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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 3
Page 268
A Life Alison Weir. Saracen prisoner would be taken outside the city and put to death in order to avenge the massacre of the Templars and Hospitallers in Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin refused to surrender ; nor would he free Christian ...
A Life Alison Weir. Saracen prisoner would be taken outside the city and put to death in order to avenge the massacre of the Templars and Hospitallers in Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin refused to surrender ; nor would he free Christian ...
Page 277
... Saracens had long gone . Returning to the coast , Richard sailed north and was just in time to relieve Jaffa from an assault by Saladin . Leaping into the sea with- out waiting even to arm himself fully , he waded purposefully to shore ...
... Saracens had long gone . Returning to the coast , Richard sailed north and was just in time to relieve Jaffa from an assault by Saladin . Leaping into the sea with- out waiting even to arm himself fully , he waded purposefully to shore ...
Page 349
... contacts , built up through his monastic connections . For example , he learned about Richard I's battle against the Saracens in 1191 from a soldier who was present , and about Richard's capture by Leopold of Notes on the Chief Sources 349.
... contacts , built up through his monastic connections . For example , he learned about Richard I's battle against the Saracens in 1191 from a soldier who was present , and about Richard's capture by Leopold of Notes on the Chief Sources 349.
Other editions - View all
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