A fanciful portrait of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Kinuko Y. Craft
I wanted to cover Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine for Amazon Month, but it seemed a bit of a stretch. Though she and her ladies-in-waiting were called Amazons when Eleanor took up the cross for the Second Crusade, that was but one brief moment in a complex, influential life.
So consider this a bonus Amazon! This is long, but Eleanor accomplished quite a lot, and it’s difficult to give just a brief summary of her life & impact.
Eleanor of Aquitaine was born around 1122, possibly 1124, in the Bordeaux region of France, to Duke William X and Duchess Aenor de Châtellerault, the eldest of three children. However, around age eight, Eleanor lost both her mother and brother to a fever. Though she was surely devastated by this loss, it did mean she became heir to Aquitaine.
Eleanor’s father was a pretty solid dude, especially when it came to making sure his daughter was equipped to handle whatever life threw at her. Not only did Eleanor receive a traditional noblewoman’s education, her father also saw to it that she studied the ‘manly’ subjects of music, literature and hunting.
This turned out to be remarkably foresighted. For Eleanor would have to grow up quicker than anyone expected, and her education would serve her well in the years to come.
A sketch of Eleanor, artist unknown. The book indicates Eleanor’s lifelong devotion to literature and the arts.
In April of 1137, Duke William went on a pilgrimage to Spain, leaving his children (Eleanor and her younger sister Petronilla) under the care of the Archbishop of Bordeaux. However, he would never see home, or Eleanor, again. Somewhere along the route, Duke William became gravely ill. Knowing he was on his deathbed, William’s priority was to see to the welfare of his children. He knew that after he died, his daughter would become one of the wealthiest women in Europe, owning approximately one-third of modern-day France. And without sufficient protection, she could easily be kidnapped and forcibly married to any nobleman looking to advance his station (12th century European marital law was not what you’d call woman-friendly).
Knowing this, William named King Louis VI of France as Eleanor’s guardian – now no one could harm Eleanor without picking a fight with France. King Louis could have refused, but he had little reason to do so. He was, in fact, quite thrilled to be named Eleanor’s guardian, as it presented a unique opportunity to unite Aquitaine and France. King Louis couldn’t directly control Eleanor’s territory – not only had William’s will been solid in that respect, the Archbishop of Bordeaux staunchly looked out for Eleanor’s interests. What he could do, however, was marry Eleanor to his own son and heir, Prince Louis (roughly the same age as Eleanor, having been born in 1120). Supposedly, William even encouraged this particular match in his will.
Under the negotiated marriage arrangement, Eleanor would retain control over Aquitaine for the rest of her life. But her heir (presumably the son she was expected to eventually have with Louis) would inherit both Aquitaine and France, and rule over a united nation. This pleased everyone, and Eleanor was virtually rushed to the altar. Not just as a protection against kidnapping; King Louis was dying, and wanted to secure his country before moving on to his final reward. Barely three months after the sudden death of her father, Eleanor found herself marrying Prince Louis in July of 1137.
Queen Eleanor and King Louis VII
King Louis died just a few days after the wedding; Eleanor and her husband were crowned Queen and King of France on Christmas Day, 1137. Eleanor moved to the royal capital in Paris.
The French court largely did not know what to make of this highly educated, headstrong woman; many courtiers were shocked at her ‘outrageous’ behavior – which generally seemed to consist of believing that people should take her seriously and getting mad when they didn’t. Also, Eleanor was no older than sixteen, and could have been as young as thirteen or fourteen when all this went down. She had gone from being a teenager living under her father’s care to a married woman and Queen of France in ten months; it’s understandable that she and her new environment had some difficulty adjusting to each other.
King Louis, however, was head over heels in love with his new wife, and spared no expense making the royal palace comfortable for her. However, their marriage was not particularly fruitful. Though they married in 1137, Eleanor would not bear a child until 1145, when she gave birth to Princess Marie. Over the course of their 14 year marriage, Eleanor would have only one more daughter by Louis. Supposedly, Louis, trained as a monk when younger, abided by some very strict chastity laws: he would not sleep with his wife on Sundays, holy days, feast days, during Lent, during pregnancy or while Eleanor was menstruating. No wonder they only had two children!
Eleanor and Louis on Crusade, on the right. Don’t they both just look thrilled to be there?
The same year as Marie’s birth, Louis, feeling guilty over his role in the burning of a village as the result of some papal politics involving the marriage of Eleanor’s sister, announced his intention to join the Second Crusade. Eleanor insisted that she, as ruler of Aquitaine, had the right to accompany her husband. Louis agreed, and Eleanor assembled approximately 300 armed vassals and ladies-in-waiting as her retinue. Eleanor had another motivation as well: her uncle Raymond, Prince of Antioch, had been asking Eleanor for French protection. And Eleanor, who had always been fond of her uncle, wished to help.
Some accounts say Eleanor’s retinue was nothing but ladies-in-waiting, but I doubt that. She most certainly would have brought her own soldiers, fighting under the banner of Aquitaine. According to some historical accounts, Eleanor and her ladies-in-waiting dressed like Amazons (or, rather, what they believed Amazons dressed like, which probably wasn’t this).
Queen Eleanor
Unfortunately, the Second Crusade did not go well for Eleanor. The journey was difficult, and Eleanor was blamed for several tactical mistakes which were not her fault. The royal family did eventually reach Antioch, though matters did not improve there. The declared objective of the Second Crusade was to recapture the city of Edessa and bring it under Christian control. Raymond was all in favor of this plan – Turkish and Muslim forces constantly threatened Antioch; and having nearby Edessa neutralized as a threat would ensure his own safety. Eleanor, looking to her uncle’s well-being, also supported this plan.
However, Louis did not. He wanted to take his forces and journey to Jerusalem. A fight broke out between the two royals, and it was bad. Eleanor was fine with Louis continuing onward to Jerusalem, but she wanted to remain in Antioch and use her own soldiers to support her uncle.
Rumors then began to circulate that Raymond and Eleanor were having an incestuous affair (helped by the fact that Raymond was only a few years older than Eleanor and reportedly quite handsome). There’s no solid evidence this actually happened, though; and my personal theory is that these were just vicious rumors. The French court already disliked Eleanor, they didn’t need an excuse to trash talk her. And Eleanor was extremely fecund; I rather suspect that, had she been sleeping with anyone on this trip, she probably would have ended up with another child.
Eleanor, as depicted in a window in Poitiers Cathedral.
Outraged by these rumors and her husband’s intransigence, Eleanor pulled her trump card: she and Louis, cousins in the third degree, were too closely related for their marriage to be legal. She and Raymond were even planning for Raymond to ‘abduct’ her, though the plan was discovered before it could be carried out. This enraged Louis, who asserted that Eleanor, as his wife, had to do as he said. Eleanor eventually relented, but the damage had been done. The conflict in the royal family led to divisions in the troops and a loss of morale; Louis failed to take Jerusalem and their armies eventually returned home in defeat.
Indicating how deep the rift between the two had grown, Eleanor and Louis took separate ships on their way back to Italy. Perhaps the couple might have reconciled after some time to cool off; but this was not to be. Soon after they left Antioch, Muslim forces overran the city; Raymond was executed and his head sent to the Caliph of Baghdad as a gift.
Glenn Close as Eleanor, Lion in Winter, 2003 (TV)
As one can imagine, Eleanor did not take this news well. She blamed Louis – had they stayed in Antioch, or had they moved on to Edessa, Raymond might have survived. And so, instead of going home to Paris, Eleanor set out for Rome and the Pope. When she gained an audience with him, she requested an annulment of her marriage on grounds of consanguinity. But the Pope demurred – instead, he proclaimed their marriage valid, and even manipulated events so that Eleanor and her estranged husband had to share a bed. Reportedly, this is how Eleanor’s second child, Princess Alix, was conceived.
However, not even the Vicar of Christ could restore the broken love between Eleanor and Louis. Louis wanted a son, and eventually figured out that he would probably never have another child with Eleanor. And so the king relented. In 1152, their marriage was officially annulled (though the two princesses were declared legitimate).
Eleanor, though now free of Louis, found herself in much the same position as when her father had died. Two separate attempts by two different noblemen were made to kidnap and forcibly marry her within just a few weeks of the annulment. Acting quickly, Eleanor married Henry, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and eventual King of England.
Eleanor and Henry, decorating a cathedral.
Ironically, Eleanor and Henry were even more closely related than Eleanor and Louis (as were Louis and his second wife, Constance of Castile). Eleanor married in May of 1152, just eight weeks after her first marriage was annulled (which rather indicates that, given how much time it took to go anywhere in the 12th century, Eleanor set out for Henry almost as soon as the ink on the proclamation was dry. Quite possibly, she planned to marry him while still married to Louis).
Eleanor and Henry seemed to have a passionate but tumultuous marriage. Though they often argued, they nevertheless had eight children together over the next fourteen years. They had two main contentions: Henry could not remain faithful to Eleanor, and peppered England with his illegitimate children, some of whom (such as Geoffrey of York) Henry expected Eleanor to raise in her household. Henry also felt that, as Eleanor’s husband, he had a legal right to Aquitaine. But Eleanor disagreed – as did the people of Aquitaine, who steadfastly refused to obey any order which did not come directly from her.
In 1167, shortly after the birth of Prince John, Eleanor left Henry and England for Poitiers, the capital of Aquitaine. The couple, however, remained legally married until Henry’s death in 1189.
The Accolade by Edmund Leighton; a work which channels the spirit of the Court of Love.
What happened next had a distinct and lasting impact on European culture, an effect which can still be felt today. From 1168 to 1173, with her daughter Marie, Eleanor presided over the Court of Love in Poitiers. The two women would adjudicate romantic disputes and engage in philosophical discussions on questions of love, romance and marriage.
In addition, the court supported a small army of troubadors, minstrels, singers, poets and storytellers – including one Chrétien de Troyes, who not only introduced the legends of King Arthur to a French audience, but also wrote the character of Launcelot and perhaps the most famous love triangle in the Western literary canon. Modern culture, as a result, owes quite a lot to this Court of Love – most of our ideas on chivalry, knights in shining armor and the quests they go on to win the love of fair maidens are informed directly by ideas developed in the Court of Love.
Unfortunately, the Court of Love was not to last. Eleanor’s oldest surviving son, Henry the Younger, staged a revolt against his father in 1173. The revolt was quickly put down, and Young Henry (then age 18) fled to Poitiers. Eleanor, for her part, actively encouraged this rebellion, convincing her younger sons Richard (yes, that Richard) and Geoffrey to join their brother (in even further irony: Henry was newly married to Margaret of France, the daughter of Eleanor’s ex-husband King Louis by his second wife).
The rebellion, however, did not go well for Eleanor. Almost immediately, Eleanor and her sons were captured by forces loyal to King Henry. Though the three sons managed to talk their way out of severe punishment, Eleanor was imprisoned.
Eleanor’s royal seal, proclaiming her Queen of England and Duchess of Aquitaine.
Her imprisonment, however, was relatively gentle. Eleanor, being a woman of high standing and still officially Queen of England, was entitled to special treatment. Throwing her into a dungeon and giving her nothing but bread and water would not only have shamed King Henry, but probably would have incited a popular revolt in Aquitaine.
Instead, Eleanor was placed under a sort of house arrest. She lived in castles and had servants and attendants to see to her needs, but her movements and communications were severely curtailed and monitored. She could only see her children at Christmastime, which caused her relationships with all of her children to suffer.
King Henry began rather publicly carrying on with his favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford, shortly after Eleanor’s imprisonment. He may have been trying to provoke the queen into seeking another annulment, and rumors began to circulate that he planned to divorce Eleanor and marry Rosamund. In 1176, however, Rosamund died in mysterious circumstances. Some sources indicate Eleanor as being the cause of her death; however, an annulment of her marriage to King Henry meant Henry the Younger, Richard and Geoffrey might have lost their position in the line of succession. And these princes (who were far freer to act than Eleanor) were obviously not shy about picking up weapons to secure their rights. If Rosamund’s death was the result of foul play, I personally think it far likelier that one of Eleanor’s sons was behind it than Eleanor herself.
Queen Eleanor convinces her son Richard to forgive his brother John; by James Doyle.
Despite ostensibly being a hostage against her sons’ good behavior, Henry the Younger staged another rebellion in 1183. However, this rebellion ended when Henry contracted a fatal case of dysentery. Richard, though, kept up the family tradition and rebelled again in 1189. This rebellion proved too taxing for King Henry, who died that same year, making way for Richard to become King of England. Immediately after assuming the throne, Richard issued orders for his mother to be freed. Upon arriving at Eleanor’s castle, though, the couriers discovered that Eleanor’s attendants, anticipating these very orders, had already released her.
Promptly after his coronation, Richard left to join the Third Crusade, and left the ruling of England in Eleanor’s hands. By all accounts, she managed the country quite capably. Richard had squeezed the country for quite a lot of money to fund his Crusading; but when he was captured and held prisoner by the Holy Roman Emperor for a ransom nearly three times the annual income of England, Eleanor found the money and personally traveled to Germany to see his release in 1193. She also traveled to Castile to arrange a marriage between one of John’s nieces and the son of King Phillip II of France.
Tragedy would strike in 1199, however, when Richard died at age 42 from a mis-fired arrow. Eleanor held him as he died, and her grief at losing him had a profound effect on her well-being. Already quite old, especially for a woman of her day, Eleanor’s health rapidly declined. In 1201, she joined a nunnery at Fontevraud (an institution to which she had been a regular donor), in western France. She passed away in 1204, and was entombed at Fontevraud, next to Henry.
Eleanor and Henry’s tombs at Fontevraud.
Her son King John would later become exceptionally famous in 1215, when he signed the Magna Carta. And though Eleanor cannot be held directly responsible for that, nor for choices made by subsequent generations, she did influence the development of House Plantagenet and the rivalry between England and France, which would eventually lead to the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses.
Eleanor was a popular figure even while alive; and subsequent generations have been fascinated by this remarkable woman.
A 19th century Italian opera, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, focuses on the love triangle between Eleanor, Henry and Rosamund.
Her debut as a film character happened as early as 1923, with the release of the silent film Becket (another film of the same name came out in 1964, currently available on Netflix!). A popular play, The Lion in Winter, was written in 1966 about the rebellions of Eleanor’s sons. The play became a film in 1968, and was remade for television in 2003. Katharine Hepburn won an Academy Award for her portrayal of the Queen in the 1968 film, and Rosemary Harris won a Tony for the same role on stage.
12th century Europe has been a favorite setting of historical authors, and a tall stack of historical fiction has been written about Eleanor and the era in which she lived.
A knight in shining armor, circa 2009.
However Eleanor’s contribution to modern culture is far more than her appearance in films or literature. Eleanor, apart from her five year investment in the Court of Love at Poitiers, supported troubadors, poets and other artists her whole life. She was an avowed patron of the arts, and her generous support nurtured the development of secular medieval art. She certainly can’t take all the credit – courtly love existed as a concept before she was born.
But the culture of courtly love flourished, in both England and France, under Eleanor’s reign. Chrétien de Troyes, mentioned above, wrote many of his most famous works while under her patronage. Indirectly, we also have Robin Hood; who, in many versions of the stories, fights against the tyranny of King John (likely not how Eleanor would have wanted her son to be remembered, but it is what it is). Undoubtedly, though you may not have read the original versions, you still recognize these stories. They’ve become part of our culture, and retellings of these stories persist even today – the most recent Robin Hood film was made in 2010; and King Arthur in 2004. And even more archetypally – the bandit prince, the knight errant, the beautiful princess are all figures we recognize; even in their inversion (because what is Brienne of Tarth but a knight errant?)
So what I’m saying is that basically every nerd who’s ever loved a fantasy epic which has drawn on romantic ideals of chivalry, from The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien to even Game of Thrones, owes a tremendous cultural debt of gratitude to Queen Eleanor.
Ahem.
Resources
Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England by Alison Weir
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France, Queen of England by Ralph V. Turner