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

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  (#1) She Was Married Twice To Two Rival Kings

  Eleanor walked down the aisle twice, both times to a powerful monarch or monarch-to-be. In order to ally her duchy to France, which was actually smaller than Aquitaine at the time, King Louis VI arranged the marriage of young Eleanor to his own heir, also named Louis. They wed in July, 1137, just prior to King Louis's passing a month later.

  The match was ill-fated from the start; the two had many disagreements, as Louis was reputedly very religious and Eleanor very sensual. After two daughters and 15 years of marriage, Eleanor and Louis divorced.

  Eleanor married Henry, Duke of Normandy, just two months after her marriage to Louis ended. Two years later, Henry was crowned king of England and Lord of numerous French lands – and thus a rival to Eleanor's first husband. 
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  (#2) Legend Says She Confronted Her Husband's Mistress In A Maze

  Sadly for Eleanor, Henry was far from faithful. Rumors contest that Henry kept one of his favorite mistresses, the beautiful Rosamund Clifford, in a home at the center of a maze at his palace of Woodstock. He found his way each time by following a red string. 

  But clever Eleanor soon learned of her husband's infidelity and wound her way to the center of the labyrinth, where she found "Fair Rosamund." One version of the story claims that she offered Rosamund two means of escape: a bowl of poison or a dagger to the heart, of which Rosamund chose the former.

  In reality, this tragic tale was nothing more than a fable. Rosamund actually passed in a convent, and Eleanor was most likely in prison, thanks to her husband, Henry.
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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#8) She Advocated For The Tradition Of Courtly Love

  In true family tradition, Eleanor promoted the literary genre of courtly love, which advocated a particular code of conduct for women and the knights who lived to serve and love them. Whether or not Eleanor ever established a formal "academy" in Aquitaine to teach chivalry to men and women is unknown, but she may have instructed her ladies-in-waiting and male attendants to follow its precepts.

  Marie of Champagne, one of Eleanor's daughters from her first marriage, fostered the tradition even more than her mother at her court in Champagne.
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  (#9) She And Her First Husband Didn't Get Along

  Arranged marriages were successful on occasion, but not in the case of Eleanor and Louis. Beautiful and deeply sensual, with a love of literature, music, and especially courtly poetry, Eleanor was a worldly woman. In contrast, Louis was more ascetic at heart, a deeply religious man. As he was a second child, he spent much of his childhood raised in a monastery, perhaps destined for a career in the Church until his elder brother died.

  Louis was rather naive, especially in contrast to Eleanor's sophisticated nature; he loved his wife but didn't share her passions. Eleanor was even said to have exclaimed that she'd married a monk.
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  (#10) She Birthed Ten Children, But Only Nine Survived

  As the life expectancy in 12th-century Europe was fairly low, child mortality was quite high. Fortunately, Eleanor's children didn't succumb to the statistics. She gave birth to ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. Sadly, her first son with her second husband did not survive. This child was named William, most likely for Eleanor's paternal ancestors and for William the Conqueror, founder of Henry's own dynasty.

  Young William died at the age of three, but Eleanor went on to birth four more sons by Henry – all of whom revolted against their father later in life. Eleanor bore her last child, the troublesome John, around the age of 44.
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  (#11) Her Second Husband Imprisoned Her For 16 Years

  Eleanor's second husband, the eventual King Henry II of England, was perhaps more suited to her in terms of sensuality and ambition, but the temperamental Plantagenet didn't hesitate to punish his wife if he saw fit. Fed up with Henry's rule and infidelities, Eleanor eventually backed her sons' rebellion – led by Richard – against their father. The effort failed, and Henry captured a fleeing Eleanor, whom he may also have suspected of having tried to harm his favorite mistress.

  Starting in 1173, he kept his wife in prison for 16 years, forcing her to live in relative seclusion in various castles in England, including Salisbury Castle. Henry moved Eleanor often and only allowed her to see her family on special holidays. Only after Henry's passing in 1189 did Richard, then the king, free his mother.
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  (#12) She May Have Had An Affair With Her Uncle

  While she was traveling in the Middle East with her husband, Louis VII, on the Second Crusade, Eleanor met up with her paternal uncle, Raymond, ruler of Antioch. Raymond welcomed his niece and nephew into his principality, but some contemporary sources suggest more: they allege incest between uncle and niece. 

  Raymond was a bastion of culture in comparison to the monk-like Louis, and Eleanor and her hubby were suffering marital difficulties at the time. Raymond also had much in common with Eleanor, such as her love of all things luxurious.

  Despite these historical rumors, however, there is no concrete evidence to support this claim. 
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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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  (#14) She Stood Up For Her Sister's Affair

  Eleanor was fiercely protective of her younger sister, Petronilla, a wealthy heiress in her own right. Like her grandfather and her sister, Petronilla began an illicit affair – hers with a married man she met while living at court. This man was Count Raoul of Vermandois, an important noble, cousin of Louis VII, and brother-in-law of the powerful Count Theobald of Blois. 

  Despite the clandestine match, Eleanor fully supported her sister and even tried to convince her husband to get Raoul's marriage annulled so her sister could marry him. Unfortunately, Theobald told the Pope about the affair, Raoul and Petronilla were excommunicated, and Louis invaded Theobald's lands, even burning down a church full of people.
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  (#15) Her Grandmother Was Originally Her Grandfather's Mistress

  Eleanor's paternal grandfather, Duke William IX of Aquitaine, was one of the original troubadours, medieval bards, and courtly poets who composed songs of adoration to their lady loves. William's work is the first known surviving literature in the language of Aquitaine, Provençal.

  Although he was married to Philippa of Toulouse, William took the wife of one of his vassals, Dangereuse, as his mistress. He even brought his lady love to live in his castle at Poitiers – a decision that was obviously met with disapproval from his wife. William was excommunicated from the Church twice, but, reluctant to give up his mistress, he threatened the bishops.

  Despite her lover's tantrums, Dangereuse tied her own family to his by marrying off her daughter, Aenor, to the duke's son and heir, also named William. The resulting child was Eleanor of Aquitaine.
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  (#16) Her Life Ended In A Nunnery

  Eleanor eventually retired to Fontevraud Abbey in France, a spot popular with high-ranking women as a place to retire at the end of their lives. The abbey also had close personal ties to the Plantagenets, the family of Eleanor's second husband, Henry, including Eleanor's own mother-in-law, Empress Matilda. Even Eleanor's own daughter, Joan, passed just after taking the veil as a nun at Fontevraud.

  Eleanor, Henry, Richard, and other Plantagenets were buried at the sanctuary.

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