Eleanor of Castile

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Eleanor of Castile (c.1242–90), queen of Edward I. the daughter of Ferdinand III, Eleanor married Edward I in October 1254, when they were both children, bringing with her Gascony. The couple were unusually close and Eleanor accompanied him on several crusades. Much of her time was taken up with raising their fourteen children, including the future Edward II, born in 1284. Although intelligent and cultivated, both she and Edward were regarded as grasping: ‘the King he wants to get our gold, the Queen would like our lands to hold,’ ran a contemporary jingle. Edward was devoted to her and mourned her death deeply. He commissioned a series of twelve stone crosses, known as the Eleanor crosses, to mark the stopping-places of her funeral cortège from Lincoln to Westminster abbey. The effigy on her tomb in the abbey shows her beauty and is remarkable for its attention to detail.

Sue Minna Cannon

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Eleanor of Castile