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Duchess of Aquitaine - She succeeded to the Duchy of Aquitaine followin g t h e d e a th of her father in 1137. Her guardian, Louis VI, King of Fran ce , q u i c kly married her to his son, the future Louis VII, in order to b r in g t h e d uchy to the direct control of the kings of France.
Queen consort of France - Following the death of Louis VI, she and her h u s b a n d were crowned King and Queen of the Franks on Christmas Day 1137. S h e h e l d t his title until her marriage was annulled in 1152.
Her second husband, Henry II of England, succeeded to the throne of Eng l a n d o n 2 5 October 1152. He and Eleanor were crowned King and Queen of E n g l a n d on 19 December 1154.
Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most powerful and fascinati n g p e r s onalities of feudal Europe. At age 15 she married LouisVII, King o f F r a n c e, bringing into the union her vast possessions fromthe River Lo ir e t o t h e P yrenees. Only a few years later, at age 19, she knelt in th e c a t h e dral of VAelay before the celebrated Abby Bernard of Clairvaux o ff e r i n g him thousands of her vassals for the Second Crusade. It was sai d t h a t Q u een Eleanor appeared at VAelay dressed like an Amazon gallopin g t h r o u gh the crowds on a white horse, urging them to join the crusades . W h i l e t he church may have been pleased to receive her thousand fighti ng v a s s a ls, they were less happy when they learned that Eleanor, attend edb y 3 0 0 o f h er ladies, also planned to go to help "tend the wounded." T h e p r e s ence of Eleanor, her ladies and wagons of female servants, was c r i t i c ized by commentators throughout her adventure. Dressed in armor an d c a r r y ing lances, the women never fought. And when they reached the ci ty o f A n t i och, Eleanor found herself deep in a renewed friendship with R ay mo n d , h er uncle, who had been appointed prince of the city. Raymond, o n l y a f e w y ears older than Eleanor, was far more interesting and handso m e t h a n E leanor's husband, Louis. When Raymond decided that the best st r a t e g ic objective of the Crusade would be to recapture Edessa, thus pro t e c t i ng the Western presence in the Holy Land, Eleanor sided with his v i e w . L o u is, however, was fixated on reaching Jerusalem ,a less sound g o a l. L o u is demanded that Eleanor follow him to Jerusalem. Eleanor, fu r i ou s , a nnounced to one and all that their marriage was not valid in th e e y e s o f G od, for they were related through some family connections to a n e x t e n t prohibited by the Church.
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1123 - 1204 (81 years)