Eleanor of Aquitaine: A LifeIn this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman and provides new insights into her intimate world. Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. 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 queen—in all her glory. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, she recreates not only a remarkable personality but a magnificent past era. |
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... Louis was as naïve, humble, and devout as ever, inclined to burst into tears at the slightest upset and, more ... Louis's cousin), to accompany the boy and act as his advisers. Both counts had been compelled by the King to set ...
... Louis was as naïve, humble, and devout as ever, inclined to burst into tears at the slightest upset and, more ... Louis's cousin), to accompany the boy and act as his advisers. Both counts had been compelled by the King to set ...
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... Louis joined in the celebrations for the feast day of St. Martial, the city's patron saint. Word of Louis's coming and his forthcoming marriage to the Duchess Eleanor had spread rapidly throughout the region, yet there were no adverse ...
... Louis joined in the celebrations for the feast day of St. Martial, the city's patron saint. Word of Louis's coming and his forthcoming marriage to the Duchess Eleanor had spread rapidly throughout the region, yet there were no adverse ...
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... Louis personally severing the hands of de Lézay.20 On Louis's return, he and the Duchess wasted no time in setting off for Orléans and Paris, Eleanor taking with her her sister Petronilla and her Poitevin household. The extravagance of ...
... Louis personally severing the hands of de Lézay.20 On Louis's return, he and the Duchess wasted no time in setting off for Orléans and Paris, Eleanor taking with her her sister Petronilla and her Poitevin household. The extravagance of ...
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... Louis's courtiers, who were already grumbling at the expense and size of the Queen's household. There can have been no doubt in Eleanor's mind as to what was expected of her as a wife. In her day, women were supposed to be chaste both ...
... Louis's courtiers, who were already grumbling at the expense and size of the Queen's household. There can have been no doubt in Eleanor's mind as to what was expected of her as a wife. In her day, women were supposed to be chaste both ...
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... Louis came to be recognised as a man who, in many respects, fulfilled the knightly ideal, and he earned international respect and prestige for his personal qualities. There is no doubt about Louis's feelings for Eleanor: “he loved the ...
... Louis came to be recognised as a man who, in many respects, fulfilled the knightly ideal, and he earned international respect and prestige for his personal qualities. There is no doubt about Louis's feelings for Eleanor: “he loved the ...
Contents
To Jerusalem | |
A Righteous Annulment | |
A Happy Issue | |
All the Business of the Kingdom | |
Eleanor by the Grace of God Queen of England | |
Poor Prisoner | |
Shame Shame on a Conquered King | |
The Eagle Shall Rejoice in Her Third Nesting | |
The Admiration of Her Age | |
The Devil Is Loosed | |
The Staff of My Old Age | |
The Most Reverend Eleanor | |
The Brood of the Wicked Shall Not Thrive | |
The King Has Wrought a Miracle | |
Conjectures Which Grow Day by Day | |
The Holy Martyr | |
The Cubs Shall Awake | |
Beware of Your Wife and Sons | |
A Candle Goeth Out | |
Notes on the Chief Sources | |
Dedication | |
A Readers Guide | |
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Common terms and phrases
abbey Abbot Alys Angevin Anjou Archbishop army Arthur barons Berengaria Bernard Bishop Blois Brittany brother castle Cathedral charter Chinon Christmas chroniclers Church Count court crown crusade daughter death domains duchy Duke Eleanor of Aquitaine Emperor English excommunicated father FitzStephen Fontevrault France French Geoffrey Geoffrey’s Gervase of Canterbury Giraldus Cambrensis Guillaume le Maréchale heir Henry and Eleanor Henry’s honour household Hugh husband Ibid Jerusalem Joanna John of Salisbury John’s King Louis King’s kingdom knights L’Histoire de Guillaume London Longchamp Louis’s Lusignan marriage married Matilda mother Norman Normandy overlord palace Paris peace Philip Pipe Rolls Poitiers Poitou Pope Queen Eleanor Ralph of Coggeshall Ralph of Diceto Raoul Raymond reign remained Richard of Devizes Robert of Torigni Roger of Hoveden Roger of Wendover Rolls Series Rosamund Rouen royal sent sons Suger Theobald took Toulouse trans troubadours twelfth century vassals Walter Map wife William of Newburgh Winchester Young King