A Medieval She-Wolf: Eleanor of Aquitaine
- Amy Bennett
- 19 hours ago
- 9 min read
Eleanor of Aquitaine is considered to be one of the most powerful and formidable women of the High Middle Ages (c.1100-1300); she was brave, outrageous, artistic, adventurous, and political. As the Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor’s holdings made her a highly influential figure and positioned her as an equal, in terms of power, to her two husbands, King Louis VII of France and King Henry II of England. Her power was both a threat and a desire to the men around her, making her a target for multiple kidnapping attempts. Additionally, jealousy from her counterparts made Eleanor the subject of a number of derogatory comments, which described Eleanor as an evil-doer and a demon-queen. Despite this, Eleanor remained a strong and independent leader with a renowned ‘Court of Love’ in Aquitaine. A true she-wolf, Eleanor’s influence spanned countries & lifetimes.
Born in c.1124 to Duke William X of Aquitaine and Aenor de Chatellerault, Eleanor was the eldest of three children in a powerful, ruling family. Although little is known about Eleanor’s childhood, there is evidence to suggest that she was highly educated, and she was believed to be literate and fluent in her native tongue. Eleanor was encouraged to love literature and the arts, largely due to her grandfather, Duke William IX. The Duke had been a leading figure in the development of Provencal literature (bodies of texts written in Occitan, predominantly in the South of France). William IX was an active poet at the close of the Eleventh Century, and was noted as being one of the first Troubadours, who were renowned in courts for their romantic literary poems. Eleanor was, therefore, surrounded by people who encouraged her education, and this manifested in a great love for romantic literature later in her life. In fact, when Eleanor was an adult, she became a patroness to great Provencal poets, such as Bernard de Ventadour. Marie de France, Eleanor’s eldest daughter, continued this legacy and similarly inspired the works of poets like Chretien de Troyes. Chretien was one of the most influential poets of courtly love and the Arthurian legend, and he credits Marie with the idea for his work Lancelot: The Knight of the Cart.
By 1130, both Eleanor’s mother and younger brother, William, had died. Unfortunately, as the eldest daughter, this tragedy put Eleanor in a position of significant danger. She was now a young heiress sitting on the lands and wealth of the powerful duchy of Aquitaine (modern-day Southwestern France). To put it simply, Eleanor was a target: her status became desirable to those who could inherit her power through marriage, making her one of the most eligible women in Europe.
In 1137, Eleanor’s father, Duke William X passed away from dysentery while away on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Eleanor and her younger sister, Petronilla, both of whom were still just teenagers, were now orphans. However, while William X was ill, he knew he had to protect his daughters and, in turn, protect their family fortune. William wrote to King Louis VI of France, entrusting his daughters into his care. King Louis, seeing the vast lands that Eleanor owned, which were larger than his own kingdom, betrothed her to his son, Prince Louis, and the pair were married on 25 July 1137. Within a few months, King Louis VI was dead. Louis VII became King at just eighteen, and Eleanor became the Queen of France.
In this marriage, Eleanor proved to be the dominant partner, but this was largely due to Louis’ upbringing: he was never meant to be King. Louis was raised to be a part of the clergy and had spent most of his life in monasteries, but the death of his elder brother Philip changed this, leaving the inexperienced, untravelled, quiet Louis as King. On the other hand, Eleanor had travelled throughout Aquitaine as the heiress of the duchy, had a well-rounded education, and was surrounded by politics throughout her life.
In 1147, Louis accepted the lead on the Second Crusade, and Eleanor insisted on going with him. This showed her determination to reject the restrictive gender norms of the era, as it was not common for women to engage in military matters. Eleanor brought with her three hundred ladies-in-waiting and a baggage train, and she also led her own knights, known as the ‘Amazons.’ In comparison, Louis proved to be an ineffectual and weak leader in the crusade, abandoning more than three thousand men near Antioch. Ultimately, the crusade was a disaster, and, after being defeated at Damascus, Louis and the reluctant Eleanor returned to Paris. Although Eleanor bore him their second child, another daughter, in 1150, the marriage was a failure. Louis agreed to an annulment on the grounds of consanguinity (they were third cousins), and also Eleanor’s inability to provide a male heir and secure the line of succession. In 1152, after fifteen-years, their marriage was dissolved. Their two daughters, Marie and Alix, were declared legitimate, and Louis was awarded custody as per the custom and law.
Eleanor was once again a single woman with powerful possessions, and was thus at risk of abduction and forced marriage. In March of 1152, while enroute to Poitiers, Eleanor evaded a kidnapping attempt from Theobald V of Blois by taking a boat to Tours. While at Tours, Eleanor was warned that Geoffrey of Anjou was waiting for her at Port-de-Piles, so her route was changed to evade capture once more. Geoffrey’s younger brother Henry, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy, appeared to be a much better match for Eleanor, so she sent an envoy to Henry demanding that he marry her. Eleanor, who was experienced in war, politics, and was immensely powerful in her own right, was also a desirable match, and the pair were married on 18 May 1152. Just two years later, Henry became King Henry II of England, and Eleanor was his Queen.
The couple inherited kingdom in crisis – there was lawlessness, civil war, and rebellions. This was a result of ‘The Anarchy’ which was a war of succession between Empress Matilda, Henry II’s mother, and her cousin Stephen of Blois who stole the throne from her. Henry II was both militarily and politically involved in his mother’s efforts to secure the English throne. In 1153, King Stephen agreed to the Treaty of Wallingford, which named Henry as his heir; Henry inherited the kingdom upon Stephen’s death a year later. Henry’s character suited the challenge of taking on a kingdom of unrest. He was noted for having a controlling temper and being impulsive, yet this caused clashes with Eleanor’s equally powerful personality. Despite this, the couple had eight children together, including two future kings of England – Richard I and John I. By 1167, however, Eleanor had returned to Aquitaine, leaving Henry behind. Historians have long speculated on the reasons why she left. For example, Eleanor may have been jealous of Henry’s unfaithful behaviour, which including having an affair with Rosamund Clifford. It could also have been due to his neglect of their children. Perhaps more simply, Eleanor had been pregnant for seventeen years consecutively, and it was likely that she was tired of having children and needed a break. The couples personality clashes likely gave Eleanor yet another reason to leave and return home to Aquitaine.
In Aquitaine, now protected from outsiders and kidnappers by marriage, and knowing that her childbearing years were behind her, Eleanor was free to run her own lavish court in a way that many women could only dream of. However, Eleanor’s departure was not received well by her counterparts. In 1173, Peter of Blois wrote to the Queen at the request of his patron, the Archbishop of Rouen. Eleanor was told that “you will be the cause of widespread disaster” and will leave the “kingdom” in “ruin.” While Peter does compliment Eleanor as an “illustrious” Queen, he contrasts this by commenting on her “childish council” and “delinquent” nature. Yet Eleanor’s ruling of Aquitaine proved how effectively she could rule a Kingdom without her husband and without disaster. She filled the courts with poets and artists, and also addressed administrative matters, proving that she was a powerful ruler in her own right. Under Eleanor’s guidance, Aquitaine gained a reputation as ‘The Court of Love,’ and the poets, songs, and artworks that flourished here continued to be passed down through generations, becoming a key part of European culture. The monk Richard of Devizes, one of Eleanor’s contemporaries, described her as an “incomparable woman” who was “influential yet moderate” and “humble and learned.” However, Eleanor’s triumph in Aquitaine would only last a few years as, unbeknownst to her, Henry II had mortgaged Aquitaine to pay for his military campaigns. Henry II was also unpopular with his children, and, in 1173, Henry the Young King, Richard, and Geoffrey rebelled against Henry in a coup that lasted eighteen months. After their defeat, the three sons were forgiven, but for support of her sons, Eleanor was imprisoned by Henry for what would be the remainder of his life – sixteen years.
When King Henry II died in 1189, Richard, now the heir apparent, became King Richard I, or ‘Richard the Lionheart’, and one of his first actions as King was to release Eleanor from imprisonment. When Richard left England for the Third Crusade, Eleanor was effectively left in charge of his kingdom, but this was no easy feat, as England had been left in disrepair after funding Henry II’s military campaigns. Richard spent only six months of his ten-year reign in the country, and Eleanor could therefore rule and instigate her policies without much restraint.
However, much like his father, Richard’s military ventures also caused serious monetary issues as he essentially used England purely for revenue to fund his crusade. In 1192, Richard had made little progress in his quest, and was forced to arrange a truce. His whereabouts were unknown until January 1193, when Eleanor learned that he had been captured in Vienna by Duke Leopold and imprisoned in Dürnstein Castle. Richard was handed over to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, who demanded a colossal ransom of 150,000 marks. Raising this money was an extraordinary fiscal feat, and demonstrates the prosperity of England under Eleanor’s regency. Therefore, while Eleanor attempted to restore balance and peace to a kingdom in revolt, she had no choice but to implement high taxation and effectively bankrupt the country as a result of Richard’s endeavours.
When King John took over the rule of a weakened England in 1199, Eleanor lost control as regent, but remained significantly influential. Eleanor escorted her granddaughter, Blanche, to the French Court to marry the Dauphin, which was a strategic match to secure peace between the bickering nations. This did not last long, however, due to her son’s unpopular reign in England, where strategic and diplomatic mistakes caused tensions to arise between the nations once more. Although Eleanor’s role in English rule had ceased, she remained intricately linked to the affairs of Aquitaine and continued her legacy there until her death at the impressive age of eighty-two in 1204.
Overall, Eleanor of Aquitaine proved to be one of the most authoritative and charismatic figures of the Middle Ages. From a young age, Eleanor’s power and lands intimated those around her, and made her an equal match for her two husbands Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. As Louis’ Queen, Eleanor demonstrated her strong-willed personality and ability to reject the restrictive gender norms of the time. Marie and Alix, her two daughters from this marriage, both married into ruling families and continued her love affair with the literary arts. As Henry’s Queen, Eleanor helped bring stability to a Kingdom in ruin, and gave birth to a lineage of Europe’s future rulers. Two of her sons, Richard and John, became Kings of England, while her daughters, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan, married into ruling families throughout Europe. As an independent leader, Eleanor’s court in Aquitaine was filled with poets and artists, and became renowned as the ‘Court of Love.’ Despite this, Eleanor was not loved by everyone, and was painted as a delinquent and evil Queen by her counterparts. However, her contemporaries reiterated that she was an influential and humble leader. Eleanor therefore proved to be a formidable she-wolf, and, with fifty-eight grandchildren including future Kings, Queens, Emperors, and Empresses, her legacy rocked Europe for centuries to come.
Bibliography
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Translation by M. Markowski of Peter of Blois' Letter 154 from the Latin text in Chartres Ms #208; Cf. Migne, P.L. 207:448-9.
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