Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine (c.1122–1204), queen of Henry II. Heiress to the vast duchy of Aquitaine, Eleanor first married Louis VII of France in 1137, but they were divorced in 1152, partly because they were temperamentally incompatible, but largely because Eleanor had produced only daughters. Aquitaine accordingly reverted to Eleanor. In 1152 she married Henry of Anjou, soon to be king of England, and over the next fifteen years bore him eight children. Their marital relations deteriorated, however, and this played a part in Eleanor's most significant decision in Henry's reign—to rebel against him in 1173 in support of her sons. Her plans misfired, she was captured by Henry, and until his death in 1189 was kept in close confinement, carefully watched, in England. On Richard I's accession, she was released and renewed her political life with relish, playing an important role during Richard's absence on crusade and then, on his death, crucially securing the loyalty of Aquitaine for John during the succession crisis of 1199–1200. She was very beautiful, very civilized, and a keen patron of the arts.

S. D. Lloyd