis VI and betrothed her to the Dauphin, who would become Louis VII. William died in 1137 and Aquitaine passed into the hands of fifteen-year-old Eleanor. She and the Dauphin were married on 25 July, functionally shifting control of Aquitaine to her husband and, through him, to the French crown when he inherited only a few days later. Her inheritance nearly doubled the size of territory under the control of the French throne. She gave birth to their first child in 1145, a daughter named Marie.

            Eleanor joined Louis on the second crusade, one preached by their personal confessor, Bernard of Clairvaux. Though she was likely genuine in her desire to take the Cross, most chroniclers of the era, and many later historians, dismiss her involvement as entertainment-seeking. They left France in July 1147 with a large retinue, as many of the women of the court were inspired by Eleanor’s zeal to join the crusade. She did not, as many historians claim, lead an Amazonian army into battle. This incident is found in only one source, and a hostile one at that.

            They arrived in Antioch in March 1148, joining the army there under Eleanor’s uncle Raymond of Antioch. Louis and Raymond quarreled over tactics; Eleanor sided with her uncle because Louis was inept militarily. This exacerbated existing problems between the King and Queen of France. The crusade was, ultimately, a failure. Louis and others were able, however, to place the blame at Eleanor’s feet, because of rumors that she was conducting an affair with Raymond. This is highly unlikely, but the truth of it was unimportant. The mere fact that the rumor was possible meant that Eleanor had displeased God in some way and He was expressing His disapproval by causing the failure of the crusade. On their return trip, Louis and Eleanor visited Pope Eugenius in Rome, who urged them to reconcile, at least as far as was needed to produce an heir for the French throne. He even went so far as to arrange a romantic set of rooms to encourage such reconciliation. His efforts were partially effective: Eleanor was pregnant by the time they returned to France, but she produced another girl, Alix. These events and their subsequent divorce prompted portrayals of her as manipulative and over-sexualized. These are common criticisms against women in power.

            Eleanor and Louis decided to divorce in 1152, likely because Louis believed Eleanor could not produce a son for him. They arranged for an annulment on the grounds of consanguinity—they were to closely related—(they were third cousins, once removed). Their daughters were declared legitimate, despite the annulment; even though they could not inherit, Louis could still use them for political marriages. The divorce also removed Aquitaine from Louis’ hands; he lost nearly half of his kingdom because he was impatient for a son.

            Eleanor returned to Aquitaine in late March 1152. The trip was eventful, at least two men tried to force her into marriage by kidnapping, so they could gain control over Aquitaine. She seems to have already made arrangements with Henry FitzEmpress, the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and the Empress Matilda (sometimes called Maude) and grandson of English King Henry I. They married on 18 May 1152. Henry succeeded to the English throne as Henry II in 1154.

            The couple had eight children between 1153 and 1166, of whom seven reached adulthood. The eldest surviving boy, Henry, was heir to the English throne. The second eldest, Richard, was made heir to Aquitaine. Eleanor was largely out of the public eye in these years, as her focus was on childbearing and rearing. In 1168, she relocated to the city of Poitiers, in Aquitaine, to have more direct rule over her duchy. By this point, she and Henry had functionally separated, a move many chroniclers and historians have attributed to Eleanor’s jealousy and anger at Henry over his relationship with Rosamund de Clifford but it was more likely a political decision.  Eleanor had fulfilled her duties as queen by producing more than enough heirs, and Henry had not been willing to share power in any useful way, so she could be more useful in Aquitaine.

            Richard was made Duke of Aquitaine in 1170, though Eleanor still governed as Richard was learning the politics of rule. A similar arrangement was made between Henry and his heir, who was crowned in that same year, while his father was still alive, to give him experience as a leader and to assure a smooth succession. Now known as “Henry the Young King,” he sought more authority than his father was willing to give. In 1173, with the backing of Eleanor, his brothers Richard and Geoffrey, and his father-in-law (and mother’s ex-husband) French King Louis VII, he rebelled against Henry II. The attempt was short-lived, ending in the summer of 1174 with the capture of Eleanor by Henry II’s forces, which he used to force his sons to negotiate. He gave them more land, but did not functionally increase their authority. Eleanor was placed in a (relatively) comfortable house arrest by her husband and Richard took over the rule of Aquitaine. Henry the Young King was pushed aside by his father, still the heir but not forgiven and having little involvement in government. He died in 1183.

            Eleanor spent the rest of her husband’s reign in captivity at various of their estates. She was moved according to Henry’s whims and his schedule. The story of A Lion in Winter notwithstanding, they were rarely in residence anywhere at the same time. When Henry died in 1189, Richard immediately freed his mother. She acted as an advisor to him during his reign and regent of the kingdom while he was away on the Third Crusade. This assured that her youngest son, John, would not attempt to usurp the throne in his brother’s absence. She was also instrumental in raising the ransom that freed Richard from Leopold of Austria, who had captured him while traveling home from the crusade.

            Richard died in 1199. He had not produced an heir, so his youngest (and only surviving) brother, John, inherited the English throne. Eleanor was there to guide him, but at 77 years old, she was no longer the force she had once been. She retired to Fontevrault Abbey the next year and died there in 1204, having outlived all but two of her children. Despite her time as the Queen of France and the Queen of England, as well as the fact of her being wife to two kings and mother to two kings, she always considered and presented herself first and foremost by her inherited position, Duchess of Aquitaine. She held this position in her own right, one of the few women to wield such power in the era.

If you’d like to know more on this topic, we suggest:

Michael Evans, Inventing Eleanor.

Allison Weir, Eleanor of Aquitaine.