Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, as well as Queen Consort of France (1137-1152) and England (1152-1189). She belonged to the House of Poitiers and managed to exercise a degree of power unusual for the women of her time.
He gave repeated support to art and letters since Leonor served as patrons of troubadours and poets of his time, who without his support had not been able to develop their activities. Especially after his return to Poitiers, where concepts such as courtly love were consolidated..
But that was not the only scenario in which Eleanor of Aquitaine played an important role, participated first-hand in warlike conflicts, as was the case of the second crusade, in which she led her own armies..
After the death of her brother, while still a child, Eleanor became the heir to the Duchy of Aquitaine, which aroused the interest of many high-ranking suitors. Her first nuptials united her with Louis the Younger, who later became the monarch of France..
Two daughters were born from the union of Eleanor with Luis, but when the relationship between them was definitively broken, the Duchess of Aquitaine requested an annulment through the pope, which was granted..
After that she married Enrique Plantageret, the heir to the English crown. In her marriage to Henry II she had 8 children, of which two came to occupy the throne of England.
She herself incited her children to take up arms against Henry II, which guaranteed her a long stay as a prisoner of her own husband until 1189. During her final years she continued to hold great influence in the governments of her children, until passed away at 82 years old.
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Leonor (or Alienor) of Aquitaine was born c. 1122. The place of birth generates controversial debates for historians, who pose three possibilities: Poitiers, where he spent most of his childhood, Bordeaux or Nieul-sur-l'Autise.
His mother was Eleanor (Aenor) Chatellerault, while his father was William X of Aquitaine, or the Tolosano. They both had two more children, another girl named Petronila and a boy named Guillermo, like her father..
Guillermo X was the son of Guillermo el Trouvador. His father, in addition to having held the titles of Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers, was the first poet to use the Occitan language in his texts..
In 1130, Guillermo, Eleanor's brother, passed away, making her the apparent heir to her father's possessions and titles (the Duchy of Aquitaine and the county of Poitou). This made it the holder of domains that surpassed those of the French king of the moment..
In addition to her sister Petronila, also called Aelith, Leonor had a male stepbrother named Joscelin, who although he was the legitimate son of William X, was not named heir by the Duke..
From a very early age, due to her status as an apparent heir, Leonor received an education that exceeded in depth and quality what was planned for any girl of any social background. She was instructed in arithmetic, astronomy and history, areas in which few young people had knowledge.
However, the role she was destined to fulfill as a woman and mistress of her own home was not neglected. The administration of the house, as well as sewing, embroidery and weaving were aspects in which Eleanor of Aquitaine was adequately prepared.
In addition, as expected of a young woman of her status, she had to be prepared for social activities, so she was eagerly instructed in her conversational talents, as well as in dance and the main board games of the time..
Leonor knew music, could sing and play the harp. Likewise, he could speak fluently languages such as Latin and Poitevino, which was his mother tongue. Other activities in which the future Duchess was prepared were hunting and horse riding..
In this way, William X made sure to leave his domain in the hands of a girl capable of handling matters that were at the height of his position..
Leonor and her sister Petronila traveled to Bordeaux in 1137. At the request of Guillermo X, the archbishop living there agreed to take care of the girls, so that their father could make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with peace of mind..
What had not been foreseen by the Duke of Aquitaine was that this would be his last trip, since he died on April 9, 1137, far from his home and his daughters. But, anticipating events, Guillermo prepared the entire process that would take place after his death.
He entrusted Luis VI with the task of watching over his daughter Leonor, who was then 15 years old. She requested that she find a suitable husband for her and take care of her safety while the right suitor showed up.
Despite the fact that the King of France, Louis VI, known as el Gordo, was seriously ill, he still had his mental faculties intact, with which he could see the door that was being opened for his son to retake the territories of the Poitiers.
The monarch sent a letter notifying the young Eleanor, both the death of Guillermo X, as well as the duty that he entrusted to find a husband for her. The chosen candidate was Louis the Younger, son of the king and heir to the French throne.
Luis the Younger was 17 years old, while his fiancee, Eleanor of Aquitania, was about 15 years old. Along with the groom, 500 gentlemen left to accompany him on his journey to Bordeaux where his future wife was waiting for him..
On July 25, the union was held without delay in the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Bordeaux, a ceremony in which they also became Dukes of Aquitaine and Counts of Poitiers..
However, the lands of Aquitaine were not joined to France, said domains would remain independent until a male child engendered by the couple was old enough and ascended to both thrones..
On August 1, 1137, King Louis VI died as a result of the dysentery that had afflicted him for some time. The young couple of kings were crowned at Christmas of that same year.
Despite the deep love that Eleanor had awakened in Luis VII, she did not quite please the Northerners, who saw her as a frivolous and unseemly young woman. However, Luis indulged his wife's every whim, and even allowed himself to be influenced by her in matters of State..
When the Archdiocese of Bourges became vacant, King Louis VII proposed one of his faithful servants named Carduc for the post..
In parallel, Pope Innocent II and the College of Cardinals showed their support for Pierre de la Chatre, whom they consecrated despite having been vetoed by Louis.
In response to what he considered an outrage, the King of France ordered the city gates to be closed to the newly appointed Archbishop of Bourges. What a frontal affront to the pope meant.
Innocent II classified the behavior of the French as "childish" and commented that he lacked discipline lessons. Louis VII, enraged, said that as long as he was alive, Pierre de la Chatre would not enter Bourges.
This is how a series of tensions between Rome and France began that lasted several years and even unleashed an internal war in the territories of Louis VII..
Tybalt I, Duke of Champagne was the first to start hostile actions against Louis VII by giving refuge to Pierre de la Chatre after being rejected at Bourges. The French ruler learned that from then on the duchy had become one more enemy.
Eleanor pressured Louis VII to grant Raúl I de Vermandois permission to repudiate his wife, Eleanor de Blois, and marry his sister Petronilla of Aquitaine. The frank leader gave his approval, especially because Eleanor de Blois was the sister of Tybalt I.
In this way an armed confrontation was unleashed that lasted two years, between 1142 and 1144, when the men of Louis VII managed to seize Champagne.
The king himself was a participant in the taking of the town known as Vitry-le-François. There, more than 1,000 people died when they set fire to the church where the inhabitants were sheltering..
In addition, Petronila and Raúl I de Vermandois were excommunicated by Pope Innocent II, who did not first consent to the separation of the count and his wife, which made their new union not in accordance with the principles of the Catholic religion..
In 1144 Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen consort of France, addressed the monk Bernard of Clairvaux in Saint Denis. Then he asked the religious to intercede with the pope so that the excommunication of his sister and brother-in-law was lifted..
In exchange for his help, Eleanor offered Bernardo de Claval that her husband would make concessions in the matter related to Archbishop Pierre de la Chatre.
The monk was shocked to see such behavior in a woman and recommended that she stay out of the affairs of state that corresponded to her husband. She argued that she was interested in such matters because of the lack of children in her marriage..
Bernardo de Claraval recommended that she seek peace, that she not put her husband against the designs of the Church and that if she did he would ask God to grant her the long-awaited offspring..
Eleanor did so and in 1145 gave birth to her first daughter, whom they named Maria. At the same time, she began to pressure her husband, Louis VII, to agree to participate in the second crusade..
The King of France had no shortage of reasons for wanting to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, since since the burning of the church in Vitry-le-François he was trying to find peace and he would only find it washing his sins in the service of God.
Eugene III, the successor as head of the Church after the death of Innocent II, asked Louis VII to lead the second crusade and he accepted in December 1145.
Leonor felt entrusted with the responsibility of leading the crusade together with her husband after speaking with Bernardo de Claraval. In addition, she thought that in this way she could influence Luis VII to provide support to his uncle Raimundo de Antioquia.
Although Luis disagreed with taking Eleanor with him, she insisted that as the greatest feudal lady in the entire kingdom, she should lead her men just like everyone else. Finally, the king agreed and the consort accompanied them.
More than 300 women who were not of noble origin served Eleanor as an escort on her journey. It has been said that all wore Amazonian costumes, although it has not been corroborated. In 1147 Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine left Vezelay.
At the same time the pope agreed to allow the crusade to be fought in Iberia as well, where Alfonso VII of Castile obtained permission to fight the Moors, while Alfonso I of Portugal was able to regain Lisbon and, thanks to a coalition, also made sure control of the port of Almería.
However, the French kings took the east as their destination. In Constantinople they were received by Manuel I Komnenos, there all the French forces met and continued towards Asia Minor.
Although Manuel made Louis VII promise that any recovered territory would return to Byzantine rule, he did not provide any military aid to the Crusaders, who continued on their way alone..
At Nicaea, the Germans and the French joined forces to head to Ephesus together. On the way to Antioquia, on Mount Cadmus there was a confrontation with the Turks that left many casualties in the French ranks.
Eleanor's vassal, Geoffrey de Rancon, was the one who proposed to continue and consequently led them into the trap. That led to the blame falling on Leonor, who was responsible.
It was also said that the size of the queen's luggage and non-combatant companions made the strategy easier for the infidels..
From then on, the vassals and royalty went their separate ways: the nobles boarded ships that would take them directly to Antioquia, while the commons had to continue the journey by land..
Soon, having reached their destination, the royal couple began to have great discrepancies. Eleanor wanted Luis to direct his troops to Aleppo and thus begin the reconquest of Edessa, while he wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land..
Leonor was close to her uncle Raymond, with whom she had shared a lot of time during her youth. Some interpreted their family closeness as an incestuous relationship between the two, especially those who already resented the queen consort.
For this reason, when Leonor proposed to Luis that he would stay in Antioquia with his uncle, the monarch did not grant his consent and forced her to continue with him to Jerusalem..
In addition, Leonor began to argue that the relationship between the two seemed to be very close to be adequate in a marriage.
The fact that Louis VII ignored Eleanor's will and led her on her journey against her wishes was very humiliating for her and was one of the reasons that definitively fractured their union, which was already fragile..
After arriving in the Holy Land, Conrad, Louis VII and Baudouin III joined forces to recapture the city of Damascus, but the siege that occurred in 1148 was a total failure and trust between the allied crusaders was broken..
During her stay in the Mediterranean, Leonor was able to soak up her knowledge of maritime law issues. Ultimately she became the first promoter of these regulations in her domains, which set a precedent for all of Western Europe..
The first maritime laws promulgated by Eleanor were known as the Rools of Olerón and were established in 1160. Then he applied them in England during the government of his son Richard I, called the Heart of the Lion..
After spending a short time in Jerusalem the French kings decided to return to their dominions. They did so in separate boats, although they did not count on the Byzantines, on the orders of Manuel I, to attack their ships and forced them to separate..
Although they were not captured, it took more than two months before Eleanor could reach the continent, where she was received by Count Roger II of Sicily, in Palermo. It was he who explained that everyone had considered that both she and Luis were dead.
Some time later Luis arrived on the coast of Calabria and carried with him the news that Eleanor's uncle, Raimundo, had been beheaded by the Muslims. They went on an appointment with Pope Eugene III, who was in Tusculum.
Instead of granting them the annulment of their marriage, the pontiff recommended that they reconcile and explained that the marriage was perfectly legal. Although the result of the papal administration was Eleanor's second pregnancy, the couple's problems were not resolved..
In 1151 the last daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII was born and named Adelaide. Shortly after the arrival of the girl, the couple decided that they should continue with their separation since there was no way to carry the relationship forward.
Luis had entered into his relationship with Leonor, deeply in love with her for all her virtues, but when he realized that his wife always tried to manipulate him, he accumulated resentment against her until life together became unbearable..
Although they had had two descendants, neither had been male. Consequently, Eleanor had not procreated an heir for the King of France. Furthermore, it never found its way into the hearts of the northern French, for whom the court of Louis was composed..
This is how both decided to put an end to their marriage in March 1152. They formally requested the annulment of their union on the grounds of consanguinity in the fourth degree that the couple shared..
Both María and Adelaida were declared legitimate daughters of the king, since it was considered that the inconvenience had not been in bad faith but due to ignorance. The custody of both girls remained in the hands of their father Luis VII.
Likewise, it was established that the lands that originally belonged to Guillermo X would return to their legitimate heir, that is, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
On the trip to Poitiers, two gentlemen tried to kidnap her to force her into a marriage with which they would be able to take away the rights to their domains. These were Tybalt V, Count of Blois and Godfrey VI of Anjou.
Eleanor managed to evade the captors and wrote to Henry, Duke of Normandy and heir to the King of England. In a short space of time, the young prince appeared to arrange his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, celebrated on May 18, 1152, although she was his cousin in the third degree..
This action was not to the liking of Luis VII, since in this way Enrique Plantagenet was done with a territorial extension much greater than his own within France. So he decided to unite with other lords against the common enemy.
In the alliance were, in addition to the King of France, other important feudal lords such as the Count of Champagne, the Count of Perche and, even, Enrique Plantagenet's own brother: Godofredo de Ajou.
Henry managed to avoid direct confrontations with Louis VII in Aquitaine and then due to a disease that attacked the king, hostilities were suspended and the Englishman took the opportunity to seek peace with the monarch of France and, incidentally, with his brother Godofredo..
In October 1154, Eleanor of Aquitaine's husband became Henry II of England. Two months later Eleanor was also crowned the royal consort. The new union was far more fertile than his first marriage.
The couple conceived eight children, of whom five were boys and three girls. The first offspring, named Guillermo, died at 3 years of age. He was followed by Enrique in 1154, a year later Matilda was born and in 1157 Ricardo arrived..
Godofredo was the fifth fruit of the union in 1158. Eleanor, was born in 1162 and two years later the kings of England had Juana. The last child of the couple was Juan, whom Eleanor of Aquitaine gave birth to in 1166.
Henry II was not characterized by being a devoted husband and faithful to his queen, but had many illegitimate children in his lovers. Although Leonor resented his behavior, she came to raise the first offspring of her husband, Godofredo, who had been born before marriage.
In 1166 Eleanor was angered by how public Henry II's relationship with Rosamunda Clifford had become.
The first children of Eleanor to marry were Henry, who married Louis VII's daughter named Margarita and then, in 1167, Matilda married Henry the Lion of Saxony.
In 1168 Eleanor decided to leave England and return to the city of Poitiers. The trip was guarded by the men of Enrique II, so it seems that the separation of the couple was arranged between the two.
The Poitiers family had a special affection for the arts, especially poetry. The memory of Guillermo the Troubadour was close and in Aquitaine the cavalry had flourished as in few places in Europe at that time.
In 1168 when Eleanor returned from England accompanied by her children, she began to support poets and troubadours at her court, of whom she served as patrons..
It was for this reason that some have argued that in "the court of love", a nickname that was given to the dominions of Eleanor, the fundamental ideas and concepts around courtly love were forged and French manners were developed that later became the national standard.
This idea is supported by Andreas Capellanus, although others affirm that courtly love was already growing as a current even before the birth of Eleanor and that their support simply strengthened it..
Enrique, Eleanor's eldest son, felt that his power in his father's kingdom was extremely limited. In addition, the king decided to grant his youngest son, Juan, some castles that belonged to the inheritance of Henry the Younger..
The boy who was about 18 years old and was close to figures who did not feel sympathy for Henry II of England, such as his father-in-law, Louis VII, decided to organize an uprising against his father.
The popularity of Henry II had been impaired by the possible relationship that the monarch had with the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket.
He went to meet his younger brothers, Godofredo and Ricardo, who were in Aquitaine next to Eleanor. This meeting was a success, his mother allowed the young people to leave for France to organize the rebellion.
In 1173 Eleanor had just embarked on a journey to meet her children and was intercepted by the men of Henry II..
For a full year, the King of England kept this information to himself and nothing was known about Eleanor of Aquitaine's whereabouts, then he took her to England.
While Henry II was alive, he continued to guard his wife Eleanor firmly. The queen spent more than 16 years in prison, although on special occasions such as holidays, she was allowed to leave her chambers.
In 1183 Enrique the Younger, as Eleanor's eldest son was nicknamed, again conspired against his father.
Again he failed to seize power, consequently he spent time in Aquitaine aimlessly. At that time the heir apparent contracted dysentery.
After regretting the behavior he had had with his father, he asked him to have mercy with Leonor and set her free.
Felipe II, who had assumed the throne in France, began to claim property that he considered belonged to his sister, the widow of Henry the Younger.
However, Enrique II stated that these properties belonged to Eleanor and that after the boy's death they returned to the hands of his mother. The English monarch sent his wife to these lands to appease the clamor of Felipe II.
In 1189 Henry II died and the legitimate and undisputed heir was Richard I, nicknamed the Heart of the Lion. He immediately ordered that Eleanor be released from captivity and she ruled for a brief time on behalf of her son..
Between 1190 and 1992 Ricardo I was participating in the third crusade. Upon returning, the English sovereign was the victim of a kidnapping commanded by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI.
Two more years Richard I lasted outside his domain as a consequence. Although formally there was a Council of Regency, Leonor had great influence in the decisions and was fundamental in the negotiations for the release of Ricardo I.
Eleanor's closeness with her descendants was always intense. She was one of those in charge of negotiating the marital unions of her grandchildren, a task of great diplomatic importance at the time..
He even saw some years of the government of his youngest son, Juan, whose government began in 1199.
Eleanor of Aquitaine died on April 1, 1204 in the monastery of Fontevrault, in Anjou, where she had retired some time before. She was buried there along with her husband Henry II and her son Richard I.
His last outstanding act was the trip he made in 1200 to Castile to choose one of his granddaughters, Blanca of Castile, as the wife of Philip II of France and thus try to stop the war between France and England..
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