Eleanor+of+Aquitaine,+Queen+of+England+and+France

= ** Eleanor of Aquitaine ** = ===//Queen of Englan ////d and Fra ////nce //===

(Marriage to Louis VII): ||< 1137 - 1151 || (Marriage to Henry II): ||< 1152 - 1189 ||
 * < Born: ||< 1124 ||
 * < Queen Consort of France
 * < Queen Consort of England
 * < Died: ||< 1204 ||

__Early Life__
Eleanor of Aquitaine was an exceptional woman in medieval times. Eleanor defied the age in which she was born and was successfully able to govern her own lands as well as her own life. Eleanor was born around 1124, the first daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine and Anor. The duchy of Aquitaine encompassed more than a quarter of modern day France,stretching from the Vienne River to the Pyrenean passes. As William and Anor's only son died in childhood, Eleanor was left as heir to the vast territories of Aquitaine. As Eleanor was both young and female, Willam knew that she was in a vulnerable position and so she was betrothed to the dauphin Louis of France.

__**Queen of France and the Second Crusade**__


In 1137, Duke William died and she was immediately married to the dauphin. On the 1st of August 1137, the French king [|Louis the Fat] died and Eleanor and her husband became King and Queen of France. Louis and Eleanor differed greatly in personalties, she being described as having sophisticated tastes and a sharp wit and he as being deeply religious. In 1145, Louis planned to wage a holy war when he learned that the city of Edessa had fallen into Muslim hands. Eleanor joined the [|Second Crusade] as it journeyed across Europe and on the 19th of March 1148 they were met at St Symeon by Eleanor's uncle Prince Raymond. It was here that an unhappy Eleanor brought up the issue of the consaginuity of her and Louis's marriage citing that as they were third cousins it was not permissable for them to be married. The Second Crusade ended a disaster due to harsh, unfamiliar terrain and unexpected ambushes. Eleanor returned home separately from her husband.

[[image:hist2615/EleanorHenry.gif width="170" height="194" align="left" caption="Queen Eleanor and King Henry II of England: http://www.historicalnovels.info/Angevins.html"]]
In 1151, [|Henry Plantagenet], the Duke of Normandy, arrived in France to broker a peace treatment with Louis. Seven months after his visit, Eleanor and Louis's marriage was declared invalid due to their close familial relationship. Eleanor married Duke Henry secretly in 1152 and ruled as duchess of Aquitaine, issuing grants and benefactions in her own right. In leaving her first husband, Eleanor had fatefully shifted the balance of power in France. The addition of Aquitaine to Henry's vast territories meant that Louis was significantly disadvantaged and powerless. During their marriage of 40 years, Henry and Eleanor produced seven children, two of which, [|Richard the Lionheart]and [|John of Lackland]would inherit the throne of England. On the 5th of March 1173, Eleanor's oldest son, Henry together with Louis of France declared war on the King of England.

Eleanor decided to ally herself with her son,pledging her vassals to his cause, an act which caused both surprise and outrage. She was threatened with excommunication if she did not return her sons and cease her support to the rebellion, a warning that she ignored. She was eventually betrayed and captured in 1174, ending the uprising. Eleanor spent the next 14 years as queen consort under house arrest, being released on the death of King Henry.

__**Queen Dowager**__
Eleanor again came to power when her son Richard decided to embark on a Third Crusade. For five years she ruled the country as administrator and prevented the seizing of the throne by her other son John. Eleanor again demonstrated her competency when she collected the ransom for her son Richard and escorted him back to England when he was captured by the Duke of Austria. Richard died in 1199 leaving John as king. Eleanor, at 80 years of age, resolved the long feud between the English Plantagenet kings and the Capetian rulers of France by arranging for a union between her granddaughter Blanche and the French king. Her last act was to help her son, King John defend Aquitaine from her grandson [|Arthur of Brittany] in 1202 when she held the city of Poitou against Arthur's troops. Eleanor of Aquitaine retired to a monastery in Anjou where she died in 1204.