Just outside Poitiers she was ambushed and held captive by Hugh IX of Lusignan, whose lands had been sold to HenryII by his forebears. There was simply no benefit in it either. Eleanor of Aquitaine also formally took up the cross symbolic of the Second Crusade during a sermon preached by Bernard of Clairvaux. Eleanor's marriage to Henry was reputed to be tumultuous and argumentative, although sufficiently cooperative to produce at least eight pregnancies. She is survived by her husband of over 76 years Chester, three . Henry was nineteen years old, bull-necked, stocky and . Eleanor C. Henry. The problem was that this made them a threat to many, most notably the King of France. Eleanor of Aquitaine, also called Eleanor of Guyenne, French lonore or Alinor, dAquitaine or de Guyenne, (born c. 1122died April 1, 1204, Fontevrault, Anjou, France), queen consort of both Louis VII of France (113752) and Henry II of England (11521204) and mother of Richard I (the Lionheart) and John of England. I found that period fascinating (and given my interest in the Wars of the Roses I was worried that civil wars fascinated me so much). Eleanor urged Louis to support her sister's marriage to Count Raoul. Yet the existence and reasons for this court are debated. By this marriage she hoped to ensure peace between the Plantagenets of England and the Capetian kings of France. It was part of the show of power, and Eleanor played her role perfectly. Her fatherWilliam X,. Rather than act as guardian to the duchess and duchy, he decided to marry the duchess to his 17-year-old heir and bring Aquitaine under the control of the French crown, thereby greatly increasing the power and prominence of France and its ruling family, the House of Capet. The war lasted two years (114244) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. She was compared with Penthesilea, mythical queen of the Amazons, by the Greek historian Nicetas Choniates. What happened next tells us a great deal about Henry, and about King Stephen, and probably helped bring about the end of The Anarchy. If you will promise to do this, I in return promise to entreat the merciful Lord to grant you offspring." We have a full Biography, Photos, Theatre Credits, and more! Late in July 1156, Eleanor left England to join Henry in Anjou with her two younger children. Eleanor had only two daughters by Louis VII, but to her new husband she bore five sons and three daughters. Fiona Harris-Stoertz, "Pregnancy and Childbirth in Twelfth-and Thirteenth-Century French and English Law". William had anticipated her value and had her betrothed to the soon . Those who tried to escape were caught and killed. Click a location below to find Eleanor more easily. The marriage was now doomed. Rancon, however, chose to continue on, deciding in concert with Amadeus III, Count of Savoy, Louis's uncle, that a nearby plateau would make a better campsite. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Contribute to This Page Edit page He even arranged for Eleanor and Louis to sleep in the same bed. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Tempe - Eleanor C. Henry age 95 beloved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend passed away on March 11, 2020. [5] She lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. Cease to stir up the king against the Church, and urge upon him a better course of action. When Richard died without an heir, it was Eleanor who was the pivotal figure in securing Johns succession. Eleanor of Aquitaine (1137-1152) was one of the most powerful and influential figures of the Middle Ages. Horrified, and desiring an end to the war, Louis attempted to make peace with Theobald in exchange for his support in lifting the interdict on Raoul and Petronilla. She was portrayed by Lynda Bellingham in the BBC series Robin Hood. On Saturday, 11 June 1183, the young king realized he was dying and was overcome with remorse for his sins. Eleanor was the daughter and heiress of William X, duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitiers, who possessed one of the largest domains in Francelarger, in fact, than those held by the French king. Politics during this period demanded a degree of flexibility that I think Henry struggled to find. Eleanor agreed with her uncle, perhaps believing that he had far more knowledge of the region and its politics than they did, but Louis refused to be swayed. Soon afterwards, she sought an annulment of her marriage,[2] but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. Browse Locations. She is an actress, popularly known for her appearance as Mae Mobley on 'The Help'. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. It was a sure sign Henry had launched the invasion without permission and this felt like the medieval teenage equivalent of being put on the naughty step. She had her tomb placed beside that she had commissioned for her husband, Henry, suggesting again a fondness that undermines the view of their relationship as fractious and difficult. In June 1144, the king and queen visited the newly built monastic church at Saint-Denis. Updates? In 1202 John was again in her debt for holding Mirebeau against Arthur, until John, coming to her relief, was able to take him prisoner. There was an odd series of standoffs, and a refusal to fight that is usually put down to nobles tired of the ongoing wars. Upon Williams death in 1137 she inherited the duchy of Aquitaine and in July 1137 married the heir to the French throne, who succeeded his father, Louis VI, the following month. [10] Eleanor was extroverted, lively, intelligent, and strong-willed. Eleanor was not. Its incredible how theyve stuck despite a lack of real evidence for them, and plenty of political motivations for seeking to undermine her. It may have been largely to teach manners, something the French courts would be known for in later generations. She had her tomb placed beside that she had commissioned for her husband, Henry, suggesting again a fondness that undermines the view of their relationship as fractious and difficult. Accordingly, by mid-afternoon, the rear of the columnbelieving the day's march to be nearly at an endwas dawdling. Here they were ambushed by a Turkish detachment, but the French proceeded to slaughter this detachment and appropriate their camp. Historian John Speed, in his 1611 work History of Great Britain, mentions the possibility that Eleanor had a son named Philip, who died young. Much money went into making the austere Cit Palace in Paris more comfortable for Eleanor's sake.[13]. The king of France, known as Louis the Fat, was also gravely ill at that time, suffering from a bout of dysentery from which he appeared unlikely to recover. In April 1145, Eleanor gave birth to a daughter, Marie. Others were not so fortunate: "No aid came from Heaven, except that night fell. She has also been introduced in The Royal Diaries series in the book Crown Jewel of Aquitaine by Kristiana Gregory. Over the next twelve years Eleanor bore Henry five sons and three daughters. Such disobedience was reportedly common. [36] However, during the French Revolution the abbey of Fontevraud was sacked and the tombs were disturbed and vandalised consequently the bones of Eleanor, Henry, Richard, Joanna and Isabella of Angoulme were exhumed and scattered, never to be recovered. In the ensuing Battle of Mount Cadmus, the Turks, who had been following and feinting for many days, seized their opportunity and attacked those who had not yet crossed the summit. Eleanor of Aquitaine is every bit the match for Henry, and so I decided to write a joint biography of them. Neither was heard of for over two months. By all accounts, Eleanor's father ensured that she had the best possible education. Eleanor also appears briefly in the first novel of Penman's Welsh trilogy, Here Be Dragons. Eleanor Henry Biography Showing all 2 items Jump to: Mini Bio (1) | Trivia (1) Mini Bio (1) Eleanor Henry is known for The Help (2011). He added that she gained the epithet chrysopous (golden-foot) from the cloth of gold that decorated and fringed her robe. During her imprisonment, Eleanor became more and more distant from her sons, especially from Richard, who had always been her favourite. The duke also insisted to his companions that his death be kept a secret until Louis was informed; the men were to journey from Saint James of Compostela across the Pyrenees as quickly as possible to call at Bordeaux to notify the archbishop, then to make all speed to Paris to inform the king. For this reason Henry summoned Eleanor to Normandy in the late summer of 1183. [26] Over the next 13 years, she bore Henry five sons and three daughters: William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan. Although they escaped this attempt unharmed, stormy weather drove Eleanor's ship far to the south to the Barbary Coast and caused her to lose track of her husband. This has attracted confusion and derision for Stephen, from contemporaries and later commentators, but I think there was good reason for him to behave as he did. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Eleanor Henry. For good measure, accusations were added that she had engaged in an affair with Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, Henrys father, and that her lust for Henry ruined her marriage to Louis. Age Range Adult, Mature Adult Role Size . They now oversaw territories that sprawled from Hadrians Wall to the south of France. Jean Plaidy's novel The Courts of Love, fifth in the 'Queens of England' series, is a fictionalised autobiography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I wrote a book on The Anarchy the 11th century civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. As such, she was away from William, who had been left behind as a figurehead, when he passed away. In 1183, the young King Henry tried again to force his father to hand over some of his patrimony. As soon as the French archbishops had formally annulled her marriage on March 21st, Eleanor left the royal castle at Beaugency on the Loire, near Orleans, dodged an attempt to seize her by the Count of Blois and took a barge along the river towards Tours with an escort of her own men. Between 1190 and 1194, Richard was absent from England, engaged in the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1192, and then held in captivity by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. For Eleanor to be convicted of these scandals in the court of public opinion for over 800 years based on such flimsy evidence is ludicrous. Eleanor is related to Yolanda Siobhan Henry and A C Henry as well as 3 additional people. Their two daughters were, however, declared legitimate. Louis and Eleanor, on separate ships due to their disagreements, were first attacked in May 1149 by Byzantine ships. Born around 1122 or 1124 possibly in today's southern France, Eleanor was named for her mother, the Duchess Anor de Chtellerault. Her birthplace may have been Poitiers, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-l'Autise, where her mother and brother died when Eleanor was 6 or 8.[8]. She was also instrumental in developing trade agreements with Constantinople and ports of trade in the Holy Lands. 0. It is also speculated that Eleanor placed Rosamund in a bathtub and had an old woman cut Rosamund's arms. Eleanor played a key role in raising the ransom demanded from England by HenryVI and in the negotiations with the Holy Roman Emperor that eventually secured Richard's release. After King Henry's death Eleanor lived on for many years, even ruling England as Queen Dowager while her son Richard the Lionheart was on crusade. Her half-brother Joscelin was acknowledged by WilliamX as a son, but not as his heir. 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