Eleanor Duchess Of Aquitaine Essay
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In the year 1122, soon to be Duke William X of Aquitaine was informed that his bride of one year, Aenor, daughter of the Viscount Aimery, had bore him a daughter. She was christened Alia-Aenor, or Eleanor. Since Aquitaine consisted of more than a third of the entire land of France, she was a heiress of some esteem. Soon after, Aenor gave birth to another daughter, Aelith (Petronella) and then to the heir that William so desired, William Aigret. Unfortunately, when Eleanor was eight, both her mother and brother died, leaving her heiress to the whole of Aquitaine. Eleanor’s close childhood friends were her uncle Raymond, who was only eight years older than herself, and her sister. She was influenced by the great heroines in her family, like her grandmother, who sacrificed her place as a Viscountess, for love. When Eleanor was fifteen, her father went on a pilgrimage. On the way, he encountered food poisoning. He left Eleanor in the charge of King Louis the Fat, to marry her off. King Louis married her to his own son, and made her Queen of France upon his death, some days after the wedding.
Louis Capet, Eleanor’s new husband, was only sixteen when they wed. The second son, he had grown up in a monastery, preparing for a life in the service of the Lord. However, when his older brother fell off his horse and broke his neck, Louis became heir to the throne of France. Louis was a quiet, deeply religious man, eager to show off for his new, rich and beautiful wife. Eleanor dreamed of a warrior for a husband, and Louis, despite his shyness, desperately wished to fill that part. Quickly he went to war, against his vassals and anyone else that would oppose him. When Petronella was married to Count Ralph of Vermandois, his first wife’s family–who he had divorced to marry Petronella–quickly took up arms against him. Louis jumped in to protect his sister-in-law’s interests. Even so, Louis’s war was badly planned and his army ended up burning an entire village who had taken refuge in a church. The experience left him virtually destroyed, he who had been so in God’s favour. The King and Queen went to a respected and feared Abbot, Abbot Bernard. Louis wished to repent for his sins and Eleanor wished to bear Louis a child. By the time they left, Louis was committed to going on a crusade, and Eleanor was pregnant. By the time the crusade was to begin, Eleanor had delivered a baby girl, swiftly named Marie Capet. Eleanor accompanied Louis on the crusade.
The trip was long and difficult. On their Holy Journey, they were joined by the Germans, led by King Conrad. Louis was a bad man for a war, having no real taste for it. He badly planned and was a poor leader. Eleanor soon began to despise her husband. After staying about a week in a Greek city that didn’t really want them, they were finally on their way. Going through the mountains, Louis stayed at the back of the train, dressed like a simple pilgrim. Eleanor and her kinsman rode at the front. Disobeying Louis’s order’s, they decided to camp on a grassy plain. Leaving the back of the train, they camped. The back of the train was attacked by Moslems. Louis would have been killed, but for his lack of worldly clothing. Eventually, they reached the city of Eleanor’s uncle Raymond, Antioch. He begged Louis to fight the Moslems there, to defend his city, but Louis, jealous of Raymond’s flirtatious attention to Eleanor, refused. Taking Eleanor in the middle of the night so she couldn’t disobey him, Louis fled to Jerusalem. There they stayed, even though Louis’ army could not fight the Moslems, for they always lost. Eleanor hated Louis by this time.
On their return, Eleanor declared to Louis that she wanted a divorce. Louis quickly asked the Pope to intervene and he did. Resulting from this, another daughter, named Alise, was born. However, Eleanor still did not wish to remain married to Louis and eventually she was granted a divorce. She retained her lands, but Louis got custody of the young Princesses.
Eleanor had another plan. One of Louis’ vassals, a fiery young man known as Henry Plantagenet, had secretly met with her. Henry, fighting for his rightful place as King of England, was Duke of Normandy, and Count of both Anjou and Angevin. He and Eleanor would join, giving her a throne and him the Duchy of Aquitaine as well. Henry was arrogant, good-looking, and young, being some 11 years younger than Eleanor herself. Finally, after warring in England for only two years after the wedding, King Stephen of England died, leaving Henry as his heir. Eleanor was Queen once again.
As if to prove that this was the better match, Eleanor quickly became pregnant and bore Henry the son he wished for. Unfortunately, young William was not strong and died soon after his fourth birthday. Eleanor bore Henry seven other children however, starting with Henry, who would become The Young King, Matilda, who would be Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria in Germany, Richard, better...
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