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Eleanor of Aquataine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was born around 1122. Her grandfather, William IX, was the wealthy and powerful Duke of Aquitaine. When Eleanor was about five years old, William IX died and her father became Duke William X. A few years later, Eleanor's mother and brother died which meant that Eleanor would the heir to the vast lands of Aquitaine.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most powerful and fascinating personalities of feudal Europe. On his deathbed, her father William X asked his most trusted noblemen to place Eleanor in the care of Louis, the King of France. King Louis knew just what to do with the young, beautiful, and wealthy Eleanor. He arranged for her to be married to his son and heir. On August 1, 1137, Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future King Louis of France. A few days after the wedding, Eleanor's father-in-law died and her husband became King Louis VII.

Eleanor jumped enthusiastically into the role of queen of France, and to the consternation of many observers, the new king respected his wife's intelligence and consulted her frequently on matters of state. Queen Eleanor frequently visited Aquitaine, where she was well regarded by her father's former men-at-arms.

Eleanor and her husband the King were in their teens, but they had little else in common. Eleanor was high-spirited and strong-willed. King Louis was a quiet, introspective and religious man.

In 1144, Muslims captured the city of Edessa located in the Middle East, which had been in Christian hands for almost fifty years. Most of its citizens were massacred or sold into slavery. Inspired by this event and proclamations of the Pope, and by the preaching of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Louis VII and German emperor Conrad III organized their own separate military expeditions to the Middle East.

At age 19, Eleanor knelt in the cathedral of VTzelay before the celebrated Bernard of Clairvaux, later St. Bernard, offering him thousands of her vassals for th...

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Eleanor of Aquataine. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:01, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1696730.html