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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Page 12
... Fontevrault , near the River Vienne , he founded a double monastery for priests , monks , lay brethren , and three hundred segregated nuns , all under the rule of an abbess - a revolutionary arrangement for its time . In other respects ...
... Fontevrault , near the River Vienne , he founded a double monastery for priests , monks , lay brethren , and three hundred segregated nuns , all under the rule of an abbess - a revolutionary arrangement for its time . In other respects ...
Page 312
... Fontevrault for the funeral , but , breaking his journey , he went to Beaufort , com- forted Berengaria with wise words of faith , and celebrated a requiem mass . Then he escorted the Queen to Fontevrault for her husband's obsequies ...
... Fontevrault for the funeral , but , breaking his journey , he went to Beaufort , com- forted Berengaria with wise words of faith , and celebrated a requiem mass . Then he escorted the Queen to Fontevrault for her husband's obsequies ...
Page 321
... Fontevrault . Early in September it became painfully apparent that Joanna was dy- ing . Realising this , the anguished Countess begged to be veiled as a nun of Fontevrault , that she might set aside the vanities of her rank and end her ...
... Fontevrault . Early in September it became painfully apparent that Joanna was dy- ing . Realising this , the anguished Countess begged to be veiled as a nun of Fontevrault , that she might set aside the vanities of her rank and end her ...
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Common terms and phrases
abbey Abbot Alys Angevin Archbishop army Arthur barons Becket Berengaria Bernard Bishop Blois Bordeaux Brittany brother Canterbury castle Cathedral Champagne Chinon Christmas chroniclers Church Count of Anjou court crown crusade daughter death domains Duchess duchy Duke of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine Emperor English father Fontevrault French Geoffrey Giraldus Cambrensis heir Henry and Eleanor Henry II Henry's homage honour Hugh husband Jerusalem Joanna John King and Queen King Louis King of England King of France King's kingdom knights London Longchamp Lord Henry Louis and Eleanor Louis's Lusignan March marriage married Matilda mother Norman Normandy overlord palace Paris peace Philip Pipe Rolls Poitevin Poitiers Poitou Pope princes Queen Eleanor Ralph of Diceto Raoul Raymond reign remained Richard Rolls Series Rosamund Rouen royal sent sons Suger Theobald took Toulouse trans troubadour twelfth century vassals vols Walter Map wife William of Newburgh William of Tyre Winchester Young King