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 25
... Poitiers , crossing the River Charente at Saintes and spending their first night together as man and wife at the castle of Taillebourg , owned by Eleanor's loyal and chivalrous vassal Geoffrey de Rançon.'s Louis was a virgin when he ...
... Poitiers , crossing the River Charente at Saintes and spending their first night together as man and wife at the castle of Taillebourg , owned by Eleanor's loyal and chivalrous vassal Geoffrey de Rançon.'s Louis was a virgin when he ...
Page 168
... Poitiers , where he would present to them their future overlord . The Poitevins were unimpressed and went home to resume their plotting . Henry had decided against Eleanor accompanying him to Poitiers . This may have been because he ...
... Poitiers , where he would present to them their future overlord . The Poitevins were unimpressed and went home to resume their plotting . Henry had decided against Eleanor accompanying him to Poitiers . This may have been because he ...
Page 170
... Poitiers for the foreseeable future . This was not , as some historians have speculated , a marital separation as ... Poitiers and Niort , he razed it to the ground and ravaged the surrounding lands , so forcing the dis- Eleanor's palace ...
... Poitiers for the foreseeable future . This was not , as some historians have speculated , a marital separation as ... Poitiers and Niort , he razed it to the ground and ravaged the surrounding lands , so forcing the dis- Eleanor's palace ...
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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