Biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography

Henry and Eleanor argued often, but they produced eight children together between and Nonetheless, she does not emerge again into a publicly active role until separating from Henry in and moving her household to her own lands in Poitiers. Although some facts about the court remain in dispute amidst centuries of accumulated legend and myth, it seems that Eleanor, possibly accompanied by her daughter Marie, established a court that was largely focused on courtly love and symbolic ritual that was eagerly taken up by the troubadours and writers of the day and promulgated through poetry and song.

This court was reported to have attracted artists and poets, and to have contributed to a flowering of culture and the arts. Henry released her, under guard, to allow her to return to England inafter which she rejoined his household at least for part of each year, joining him on solemn occasions and resuming some of her ceremonial duties as queen.

Henry II died in July and their son Richard succeeded him; one of his first acts was to free his mother from prison and restore her to full freedom. On the conclusion of the crusade, Richard known as Richard the Lionheart returned to England and ruled until his death in According to Capellanus, the women decided that it was not at all likely.

There is no evidence to the claim that Eleanor invented "courtly love", an expression that only appeared in the late nineteenth century. Her paternal grandfather, William IX — was considered a troubadour who extolled the growing popularity of tales of love and chivalry, long before this. The rest is merely conjecture. From Montferrat, the royal entourage moved to Limogeswhere matters worsened.

The latter then informed King Henry II that he was now supporting his son as the new reigning monarch. This was the beginning of the Revolt of — Later chroniclers assigned much of the blame to Eleanor, adding to her deepening reputation and leading to much speculation regarding motive, despite lack of evidence, although they carefully added "so it was said" to their accounts.

Later, in April, Eleanor too would set out to travel to Paris to join her sons. While Henry II was ultimately victorious and made some concessions to his sons at the Treaty of Montlouis on 30 September[ ] Eleanor was confined to various degrees for the rest of Henry's life in various locations in England, about which there is very little information, although pipe rolls refer to Ludgershall Castle in Wiltshire, to Buckinghamshire and various houses in Berkshire and Nottinghamshire.

In earlyhe tried again, by persuading Eleanor to become a nun at Fontevrault. She then requested the Archbishop of Rouen to intervene and he supported her refusal, prompting Henry to once again attempt to seek papal approval, [ ] [ ] which was denied. Meanwhile, Henry continued his use of his children to forge alliances. In the summer ofEleanor was at Winchester with Joanna, then eleven.

As soon as plans for her marriage to William II of Sicily were concluded, she was sent there on 27 August, the marriage taking place on 13 February While Eleanor remained confined, she was not strictly a prisoner, but rather in a form of " house arrest " although stripped of her revenues, and in the later part of this period enjoyed some greater freedoms from onwards and particularly afterand would witness the death of two more of her sons Henry and Geoffrey and her daughter Matilda, but very little information exists about these years.

During her imprisonment, Eleanor became more and more distant from her sons, since Henry II could not afford having her in communication with them, and possibly plotting against him. Rosamund Clifford died in or at GodstowOxfordshire. Henry erected a tomb in the abbey and gave gifts to the abbey in her memory. Her death would much later lead to myths concerning Eleanor's putative involvement [ ao ] that grew more elaborate over the centuries, and for a long time were accepted as established facts, further building her Black Legend, despite virtually no contemporary evidence to support this.

Some chroniclers, including Gerald of Wales, Ralph Niger, Roger of Hoveden and Ranulf Higden state that Henry then began an affair with the sixteen-year-old Alys of Francea matter complicated by the fact that she was betrothed to his son Richard and was also the daughter of Louis VII, who became alarmed on hearing this news. In the meantime, Henry delayed the marriage, which Richard was now resisting and Alys bore Henry several children.

The years of Eleanor's confinement were marked by almost constant warfare, between their sons and rebellious vassals — especially Aquitaine, between each other and with their father. Philip, who was the brother-in-law of Henry the Young the heir apparent, was even more determined than his father to regain the French lands of Henry and his sons, and to exploit the conflicts in that dysfunctional family.

During one of these campaigns, Eleanor's son Henry died of dysentery on 11 Juneat MartelQuercyat the age of twenty-eight. His dying wishes included a plea for his mother to be set free and that his wife Marguerite be provided for. He later described how she told him she had a premonition in a dream. Henry's death, as heir apparent, changed the family dynamics, leaving Richard as the new heir.

This marked the beginning of a loosening of the restrictions on her. Roger of Hovenden states that the King commanded she "be freed and that she make a progress about her dowerlands". Geoffroy du Brueil states that she remained in Normandy for about six months. Young Henry's death necessitated a renegotiation of the treaty of Montmirail and the contentious question of Richard's betrothal to Alys, resulting in a further meeting of the English and French kings at GisorsNormandy on 6 Decemberat which time Henry revoked much of the land concessions he had made earlier.

At Winchester, Matilda gave birth to her fifth child, William. She would remain in Normandy for nearly a year, the royal couple returning to Southampton from Barfleur England on 27 Aprilspending the summer together at Winchester, though there is very little information on her whereabouts from then till However, even in Aquitaine affairs, it was clear she had little freedom to act, stating that her acts were "with the assent and at the will of her lord Henry, King of England, and of Richard, Geoffrey and John, her sons" [ ] The family situation changed further when Geoffrey died in Paris on 18 or 19 Augustleaving only Richard and John as heirs but conflict between them and with their father continued over their inheritance, and Richard made yet another attempt at adding Toulouse to the Aquitaine domain, bringing Henry and Philip into direct conflict once more, which would lead to twenty-seven years of intermittent war.

This time Richard and Philip combined their forces against an ailing Henry, forcing him to relinquish much of his French possessions. Over the last few years Eleanor had often travelled with her husband and was sometimes associated with him in the government of the realm, but still had a custodian so that she was never fully free. Henry's death ended a marriage which has been described as tumultuous and Eleanor's long years of imprisonment.

One of his first acts as king was to send William Marshal to England with orders to release the sixty-five-year-old Eleanor from prison; he found upon his arrival that her custodians had already released her, whereupon she assumed the powers of regent, bestowed upon her by Richard [ aq ] who was still in France. On 13 AugustRichard sailed from Barfleur to Portsmouth and was received with enthusiasm, proceeding from there to Winchester to meet Eleanor.

However, on 29 August, Prince John carried out his father's wishes, marrying his cousin Isabella, to whom he had been betrothed in On his return he made more formal arrangements, prior to his more prolonged departure for the crusade on 12 December, appointing as custodians his justiciar Hugh de Puiset together with William de Longchamp as summi justifiarii.

Meanwhile, although John had married, the question of succession still remained, and in particular the problem of Alys to whom Richard was betrothed yet had been in a relationship with his father, but was also King Philip's half-sister. Such an alliance would serve the purpose of stabilising matters in Gascony. From there, she escorted Berengaria to Sicily, where Richard had arrived at Messina.

He was also in conflict with Philip, partly over the matter of Alys, [ ] as a result of which Eleanor's ship was refused landing at Messina and had to proceed to Brindisi. By MarchRichard had secured Joanna's release, and joined Eleanor and Berengaria at Reggiofrom where the latter was placed in Joanna's care. Richard then confronted Philip with the matter of Alys' relationship with Henry II as the reason for breaking the betrothal, and Philip promptly departed for the Holy Land prior to the arrival of Eleanor in Messina.

By the time Eleanor had reached Sicily, stories of misrule and conflict in England between Longchamp and Prince John had emerged. Walter de CoutancesArchbishop of Rouen, was appointed to reestablish royal authority in England, and he and Eleanor began their return journey after only four days, departing on 2 April for Salerno. From there they travelled to Rome, arriving on the 14th to meet with the new Pope, Celestine IIIto obtain his approval of appointing Walter de Coutances over William de Longchamp, who also served as a papal legate.

On 10 AprilRichard and Berengaria together with Joanna left Sicily, with the women on a separate ship, bound for Outremerbut storms diverted them to Cyprus where Richard and Berengaria were married on 12 May at Limasoland Berengaria was crowned. King Philip abandoned the Crusade on 2 July and returned to France, but in the meantime Richard had found himself in conflict with Duke Leopold of Austriaan event which would have serious consequences for him later.

Once Eleanor reached Rouen, where she arrived on 24 Juneshe was able to direct biographies about eleanor of aquitaine biography in England better, [ ] although she spent the winter of — in France. As regent, she demonstrated the qualities of a benevolent and statesmanlike ruler with Richard of Devizes describing her as "incomparable" [ at ] and she began using the phrase teste me ipsa as my own witness on official documents.

Coutance was appointed head of a regency council and Longchamp fled to France, attempting unsuccessfully to recruit Eleanor to his cause. In early Philip recruited Prince John to his biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography, offering him lands and Alys, prompting Eleanor's return to England on 11 February to prevent John's invasion of Normandy, [ ] however she spent much of that year dealing with ecclesiastical disputes and successfully curbing the ambitions of Longchamp and John.

In the Holy Land, Richard made little progress in his quest to capture Jerusalem, and by late was forced to arrange a truce with Saladinand sent Joanna and Berengaria back to Sicily in September, departing from Acre himself on 9 October. Following which his whereabouts were unknown till January when Eleanor learned that he had been taken prisoner by Duke Leopold, whom he had slighted on his arrival in Acre.

Eleanor only became aware of what had happened through Coutances' spies in France, but immediately assumed control of the government, while Prince John with Philip's support, became emboldened once more in claiming the throne. At the same time she received the first letter from him since his capture, urging her to accept the terms, and informing her that his conditions had much improved and that he had been transferred to Hagenau.

Eleanor and her council immediately set about trying to raise the ransom and arrange the hostages, a task to which Beregnaria, now in Poitou. Having agreed to a date for Richard's release on 17 JanuaryEleanor and Coutances set off for Germany in Decemberarriving at Speyer by the agreed day. There she discovered that King Philip and Prince John had outbid her in return for keeping Richard in custody.

Further negotiations and offers, including an annual tribute, eventually led to him being released on 4 February. Richard and Eleanor then made a triumphal entry into London on 23 March Eleanor and Richard's stay in England was relatively brief, since feeling the need to defend his French possessions from Philip, Richard departed from Portsmouth on 12 May Arriving in Barflueur, neither Richard nor Eleanor would return to England.

Initially, prior to Richard arriving in England, he delegated authority to Eleanor statuendi quae vellet in regnothough this was not repeated. During Richard's subsequent prolonged absences, royal authority in England was represented by a succession of chief justiciars. On Longchamp's dismissal ingovernment moved to a more conciliar mode magnum concilium and communitas regni under Coutance.

Richard and Berengaria had no children, and on Richard's death, one of the first things Eleanor did was to warn John to flee from Brittany where he was with Arthur I, Duke of BrittanyEleanor's grandson, and secure Richard's possessions. Arthur was the only son of Eleanor's fourth son Geoffrey and his wife Constance.

Biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography: Eleanor of Aquitaine was.

He had been considered to be Richard's heir, being the son of John's older brother, and hence had a claim on the throne, there being no other male heirs. Richard himself, though having considered Arthur, had declared John to be his successor prior to his death. Whereupon the Breton army advanced on Angers and captured it, followed by Anjou, Maine and Touraine declaring their allegiance to Arthur.

Eleanor immediately acted to repel the Bretons, ordering the devastation of the lands of any vassal disloyal to John. Support for Arthur soon collapsed and he withdrew with Philip to Paris and John was officially invested as Duke of Normandy on 25 Aprilwhile Eleanor toured all her domains raising support for John, whom she had declared the rightful heir and on 25 MayJohn arrived in England and was crowned king on 27 May, although he was back in Normandy by 20 June where he concluded a truce.

At the same time, Eleanor also made peace with Philip and pledged her allegiance as a vassal. This helped to safeguard them from Philip in the event of her death. In September that year Joanna died in childbirth, at Fontevrault, where she was buried, leaving Eleanor biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography only two surviving children, John of England and Eleanor of Castile.

Among other provisions, the new truce cemented dynastic alliances through the marriage of the twelve-year-old LouisKing Philip's heir, to one of John's nieces in Castile and the payment of 30, marks by John to Philip. This was formalised in the Treaty of Le Goulet of May Subsequently, John returned to England to raise the money, while Eleanor travelled to Castile to select a suitable bride.

Hugh demanded she cede him the county of La Marchesold long ago by one of his ancestors to Henry II, which she acceded to so that she could complete her mission. She finally arrived in Castile by the end of January Eleanor of Castile had two unmarried daughters, and of those Eleanor chose the younger, Blanchethen sixteen years old. She remained there till late March, to avoid Lent, during which marriages could not be solemnised, arriving in Bordeaux at Easter on 9 April.

While there she undertook a major reconstruction of her ducal palace in Poitiers, originally Merovingian but now being rebuilt in the Angevin Style. Blanche and Louis were married on 23 May She bore him 12 children, one of whom was the future Louis IX of Franceensuring that Eleanor's descendants would be future rulers of France. Amongst the advice she gave him was to secure the loyalty of her vassals, should she die, and in particular Hugh of Lusignan, to whom she had granted La Marche the previous year, making him the new count.

John arrived at Lusignan Castle on 5 July, where he encountered the thirteen-year-old Isabelle of Angouleme and sought her hand in marriage from her parents, while breaking off negotiations with the Portuguese court. However, Isabelle was already betrothed to Hugh of Lusignan, whom he had dispatched to England. While there were potential political advantages to such an alliance, under the circumstances this was a mistake that would soon have serious consequences.

The marriage between John and Isabelle took place in secret in Bordeaux on 24 August, and they then proceeded to England, where she was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey on 8 October King John ignored the Lusignans' protests over the betrayal, whereupon they rose in rebellion in early Eleanor, though in ill health, once more intervened to restore peace in February and March, summoning Arthur as an intermediary with King Philip.

But John continued to seek vengeance on the Lusignans, and conflict simmered throughout On 28 Aprilfreed from some of his other commitments, Philip summoned John to his court, and upon his refusal declared him a traitor and in lieu of his lands. John's position became more perilous when Philip betrothed his daughter Marie to the fifteen-year-old Arthur in July, and declared him to be the rightful lord of the Angevin possessions.

Under Philip's orders, Arthur proceeded to Poitou to seize his new inheritance. She refused demands to yield up control of the fortress and urgently summoned John to aid her. Arthur was last seen entering Falaise Castle in Normandy as a prisoner on 10 August. Eleanor had demanded a promise of clemency for Arthur, but little was heard of him for some time, despite an attempt to free him in the autumn of On her return to Fontevrault, Eleanor took the veil as a nun.

By the end ofrumours were circulating about Arthur's death, [ ] but John had the youth brought before him in January at Falaise, asking him to switch his allegiance from Philip.

Biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography: Eleanor of Aquitaine was Duchess of

Instead, Arthur demanded that John grant to him all his possessions, according to Philip's declaration. Arthur's threats were sufficient for some of the King's advisers to suggest he be eliminated, as a danger to the security of the realm. Rumours of his assassination persisted and subsequent events have been the matter of speculation, other than that he was transferred to Rouen on 8 March, and in April his gaoler announced he was relinquishing his role, which is the last record of his existence.

One source from Fontevrault suggests that she had become unaware of her surroundings during the last few months although this is either contradicted or not mentioned by other contemporary accounts. Eleanor of Aquitaine, at the age of eighty, died at Fontevraud [ ba ] on either 31 March or 1 April [ ] [ ] and was entombed in the crypt of the abbey between Richard I and Henry II.

The tomb effigy is by a different hand and more advanced in the use of three dimensions than the earlier two. Eleanor's tomb lies under a painted stone gisant effigy of the Queen, wearing a crown and with an open book in her hands. The tomb is considered one of the finest of those few that survive from this period. Contemporary sources praise Eleanor's beauty.

Even in an era when ladies of the nobility were excessively eulogised and praised, their praise of her was undoubtedly sincere, though probably based on hearsay, [ ] while is some cases, the reference is only implied. The medieval German songs known as Carmina Burana praise "England's Queen", and a minnesinger refers to "The sweet young queen".

William of Tyre dismissed her as " uxorem quae una erat de fatuis mulieribus ". In spite of all these words of praise, no one left a detailed description of Eleanor, for instance the colour of her hair and eyes are unknown. Such details were of little interest to contemporary chroniclers, portraiture was not a characteristic of the time with no attempt at realism, while descriptions were largely rhetorical.

Some romanesque carvings, such as those at the Cloisters in New York and Chartres [ ] and Bordeaux cathedrals have been attributed to her but these cannot be substantiated, [ ] [ ] [ ] while completely erroneous claims from medieval art have frequently been used to illustrate articles and books about her, such as a queen from the 14th century Codex Manesse.

Radegonde at Chinon [ ] [ ] and a donor portrait of a kneeling biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography in a twelfth-century psalterwhich has led to it becoming known as the Eleanor Psalter. Many representations of Eleanor, or allusions to her, have appeared over the centuries, particularly the nineteenth-century revival of interest in their medieval past.

In both, Eleanor is depicted in prayer. In nineteenth-century France, Eleanor appears more as an authority figure. Examples include the works of Elizabeth Strickland and Celestia Bloss — There have been many fictionalised accounts of Eleanor over a long period of time. Eleanor also features in the works of many historical novelists. Marion Crawford 's novel of the second crusade Via Crucis In Penman's historical Justin de Quincy mysteries, Eleanor, as Richard's regent, sends squire Justin de Quincy on various missions, often an investigation of a situation involving Prince John.

Eleanor is also an allegorical figure in Ezra Pound 's Cantos. Eleanor has featured in a number of screen versions of the Ivanhoe and Robin Hood stories. Eleanor of Aquitaine is thought to be the chunegin von Engellant Queen of England mentioned in the 12th century poem " Were diu werlt alle min ," in Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana. Flower and Hawk is a monodrama for soprano and orchestra, written by American composer Carlisle Floyd inin which Eleanor relives memories of her time as queen, and at the end hears the bells that toll for Henry's death, and in turn, her freedom.

By the time of her death, Eleanor had outlived all of her children except for Queen Eleanor of Castile, who died in and King John of England, who died in Inshe acted as regent in England when Richard went to join the Third Crusade. She even played her part in negotiations for his release after he was taken prisoner in Germany on his way home.

InRichard died and was succeeded by Eleanor and Henry's youngest son, John. Eleanor's role in English affairs now ceased, although she continued to be closely involved in those of Aquitaine, where she spent her final years.

Biography about eleanor of aquitaine biography: › Geography & Travel

Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. Eleanor of Aquitaine about - April 1, was one of the most powerful people of the Middle Ages and the richest and most powerful woman in Europe during her lifetime. When Eleanor was born she was named after her mother and called "Alia Aenor", which in their language meant "other Aenor", but it became "Eleanor" in English.

The eldest of their three children, she became heiress to the province of Aquitaine, largest and richest of the provinces that would become modern France, when her only brother died as a baby. As soon as her father died inwhen she was 15 years old, Eleanor became the target of marriage proposals from all parts of Europe. She also gave him a wedding present that is still in existence, a rock crystal vase.

She took part in the Crusades with some female contemporaries but as the feudal leader of the soldiers from her duchy. The story that she and her ladies dressed as Amazons is disputed by serious historians, and her conduct was repeatedly criticized by Church elders as indecorous. However her testimonial launch of the 2nd Crusade from Vezalay, the rumored location of Mary Magdalene's interment, dramatically emphasized the role she led women to play in the campaign.

While in the eastern Mediterranean countries, she learned about maritime conventions developing there that were the beginnings of what would become the field of admiralty law, and she later introduced those conventions in her own lands, on the island of Oleron inand then into England, while she was acting as regent for her son, King Richard.