Duchess of Aquitaine, Queen consort of France, Queen consort of England
1122 CE
to 1204 CE
Eleanor of Aquitaine (French: Aliénor d’Aquitaine; Éléonore de Guyenne) (1122 or 1124 – 1 April 1204) is one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she is queen consort of France (1137–1152) and of England (1154–1189).
She is the patroness of such literary figures as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn.
She belongs to the French House of Poitiers, the Ramnulfids.
Eleanor succeeds her father, becoming Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitiers, and by extension, the most eligible bride in Europe, at the age of fifteen.
Three months after her accession, she marries Louis VII, son of her guardian, King Louis The Fat.
As Queen of France, she participates in the unsuccessful Second Crusade.
Soon after the Crusade, Eleanor seeks an annulment of her marriage but is rejected by Pope Eugene III.
However, after the birth of Alix, another daughter, Louis agrees to an annulment.
The marriage is annulled on 11 March 1152, on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree.
Their daughters sre declared legitimate and custody is awarded to Louis, while Eleanor's lands are restored to her.
As soon as the annulment is granted, Eleanor becomes engaged to Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, who becomes King Henry II of England in 1154; he is her cousin within the third degree and is nine years younger than she.
The couple marry on 18 May 1152, eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanor's first marriage.
Over the next thirteen years, she bears Henry eight children: five sons, three of whom will become kings, and three daughters.
However, Henry and Eleanor eventually become estranged.
She is imprisoned between 1173 and 1189 for supporting her son Henry's revolt against her husband.
Eleanor is widowed on 6 July 1189.
Her husband is succeeded by their son, Richard I, who immediately releases his mother.
Now queen dowager, Eleanor acts as a regent while Richard goes on the Third Crusade.
Eleanor survives Richard and lives well into the reign of her youngest son John.
By the time of her death, she has outlived all her children except for King John and Eleanor, Queen of Castile.
