Critics of Eleanor delighted in spreading rumors about her, detailing her excesses and blaming her for military failures. Many of these misconceptions have lingered until this day. After passing Constantinople , the mission encountered hostilities in Asia Minor.
The first battles were a disaster for the French. The atmosphere was tense: Raymond wanted to attack Aleppo and move to liberate Edessa from there, but Louis insisted on going to Jerusalem first.
Their marriage had shown signs of strain before, but tensions over the Crusade pushed it to the breaking point. In an uncharacteristic act of defiance against Eleanor, Louis forced her to go to Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations under Jerusalem are stoking long-standing tensions. A series of disastrous military decisions resulted in the failure of the Second Crusade.
In Louis and Eleanor boarded ships to sail back to France in defeat. For Louis VII, the Crusade was a twofold disaster: He had been away from his kingdom for two years, involved in expensive military campaigns the results of which were humiliating, and his marriage had completely broken down. After the couple returned to Europe, they met with Pope Eugene III who tried to reconcile them—even threatening excommunication. In line with tradition, the daughters remained with their father, and Eleanor retained her duchy in Aquitaine.
Duchess Eleanor was only 28, and it did not take long for suitors to begin to pursue her—for her lands and her mind. Eleanor had her eye on a different suitor. From her court at Poitiers, she sent for him in secret.
His name was Henry Plantagenet, duke of Normandy and count of Anjou. Shortly before her divorce, Eleanor had met young Henry and his father, Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou, when they came to Paris in August to negotiate a peace agreement with Louis.
Wagging tongues speculated that the handsome Geoffrey had a liaison with Eleanor, but no hard evidence of a romantic relationship between the two exists. Geoffrey had a strong tie to the English throne. They had a son, also named Henry. After the death of her father, Matilda battled with Stephen of Blois for control of England, while Geoffrey defended his holdings in France.
As he grew, young Henry Plantagenet had his eyes on the English throne, establishing his reputation for military might as a teenager. Three centuries later Joan of Arc would also guide France as a teenager.
Less than three months after her divorce from Louis, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, nine years her junior, on May 18, Genealogy shows that the pair were more closely related than Eleanor and Louis, but that did not stand in the way of the union.
In Henry crossed the English Channel and was able to secure his position on the throne from the sitting king of England. By the time he and Eleanor were coronated in December , she had already given birth to their first son, William, in August —and was pregnant with their second child. In one bold stroke, the lands of Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou, and other important French territories came under the control of the English king and queen.
In the early years of their marriage, Eleanor and Henry II were a strong team as they oversaw their French and English possessions. Between and , they produced a literal dynasty of five sons and three daughters. Henry often traveled to different parts of his realm, and while he was away, Eleanor assumed the role of regent and other political duties. In this marriage, Eleanor was also able to become a patron of the arts, and at least four writers dedicated their work to her. She famously established the so-called Court of Love at Poitiers between and Toward the late s, relations between Eleanor and Henry were growing tense.
Henry was a notorious philanderer, and many speculate that his infidelities damaged the marriage beyond repair. The royal children were not making things easy on their parents either. Henry the Young King enlisted his brothers Richard and Geoffrey to rebel against their father. By the end of that year, the king appeared to have gotten the upper hand in the struggle and Eleanor was captured and held at the fortress of Chinon, France. Eleanor's sons were major characters in the tale of Robin Hood.
The Anglo-French dynasty of the Normans and Plantagenets attempted to ground its power in a common mythology: the Arthurian legends. Between and , William of Malmesbury published them as the De antiquitate Glastoniensis ecclesiae On the Antiquity of Glastonbury.
This work, dedicated to Eleanor of Aquitaine, describes the Round Table. The following years were very hard for the queen, who lived under house arrest in several different locations in England. Henry II was rumored to be seeking a divorce from Eleanor, perhaps to marry the most well known of his mistresses, Rosamund Clifford. Famous for her beauty, Rosamund died under mysterious circumstances in Eleanor was imprisoned during this time, so her murdering Rosamund seems unlikely.
During her confinement, Eleanor would be allowed to travel for holidays, most notably Christmas, and to see her sons. He rebelled again against his father in , but was struck by dysentery.
Knowing he was going to die, he implored Henry II to show mercy to his mother. Eleanor would be granted more freedoms over time and would even travel with her husband, but she was not free to come and go as she pleased.
Her son restored her lands that had been seized after the rebellion. Browse other episodes in this series here. There is also an RSS feed. Field Medieval French monarchs used — and abused — the charismatic power of religious women.
Travels Through Time: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Death, fealty, homage and power in History Today Published in History Today. Related Articles. By this time her relationship with Louis showed signs of strain, especially when rumors surfaced about her and a famous troubadour from Aquitaine that had spent time in the royal court.
She enjoyed flirting and loved romantic poems and all these accusations were probably unfounded. She also had failed to give the king a male heir. Despite these strains they still seemed to have been in love. After some convincing speeches and heavy taxes to pay for the enterprise, the kings of Germany and France were ready for the march to the Holy Land.
Even the pope crossed the Alps into France to bless the crusading force. The French crusaders were dazzled at the riches in food, fashions, precious metals, and art of the Byzantines.
Eleanor immediately developed a taste for Byzantine clothing and probably bought back to France some of the eastern fashions. Bad weather and effective attacks by the Turks decimated the crusaders. The remnants of the army- guided by the experienced Knights Templars- reached Attalia by early January. From there Louis hired ships hoping to make it to the Holy Land.
He took with him only his immediate guards and family, leaving the rest of the army to manage by themselves as best as they could passage to the Holy Land. The Antochian capital proved to be as dazzling to the French as Constantinople. Eleanor enjoyed her ten days in Antioch immensely, especially the prince, her long lost uncle Raymond of Poitiers.
Raymond and Louis also disagreed on how to go about the crusade, Raymond wanted to attack Aleppo and perhaps recapture Edessa. In the meantime Louis wanted to go on to Jerusalem. Eleanor favored her uncle's plan and angrily opposed her husband. She went as far as to propose a divorce. On advice from the regent in Paris, Louis decided to deal with Eleanor back in France.
The rift between the couple would not be mended. The Byzantines, who were at war with Sicily, captured Eleanor's ship. The Sicilian navy re-captured her ship and she went to Palermo to recuperate. The extraordinary luxury of the Sicilian court left a lasting impression on the queen. After returning to Paris, Eleanor gave birth to a second child, also a girl named Alix , in the summer of Her marriage to Louis was growing more stressed, despite interventions by the pope Eugenius and the abbot Suger, regent of France during the absence of the royal couple.
Eleanor was attracted to Henry and some kind of surreptitious arrangement with Henry must have been reached. The real reasons were the absence of a male heir; their incompatibilities and finally the enormous influence St. Bernard held on king Louis and his desire to remove Eleanor from the king's side. Accepting a marriage proposal from Duke Henry of Normandy made the previous summer; Eleanor re-married May 18, , hardly eight weeks after the dissolution of her first marriage.
He was eighteen years old and Eleanor twenty-nine. Their marriage seemed to have been a happy one. He was in love with Eleanor and gave her all the children she wanted. Sometime during August Eleanor gave birth to her first son, named William in honor of her father and grandfather.
Around Christmas of the same year Henry was proclaimed heir to the English throne after waging successful campaigns and gaining support from many English lords. Eleanor frequently administered justice in his absence, "arbitrating in disputes over land and feudal dues, and presiding over law courts.
She also kept a careful watch over certain tax receipts. Throughout she showed herself clear-headed and firm, indeed dictatorial. Her children would one day show the world where they came from as two of her daughters became queens and three of the sons kings. When Henry named Thomas Becket archbishop of Canterbury, a growing feud intensified between the secular and the clerics and Eleanor tried her best to mediate both sides.
For Eleanor's ambition, the worse news came from France when it was learned that Louis' third wife finally gave him a male heir on August 22, , the future king Phillip II Augustus, who one day would destroy the Angevin Empire of Henry II. Two years later, on December 24, Eleanor gave birth to the future king John; it was her last childbirth. Her childbearing years were over and her marriage to Henry began to decline.
The following year Eleanor left England for Pontiou where she stayed happily for five years before returning to England. Rebel barons ambushed the queen and her protector, Patrick- Earl of Salisbury. The Earl was stabbed in the back and his nephew William came to his rescue.
William was eventually subdued and Eleanor ransomed him. William became Marshall of England and the greatest knight of his age. On December 29, the most horrific crime against Christiandom was committed in the name of Henry II when four of his magnates not knights as some believed hacked Thomas Becket to death in the cathedral of Canterbury. Henry was not excommunicated but went through many humiliations and his power to the delight of Eleanor destabilized.
His kingdom harbored the most rebellious and unruly lords of any ruler in Western Europe and all she needed were trustworthy allies. By she had the three trustworthiest allies she could find, her three oldest sons. Eleanor would benefit by getting back Aquitaine, which she intended to rule with her son Richard. Henry II suspected nothing of the revolt.
On February father and son met as the young Henry demanded England, Normandy or Anjou for himself.
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