Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of EnglandEleanor of Aquitaine was a remarkable woman. She was an important factor in the reign of four kings, lived to the ripe old age of 82, bore 10 children and outlived all but two of them. Her sons were kings of England and her daughters queens of Castile and Sicily, while her later descendants included a Holy Roman emperor and kings of France and Spain, as well as a couple of saints. In an age of men, she was indeed a powerful woman. Born in 1122 into the sophisticated and cultured court of Poitiers, Eleanor of Aquitaine came of age in a world of luxury, bloody combat, and unbridled ambition. At only fifteen, she inherited one of the great fortunes of Europe - the prize duchy of Aquitaine - yet was forced to submit to a union with the handsome but sexually withholding Louis VII, the teenage king of France. The marriage endured for fifteen fraught years, until Eleanor finally succeeded in having it annulled - only to enter an even stormier match with Henry of Anjou, who would soon ascend to the English throne as Henry II. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, Weir re-creates not only a remarkable personality, but a magnificent past era. As Weir traces the fascinating intersection of public and private lives in Europe's twelfth-century courts, Eleanor comes to life as a complex, boldly original woman who transcended the mores of society. Later, after sixteen years of imprisonment for plotting to overthrow Henry, the humbled Queen emerged, at age sixty-seven, to rule England. "From the Trade Paperback edition." |
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Page 5
... duchy of Aquitaine , named ' land of waters ' after the great rivers that dissected it : the Garonne , the Charente , the Creuse , the Vienne , the Dordogne and the Vézère . The duchy also incorporated the counties of Saintonge ...
... duchy of Aquitaine , named ' land of waters ' after the great rivers that dissected it : the Garonne , the Charente , the Creuse , the Vienne , the Dordogne and the Vézère . The duchy also incorporated the counties of Saintonge ...
Page 7
... duchy was wealthy , thanks to its lucrative export trade in wine and salt , and it was a land in which the religious life flourished . Its rulers erected and endowed numerous fine churches and abbeys , notably the famous abbey at Cluny ...
... duchy was wealthy , thanks to its lucrative export trade in wine and salt , and it was a land in which the religious life flourished . Its rulers erected and endowed numerous fine churches and abbeys , notably the famous abbey at Cluny ...
Page 174
... duchy of Brittany . In the autumn , the lords of Brittany reluctantly paid homage to him at Thouars , but it would be two years before their resistance to his rule was crushed . By October , Henry was in residence at Caen in Normandy ...
... duchy of Brittany . In the autumn , the lords of Brittany reluctantly paid homage to him at Thouars , but it would be two years before their resistance to his rule was crushed . By October , Henry was in residence at Caen in Normandy ...
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Common terms and phrases
abbey Angevin Anjou Aquitaine Archbishop army arrived Arthur barons became Becket Bishop Brittany brother called Canterbury castle Cathedral century Christmas chroniclers Church claim Count Count of Anjou court Cross crown crusade daughter death Duke early Eleanor Emperor England English evidence fact father followed Fontevrault force France French Geoffrey Giraldus given hand heir held Henry Henry's Herbert of Bosham Holy household Hugh husband Ibid Italy John King's kingdom knights known lands later leaving letters lived London Lord Louis Lusignan March marriage married mother never Normandy once Paris peace Philip Poitiers Poitou Pope probably Queen Ralph of Diceto received record refused remained Richard Robert Roger of Hoveden Rouen royal rule seems sent sons soon suggests took Toulouse travelled vassals Walter wife women wrote Young King