Above all, history is full of the most riveting stories. I have often been told that my books read like novels, but I assure you that there is nothing made-up in them. The truth as they say is always stranger than fiction, and nowhere does this become more apparent than in history books. I can never understand, therefore, why the makers of historical films feel they have to change the facts.

Evocative... A rich tapestry of a bygone age and a judicious assessment of her subject's place within it." ( Newsday) A letter From Eleanor of Aquitaine to Pope Celestine III (1193)". Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters . Retrieved 21 October 2021. An outstanding account, full of insights, some scandals, and above all a fully-realised portrait of the woman who has been called 'the grandmother of Europe'." ( The A List)Wheeler, Bonnie; Parsons, John C., eds. (2008) [2002]. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady (reprinted.). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60236-6. Appearance [ edit ] Donor portrait in a 12th-century psalter in the Royal Library of the Netherlands, thought to depict an older Eleanor. I wish there had been more Eleanor in this book. She kind of made more cameo appearances in this book about her own life, rather than being the star. I'm not sure how much to fault Alison Weir for this, as I've enjoyed other biographies by her that I've read and this is really the first one I've been lukewarm on. And while it's true that this is the first Eleanor of Aquitaine biography I've read so there may be better ones, it's also true that overall there isn't a ton of info out there about her life. She swoops in to be badass every so often among the trials and tribulations of the men, but we don't often know much about what she was doing in the meantime because the 1100s didn't often feel like women and their doings were super important. Thanks, ancient historians. Davis, Henry William Carless (1911). "Eleanor of Aquitaine". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.18 (11thed.). p.168.

Siberry, Elizabeth (2016). The New Crusaders: Images of the Crusades in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. Routledge. ISBN 9781351885195. Jones, Dan (2013). The Plantagenets: The Kings who made England. London: William Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-721394-8. Eleanor was a woman who took charge of her own life and owned not just her inherited lands but also strategized and manipulated to get her way in a rich elitist man's world with finesse. She was also in charge of her own sexuality and took pleasure in her beauty and moderate intellect. She was an immensely devoted mother to her sons and mostly used her daughters as political pawns. She was a mother of 10 and outlived eight of her children. She went on the Second Crusade and had numerous affairs...some of them incestuous. She became a wise ruler in her later years and was the queen of France and England and often acted as a regent for her young sons. She could be cruel to her adversaries, was faithful to her Catholic faith and at times could be quite caring and benevolent. Alison Weir always gets at least four stars for every book I read of hers. Marks out of ten for this one, would be nine. Alison writes with all the authority and passion of the wildest beast that ever spurred a stirrup, galloping through the Angevin empire. Her subject, 'Eleanor of Aquitaine', is lifted from the mists and myths of eight hundred years. Her biography is also partly eclipsed as circumstance of the paternal world of the royal courts of Europe in the Middle Ages. Even so, the image is vivid of a powerful and extraordinary woman.

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In 1173, Eleanor’s son “Young” Henry fled to France, apparently to plot against his father and seize the English throne. Eleanor, rumored to be actively supporting her son’s plans against her estranged husband, was arrested and imprisoned for treason. Once apprehended, she spent the next 16 years shuttled between various castles and strongholds in England, suspected of agitating against her husband’s interests and said by some to have played a role in the death of his favorite mistress, Rosamund. Louis and Eleanor were married in July 1137, but had little time to get to know one another before Louis’ father the king fell ill and died. Within weeks of her wedding, Eleanor found herself taking possession of the drafty and unwelcoming Cîté Palace in Paris that would be her new home. On Christmas Day of the same year, Louis and Eleanor were crowned king and queen of France. Just a taste of Weir's great novel, where the author discusses how restrictive and how excrutianting for women Eleanor's time was: An avid horsewoman, she led an active life until she inherited her father’s title and extensive lands upon his death when she was 15, becoming in one stroke duchess of Aquitaine and by far the most eligible single young woman in Europe. She was placed under the guardianship of the king of France, and within hours was betrothed to his son and heir, Louis. The king sent an escort of 500 men to convey the news to Eleanor and transport her to her new home. The death of William, one of the king's most powerful vassals, made available the most desirable duchy in France. While presenting a solemn and dignified face to the grieving Aquitainian messengers, Louis exulted when they departed. 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. Within hours, the king had arranged for his son Louis to be married to Eleanor, with Abbot Suger in charge of the wedding arrangements. Louis was sent to Bordeaux with an escort of 500 knights, along with Abbot Suger, Theobald II, Count of Champagne, and Raoul I, Count of Vermandois.