Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine , 1122?-1204, queen consort first of Louis VII of France and then of Henry II of England. Daughter and heiress of William X, duke of Aquitaine, she married Louis in 1137 shortly before his accession to the throne. She accompanied him on the Second Crusade (1147-49). Eleanor bore Louis two daughters, but in 1152 their marriage was annulled. Soon afterward Eleanor married Henry, duke of Normandy and count of Anjou, uniting her vast possessions with those of her husband. Louis VII feared this powerful combination, and when Henry ascended the English throne in 1154, the stage was set for a long struggle between the English and French kings. Eleanor bore Henry three daughters and five sons, and two of the latter, Richard I and John , became kings of England. Because of Henry's infidelities, especially his relationship with Rosamond , Eleanor's relations with her husband grew strained, and in 1170 she established a court of her own at Poitiers. She supported her sons in their unsuccessful revolt against Henry in 1173 and was held in confinement by Henry until 1185. Her efforts helped Richard secure the throne in 1189. While Richard was on the Third Crusade and later held captive in Europe (1190-94), Eleanor was active in forestalling the plots against him by his brother John and in collecting the ransom for his release. She brought about a reconciliation between the two brothers, and on Richard's death in 1199 she supported John's claims to the throne over those of Arthur I of Brittany. Eleanor's court at Poitiers was the scene of much artistic activity and was noted for its cultivation of courtly manners and the concept of courtly love. She was the patroness of such literary figures as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-More, and Chrétien de Troyes. In literature Eleanor has appeared as the jealous murderess of the "fair Rosamond," but she was apparently innocent of this crime. She was an able and strong-minded woman.

Bibliography: See biographies by M. Meade (1980), D. Seward (1986), and Z. Kaplan (1987).

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, 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. Their marital relations deteriorated, however, and this played a part in Eleanor's decision to rebel against him in 1173 in support of her sons. She was captured by Henry, and kept in close confinement. On Richard I's accession, she renewed her political life, playing an important role during Richard's absence on crusade.

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204), the granddaughter of the first troubadour whose work survives, Guilhem IX of Aquitaine, and inheritor of the kingdom of Aquitaine, married for her inheritance by Louis VII of France in 1137. After their divorce in 1152 she was immediately remarried to Henry Plantagenet of Anjou, the future Henry II of England, to whom she bore eight children including the future Richard I and the future King John. After the death of Henry II in 1189 she was regent of England until 1199. She was an immensely influential patron of the arts, particularly in her patronage of the development of courtly poetry in Poitiers, a function carried on by her daughter Marie de Champagne.