Random Facts That Prove Eleanor of Aquitaine Was Not to Be Messed With (16 items)

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  (#6) She Was A Duchess In Her Own Right

  As a teenager, Eleanor was one of the most sought-after heiresses in Europe because she ruled a fertile, valuable region of what would later become France.

  Eleanor didn't hold Aquitaine by virtue of marriage, as was often the case; instead, she inherited the land in her own right. As a result, she alone was the territory's legitimate duchess, and any man who sought control would have to marry her. For this reason, securing the marriage between Louis VII and Eleanor was a prosperous coup for the late King Louis VI.
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  (#5) She Was Ambushed Once And Nearly Kidnapped Twice 

  Prior to her marriages, Eleanor constantly faced the threat of abduction: as a rich heiress without a husband, greedy lords may have sought to kidnap her, marry her against her will, and claim her lands and wealth as their own. This threat was one reason why, shortly before his passing, her father arranged her marriage to the eventual Louis VII, and another reason why Eleanor was most likely concerned for her own safety once she divorced Louis.

  Despite her newfound freedom upon this separation, Eleanor knew she couldn't enjoy the luxuries of single life for long; she had to find a new husband for her own protection. After a council annulled her first marriage, she went home to Poitiers, barely evading two different captors: Theobald, Count of Blois (who would later marry one of her daughters), and her future brother-in-law, Henry Plantagenet's younger brother, Geoffrey. Fortunately, Eleanor took an alternate route home and arrived safely – she arranged a marriage to a new protector soon after.

  In 1200, Eleanor was successfully ambushed and held captive by one of her son John's enemies, Hugh of Lusignan. Her imprisonment wasn't for the gain of her land, however: Hugh attacked Eleanor in order to extort John's support in Hugh's claim to a random piece of land.
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  (#3) She Was Captured By Her Grandson

  Eleanor favored her son Richard above her other children, though her youngest, John, was slated to be crowned king following Richard's rule. Geoffrey, another of Eleanor's sons, was born between the two, though he passed before he could succeed Richard's throne. Geoffrey's son, Arthur of Brittany, was technically the rightful king – not his uncle John – but Eleanor supported John rather than her teenaged grandson. One reason for this may have been that Arthur at one point captured Eleanor, whereas John was the one to free her.

  To settle the conflict once and for all, one of John's lieutenants took Arthur and delivered him to the king. Historians still debate what happened to the young duke, but he was certainly imprisoned and most likely put to death, perhaps by John himself.
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  (#4) She Went On The Second Crusade With Her First Husband

  Eleanor was exceptionally well-traveled for a woman of 12th-century France. 

  Louis VII and his German counterpart, Conrad, led the charge for yet another Christian Crusade in 1147, though many French citizens, Eleanor included, were unenthusiastic about traveling such a great distance merely to reinforce the Crusader vassal states. In Louis's eyes, however, the crusade was an opportunity to atone for his sins (including burning a church full of people), so Eleanor eventually agreed to join him on the journey.

  The Crusade (1147–1149) was a terrible failure, both personally and militarily. Louis and his allies did little to aid their Frankish cousins in the Middle East, and his relationship with Eleanor deteriorated drastically during their time away. The French also lost many men at The Battle of Cadmus; this massacre of Frenchmen was blamed on Eleanor because she allegedly became an unwitting pawn in a Turkish attack.
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  (#7) Even In Her Old Age, She Traveled Europe As A Diplomat

  After she was released from prison, Eleanor remained politically active. She served as an unofficial regent in England for her son, Richard the Lionheart, while he was crusading. Eager to arrange royal alliances, she went abroad in 1199 when she was in her late seventies.

  Eleanor traveled to Castile, visiting her daughter, also named Eleanor, who was Queen of that country, as well as her many grandchildren. Her task was to ally her own family yet again with the royal clan of France – Eleanor, once married to a king of France, and Henry often opposed their rivals across the Channel. The prince in question was the grandson of Eleanor's ex-husband (by another wife): the eventual Louis VIII of France.

  Eleanor met her granddaughters and picked one of them, Blanca, to become a queen and marry Louis. This diplomatic maneuver was a true success: Blanche became a powerful consort and mothered many sons, including Saint-King Louis IX.
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  (#13) Her Favorite Child May Have Been Richard The Lionheart

  Modern scholars believe that Richard, Eleanor's second-eldest surviving son, was her favorite out of all of her children. She appointed him as the future duke of her beloved Aquitaine, although this may have been because her eldest son, Henry, was already bequeathed the rule of England. 

  Like his mother, Richard was passionate about music and poetry and often patronized troubadours. In fact, one story claims that a poet found where Richard was being held captive because he heard the king singing a beautiful tune.

  Others caution against the opinion that Eleanor played favorites. Most evidence of their close bond comes from the time after Richard became king; she may have also been very close to her eldest son, who died before his father. 

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