Eleanor of Aquitaine the grandmother of Europe medival and Ultimate survivor

Eleanor of Aquitane the ultimate survivor 

A sketch of Eleanor

 Early life

A portrait of Eleanor from the 1800s

Eleanor was born to William X the duke of Aquitaine in approximately 1122, Eleanor’s mother was a French viscountess. William also was the count of the Poitiers, making him have more land than the French kings at the time. At around age 15, Eleanor inherited her father's title and land before marrying The Dauphin of the French King, Louis.

 

 Her first royal marriage

An image of Louis VI

 In July when Eleanor married Louis, the Dauphin of France it was only a month before Louis became Louis VI, making her Queen of France. Eleanor was beautiful and adored by Louis. She was said to influence him considerably, by provoking him into risky ventures.

 
The second Crusade

An image depicting the second crusade

After a decade of their marriage, Eleanor accompanied Louis on the second crusade. in spring of 1148, when they were participating in the second crusade, they visited her uncle, Raymond, who just so happened to be governing an Latin city, Raymond was wise and urged Louis to attack a northern Syrian base of the Muslim leader, Louis denied his urging.

Crumbling of the first marriage

A portrait of Louis and Eleanor

Eleanor's relations to her uncle Raymond caused scandalous rumours, Eleanor took her uncle's side for the battle compared to Louis. This made Louis upset and started their estrangement. Eleanor was placed under house arrest while Louis was fighting the Turkish army. Back in France, they tried to reconcile however that never went well and they were divorced in March of 1152.

Second Royal Marriage

A couple of months later, Eleanor married the heir to the English throne Henry, who also happened to be a duke of a part of France. Two years into their marriage and Eleanor becomes queen consort for the second time in her life after Henry succeeds to the English throne as Henry II.

A portrait of Henry II

Childbearing years

An image of all of Henry II's Children

Henry and Eleanor end up with seven kids surviving to adulthood, 4 of which were sons. Henry became prince of Wales with Richard earning the duke of York title. John ended up being the final son that Eleanor gave birth to. the first of Eleanor’s daughters was married to the duke of saxony, Eleanor's other two daughters were married to other kings from kingdoms of Europe. Eleanor's final son assumed the place as Count Raymond VI of Toulouse.

 The revolt against henry II.

a painting depicting the revolt against Henry II

Eleanor had resented her husband’s infidelity, a revolt broke out, she gave her sons a lot of military support. This unfortunately caused the end of Eleanor's cultural activities with Henry II. She fled and got arrested while she was seeking refuge in France where her first husband was still king. Eleanor was put in house arrest while her husband was king during the revolt. During this skirmish, Henry, prince of Wales was killed, leaving Richard as heir. Eleanor also lost her fourth son, Geoffrey to a jousting match, his wife happened to have a son after his death called Arthur.

Her widdowhood as dowager queen

 Richard I's reign

A portrait of Richard I aka Richard the Lionheart

 Richard was originally supposed to be the duke of Aquitaine before he came to the throne. When he came to the throne of England, his first move was to order his mother's release. Richard was inspired by his mother's tales of the second crusade and left England to Eleanor's reign. Eleanor escorted Richard's betrothed who was supposed to join him on crusade, from Spain to Sicily so that they could get married. During Richard’s return to England, he was held for ransom, Eleanor personally delivered his ransom. When she heard Richard was gravely injured, she rushed to be with him for his final hours alive.

 

Her campaign to keep the Plantagenet line of succession.

Eleanor’s last surviving son, John was crowned King of England in her late 70s. In her 80s, Eleanor traveled through the French alps to Spain to betroth her granddaughter Blanche of Castile, to King John of England. 

A portrait of King John  

Eleanor helped defending the houses of Aquitaine and Angou from her own grandson, Arthur, one of the battles of the hundred years war. She made sure the Plantagenet line would continue long after she was gone.

Legacies

Eleanor's tomb in France. 

Eleanor was the only person to have ever been crowned both Queen of France and Queen of England in her own right. Her dynasty that she started with Henry II, the Plantagenets were in power in England for approximately 3 centuries after her. She gave birth to the one and only King John, the one unique king name. She lived more than double the average life expectancy back in the 12th century, which was 30 or so. She reached our life expectancy 7 centuries before us, she was probably considered immortal during her long life. Her family is the inspiration behind the popular Robin Hood IP with her two surviving sons into kingship being the central royal figures. 

An image of Richard the Lionheart in Robin Hood. 

Eleanor has also had a biopic in the form of The Lion In Winter.

A poster of Eleanor's Biopic