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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... vassal would place his hands between those of his overlord and swear to render him service and obedience. The most powerful kings and lords could command obedience and aid from lesser rulers; a breach of fealty was generally held to be ...
... vassal would place his hands between those of his overlord and swear to render him service and obedience. The most powerful kings and lords could command obedience and aid from lesser rulers; a breach of fealty was generally held to be ...
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... vassals, who paid mere lip service to their ducal overlords and were notorious for their propensity to rebel and create disorder. These turbulent nobles enjoyed a luxurious standard of living compared with their unwashed counterparts in ...
... vassals, who paid mere lip service to their ducal overlords and were notorious for their propensity to rebel and create disorder. These turbulent nobles enjoyed a luxurious standard of living compared with their unwashed counterparts in ...
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... vassals, they could not rely upon this. Consequently, Aquitaine lagged behind northern France in making political and economic progress. Nevertheless, the duchy was wealthy, thanks to its lucrative export trade in wine and salt, and it ...
... vassals, they could not rely upon this. Consequently, Aquitaine lagged behind northern France in making political and economic progress. Nevertheless, the duchy was wealthy, thanks to its lucrative export trade in wine and salt, and it ...
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... vassals, which only served to weaken his position and strengthen theirs. Increasingly self-indulgent, he openly pursued women, even boasting that he would found an abbey for prostitutes near his castle at Niort. He was “brave and ...
... vassals, which only served to weaken his position and strengthen theirs. Increasingly self-indulgent, he openly pursued women, even boasting that he would found an abbey for prostitutes near his castle at Niort. He was “brave and ...
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... vassal Aimery I de Rochefoucauld, Viscount of Châtellerault; she was appropriately named Dangerosa. She had been married to Aimery for seven years and had borne him three children: Hugh, his heir; Raoul; and Aenor. With no regard to the ...
... vassal Aimery I de Rochefoucauld, Viscount of Châtellerault; she was appropriately named Dangerosa. She had been married to Aimery for seven years and had borne him three children: Hugh, his heir; Raoul; and Aenor. With no regard to 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