The wimple and veil eleanor is wearing in the effigy was common in the middle ages. Best historicalfiction about eleanor of aquitaine 24 books. She was perhaps the most powerful woman in 12thcentury europe. She later became queen of france, divorced her husband, and then became queen of england a short few months later. Eleanor of aquitaine 11221204 was the greatest lady of medieval europe. Jean plaidys novel the courts of love, fifth in the queens of england series, is a. A renowned beauty, with a headstrong, spirited personality, she has been compared to cleopatra, the celebrated egyptian queen, elizabeth i of england and many others. Unfortunately, not many reliable contemporary sources that record the protagonist life are available to us, and in. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Henry was the duke of normandy through his mother, empress matilda, and count of anjou through his father. Around the stone book, in the area surrounding the tomb effigies, the. Eleanor, crown jewel of aquitaine, is about a young woman born to william x, duke of aquitaine, who travels on a long, emotional journey to ultimately reach the throne of france. A closeup of the tomb of queen eleanor of aquitaine.
With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, she recreates not only a remarkable. Due to her fathers enormous wealth, eleanor was raised in one of europes most cultured courts and given an excellent education, the bbc reports. As the heir of the house of poitiers, rulers in southwestern france, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western europe during the high middle ages. He was also the heir to the throne of england as settlement of the conflicting claims of his mother empress matilda empress maud, daughter of henry i of england, and her cousin, stephen, who had seized the throne of england at. Best historicalfiction about eleanor of aquitaine score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
May 6, 2017 eleanor and the people and places in her remarkable life. Evans, lecturer in medieval history at central michigan university. Tomb effigy of eleanor of aquitaine, fontevraud abbey, france eleanor of aquitaine is iconic. Apr 1, 2014 tomb effigies of queen eleanor of aquitaine and king henry ii of england at fontevrault abbey, france. This society is open to all who are interested in history and french history, regional and national.
Eleanor of aquitaine would become one of the wealthiest and most powerful women of the high middle ages. A novel of eleanor of aquitaine by pamela kaufman in doc, rtf, txt download e book. Eleanors aquitaine court gave rise to the court of love, which had a tremendous influence on literature of the time. She was with him on the ninth crusade, when he was wounded at acre, but the popular story of her. Eleanor of aquitaine 11241204 is the most famous queen in all the middle ages and one of the most infamous women in history. Crown jewel of aquitaine is a wonderful fictionalized diary.
Eleanors marriage to louis vii, the fontevraud effigies realize the conju gal space. By marriage she was also queen of france, at least for the 15 years of her union with louis vii. Louis and eleanor were married in july 17, but had little time to get to know one another before louis father the king fell ill and died. Edward i attended with his brother edmund and a large gathering of magnates and prelates. In may 1152, eleanor of aquitaine married henry fitzempress. Learn more about eleanor of aquitaine in this article. This effigy is one of the only confirmed image of eleanor of aquitaine in existence.
Although no one suggests that eleanor or her court actually started the court of love, since ample evidence exists that proves it was flourishing before her lifetime, but it is likely that eleanors court and her patronage greatly influenced the popularity of courtly. Media in category tomb of eleanor of aquitaine the following 33 files are in this category, out of 33 total. Both marriages were arranged in large part because of eleanors claim to the vast, wealthy duchy of aquitaine in france, and weir carefully shows how the unions deteriorated. Tomb effigies of eleanor and henry ii at fontevraud abbey. By the wrath of god, queen of england by alison weir in chm, epub, txt download e book. As you read, learn how her upbringing leads to her becoming one of the most. I selected this book as a biography of eleanor of aquitaine, it is almost 500 pages, so i expected to learn a lot about the fascinating life of this famous queen. While not being depressing, the book shows how sad eleanors childhood was. Eleanor of aquitaine, was still enjoying the benefits of the estates in england.
Everything you know about eleanor of aquitaine is wrong. Eleanors grandfather, william ix, was the duke of aquitaine and is. See more ideas about eleanor of aquitaine, aquitaine, eleanor. Eleanor of aquitaine 1122 1 april 1204 was queen consort of france 17 1152 and. Eleanor of aquitaine 1122 1 april 1204 was queen consort of france 171152 and england 11541189 and duchess of aquitaine in her own right 171204. Upon williams death in 17 she inherited the duchy of aquitaine and in july 17 married the heir to the french throne, who succeeded his father, louis vi, the following month. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. The duke then set out for the shrine of saint james of compostela in the company. Eleanor of aquitaine, queen of france and england, wife of louis vii of france.
Eleanor was the daughter and heiress of william x, duke of aquitaine and count of poitiers, who possessed one of the largest domains in francelarger, in fact, than those held by the french king. Eleanor of aquitaine simple english wikipedia, the free. Eleanor of aquitaine, queen consort of both louis vii of france 1752 and henry ii of england 11521204 and mother of richard i the lionheart and john of england. Her tomb is topped with an effigy of the queen wearing a wimple and veil beneath her crown and reading a book that many historians believe is a bible. Eleanor of castile 1241 28 november 1290 was an english queen consort, the first wife of edward i, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm english sovereignty over gascony the marriage was known to be particularly close, and eleanor travelled extensively with her husband. A young lady, exceptional education and wealth, and a bit of honey badger. Eleanor of aquitaine, queen consort of france and england. Her portrail of eleanor of aquitaine, in the movie version of. By student laura bright a first look eleanor was a french duchess.
Marion meade has told the story of eleanor, wild, devious, from a thoroughly historical but different point of view. Tomb effigies of queen eleanor of aquitaine and king henry. Tomb of matilda, daughter of henry ii, and henry the lion, duke of saxony. Her tomb is topped with an effigy of the queen wearing a wimple. One of the most powerful women of the middle ages, by the time of her death in 1204 she had been queen consort of both france and england.
Eleanor of aquitaines tomb effigy in fontevrault abbey, france. Duchess and heiress of aquitaine and gascogne, countess of poitou. The title notwithstanding, much of the book revolves around the men in eleanors life. The life and legacy of medieval europes most famous queen english edition ebook. She brought the province of aquitaine to england when she married henry ii of england. Queen eleanor of aquitaine inherited the duchy of aquitaine from her father in 17. Marie and alix of france by first marriage william ix count of poitiers died young, henry the young king, matilda duchess of saxony, richard i of england, geoffrey ii duke of brittany, eleanor of. Eleanor was born in 1122, daughter of the future duke william x and aenor, who was the daughter of william ixs mistress. Eleanor of aquitaines tomb effigy in european historybritish. Living the history eleanor of aquitaines appearance or. Wife of louis vii of france and subsequently of henry ii of england, and mother of richard the lionhearted, eleanor played a prominent part in the politics of. The daughters of henry ii and eleanor of aquitaine brepols online.
Katherine hepburn was one of my ultimate favorite actresses, from hollywoods golden years. In her own right she was duchess of aquitaine and countess of poitiers, ruling over a large chunk of what is now france. For all that she is the most famous woman of the medieval period, eleanor of aquitaine remains an historically elusive figure. Symbolic geography in the tomb and seal of berengaria of. She lost her little brother and her mother very early in life. The lanercost chronicle states edward handed the goldencased heart of his mother, which he described as a treasure most dear to him, to the franciscan minister general. If eleanor of aquitaine was a dish, this would be her recipe. Her effigy is one of a number of those of kings and queens from the plantagenet dynasty at the abbey. Eleanor, queen to king henry ii of england, spent her last years at fontevrault abbey and was buried there next to her husband in 1204. Engaged capital, thought to portray henry ii and eleanor of aquitaine. I would recommend that parents read aloud this book to younger children, because there are illegitimate children mentioned. She was patron of literary figures such as wace, benoit. Much earlier scholarly literature was preoccupied with her personal life, casting her as the unfaithful wife of her first husband, louis vii of france, or the jealous and scheming wife of her second, henry ii of england. Eleanor of aquitaine alison weir this book is dedicated with heartfelt thanks to my agent, julian alexander and to jill black who has edited so many of my books.
Although they claimed descent from charlemagne and retained his effigy on the coinage of. Eleanor, exceptionally beautiful at fifteen, had matured into a saucy, hotblooded damsel, and perhaps he her father feared that, unproperly chaperoned, she might grant excessive courtesies to some ardent knight. The medieval and postmedieval image of eleanor of aquitaine, he works to destroy the myths that surround the life of eleanor. Recent research indicates that it was made for eleanor of aquitaine, the most powerful woman in twelfthcentury europe. Probably the most famous woman of the middle ages, she is the only woman to have ever worn the crowns of both england and france. If she conformed to 12th century europes ideal standards of feminine beautyshe must have been blond with grey or. Eleanor of aquitaine lived a long life of many contrasts, of splendor and desolation, power and peril, and in this stunning narrative, weir captures the woman and the queenin all her glory.
Deconstructing the story of eleanor of aquitaine the. She had a younger sister called petronilla of aquitaine. The next 15 years of eleanors life were split between england, normandy and her beloved aquitaine. Laying next to the tomb effigy of king henry ii in frances fontevraud abbey is a. Combining the pace and descriptive quality of a novel with the authority of a textbook, alison weirs study of the revered and reviled eleanor of aquitaine should be valuable to anyone with an interest in medieval european history. When it was all said and done, she held the titles of duchess of normandy, duchess of aquitaine, countess of anjou, countess of poitou. Richardson wrote several books on medieval history, particularly the. William x held one of the largest domains in franceeven larger than that held by the king of france himself. Dive deep into desmond sewards biography of eleanor of aquitaine with a summary, extended analysis, commentary, and discussion. Fontevraud abbey, tombs of henry ii and eleanor of aquitaine. Though the exact year and place of birth is unknown, it is speculated that she was born on either 1122 or 1124 in poitiers, bordeaux, or nieulsurlautise. Kiblers edited volume eleanor of aquitaine, patron and politician. As in many other history books, william the marshal is throughout referred to as. During this time she produced another seven children, acted as regent when henry was away from england and played an active part in political negotiations.
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