Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life

471 Pages·2001·3.24 MB·English

by  Alison Weir

Praise for Eleanor of Aquitaine
“Eleanor of Aquitaine was among the powerful rulers in Europe.… In the
sweeping pageant of Eleanor of Aquitaine … Weir convincingly debunks some
of the more salacious fables about Eleanor’s libertine ways.”
—The Boston Globe
“As delicately textured as a 12th-century tapestry, royal biographer Weir’s
newest book is exhilarating in its color, ambition, and human warmth. The
author exhibits a breathtaking grasp of the physical and cultural context of
Queen Eleanor’s life … Her account parades a sequence of extraordinary
characters.… Above all, there is the heroine, viewed clear-sightedly in all her
intoxicating and imperious irresistibility.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“One of the most fascinating women in not only English history but all of
European history … The author’s well-written pages—as in her previous books
—lead easily to a rich, deep, and accessible understanding of the topic.”
—Booklist
“Alison Weir … paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman, and
provides new insights into her life.”
—Koen Pacific
“Weir provides the necessary checks and cautions against believing all we read,
whilst enjoyably recording the gossip anyway. A balanced account, with myths,
suppositions, and misunderstandings well ventilated.”
—Literary Review
“A fresh biography of a remarkable woman.”
—Irish News (Belfast)

2008 Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Edition
Copyright © 1999 by Alison Weir
Reading group guide copyright © 1999 by Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random
House
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
RANDOM HOUSE READER’S CIRCLE and colophon are trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
Originally published in the United Kingdom in slightly different form by
Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Random House Group, Ltd., London, in 1999.
Subsequently published in hardcover in the United States by Ballantine Books,
an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random
House, Inc., in 2000.
A trade paperback edition was published by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The
Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2001.
eISBN: 978-0-307-83185-9
www.randomhousereaderscircle.com
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
A Note on Names and Spellings
Illustrations
Map
Preface
Prologue: 18 May 1152
1 “Opulent Aquitaine”
2 “A Model of Virtue”
3 “Counsel of the Devil”
4 “To Jerusalem!”
5 “A Righteous Annulment”
6 “A Happy Issue”
7 “All the Business of the Kingdom”
8 “Eleanor, by the Grace of God, Queen of England”
9 “The King Has Wrought a Miracle”
10 “Conjectures Which Grow Day by Day”
11 “The Holy Martyr”
12 “The Cubs Shall Awake”
13 “Beware of Your Wife and Sons”
14 “Poor Prisoner”
15 “Shame, Shame on a Conquered King!”
16 “The Eagle Shall Rejoice in Her Third Nesting”
17 “The Admiration of Her Age”
18 “The Devil Is Loosed!”
19 “The Staff of My Old Age”
20 “The Most Reverend Eleanor”
21 “The Brood of the Wicked Shall Not Thrive”
22 “A Candle Goeth Out”
Notes on the Chief Sources
Bibliography
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Notes and References
Genealogical Tables
A Reader’s Guide
Other Books by This Author
About the Author
A Note on Names and Spellings
Different variations of the names of people and places occur in twelfth-century
sources. For example, the names Matilda, Maud, and Mahalde are
interchangeable, as are Alice, Aaliz, and Alais.
For the sake of clarity, I have used different spellings of the same name to
identify different people. Eleanor’s daughter is called Alix, Richard I’s betrothed
of the same name Alys, and the Lord John’s betrothed Alice. All are accurate
renderings. A similar differentiation has been used with the name
Amaury/Aymer/Aimery. Louis VII’s daughter, often called Margaret in other
works, is here referred to by the French version of her name, Marguerite.
Eleanor, who would have called herself Aliénore, is referred to by the more
familiar anglicised version of her name.
As in many other history books, William the Marshal is throughout referred to
as such, even though he did not acquire his office of Marshal until 1199.
Although Eleanor was Countess of Poitou and Duchess of Aquitaine, I have
occasionally used the name Aquitaine as a blanket term covering both her
domains, although I have tried to differentiate between them wherever possible.
Many place names have changed since the twelfth century, and where
appropriate I have given the modern name in parentheses. Some places no longer
exist; wherever possible, I have attempted to discover their exact or approximate
location.
Illustrations
Palais de Justice, Poitiers © Roger-Viollet
William IX, Duke of Aquitaine. Manuscript illumination, fr. 12473 fol. 128 ©
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
Louis VII, King of France. Manuscript illumination from “Grands Chroniques de
France,” fr. 2813 fol. 223 © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
Rock crystal vase, 12th c., from the Abbey of Saint-Denis, now in the Louvre ©
Réunion des Musées Nationaux—Daniel Arnaudet
Retable of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (detail), anon., 12th c., Museo de Mallorca,
on loan from the Sociedad Arqueológica Luliana
Count Geoffrey of Anjou. Enamel tombstone, c. 1152, Musée de Tessé, Le Mans
© Giraudon
Eleanor’s seal, from a charter in the Archives de France © Atelier de
photographie du Centre historique des Archives nationales, Paris
Engaged capital, thought to portray Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. © The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection, 1934 (34.115.4ab)
Tomb of Matilda, daughter of Henry II, and Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony,
Brunswick Cathedral, late 12th c. © AKG London
Effigy of Henry the Young King (detail), late 12th c., Rouen Cathedral © Roger-
Viollet
Effigy of Henry II (detail), late 12th c., Fontevrault Abbey © AKG London
Effigy of Richard I (detail), 1199–1200, Fontevrault Abbey © AKG London
Effigy of Berengaria of Navarre (detail), after 1230, Le Mans Cathedral ©
Geoffrey Wheeler
Effigy of King John (detail), c. 1225–1230, Worcester Cathedral © Geoffrey
Wheeler
Mural from Sainte-Radegonde, Chinon, c. 1196 © By courtesy of Les Amis du
Vieux Chinon
Effigy of Isabella of Angoulême (detail), mid 13th c., Fontevrault Abbey ©
Geoffrey Wheeler
Effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine (detail), c. 1204, Fontevrault Abbey © AKG
London
The tombs of the Plantagenets in the Abbey of Fontevrault © Bildarchiv Foto
Marburg
Maps
The Angevin Empire in 1154
Europe and the Holy Land in the Twelfth Century