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Eleanor of Aquitaine (French: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, Éléonore d'Aquitaine, Occitan: Alienòr d'Aquitània, pronounced [aljeˈnɔɾ dakiˈtanjɔ], Latin: Helienordis, Alienorde or Alianor; c. 1124 – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As the heiress of the House of Poitiers, which controlled much of southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. Militarily, she was a leading figure in the Second Crusade, and in a revolt in favour of her son. Culturally, she was a patron of poets such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn, and of the arts of the High Middle Ages. Eleanor was the eldest child of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, and Aénor de Châtellerault. She became duchess upon her father's death in April 1137, and three months later she married Louis, son of her guardian King Louis VI of France. Shortly afterwards, Louis VI died and Eleanor's husband ascended the throne, making Eleanor queen consort. The couple had two daughters, Marie and Alix. Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. Eventually, Louis VII agreed to an annulment, as fifteen years of marriage had not produced a son. The marriage was annulled on 21 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate, custody was awarded to Louis, and Eleanor's lands were restored to her. As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to her third cousin Henry, Duke of Normandy. The couple married on Whitsun, 18 May 1152 in Poitiers. Eleanor was crowned queen of England at Westminster Abbey in 1154, when Henry acceded to the throne. Henry and Eleanor had five sons and three daughters, but eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting the revolt of their eldest son, Henry the Young King, against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when her husband died and their third son, Richard I, ascended the throne. As queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade. She lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. Life Eleanor's life can be considered as consisting of five distinct phases. Her early life extending to adolescence (1124–1137), marriage to Louis VII and Queen of France (1137–1152), marriage to Henry II and Queen of England (1152–1173), imprisonment to Henry's death (1173–1189) and as a widow till her death (1189–1204). Sources There is a paucity of primary sources on Eleanor's life. There are no contemporary biographies, and modern biographies are largely drawn from annals and chronicles, generally written by clerics associated with the royal courts. There are very few surviving records from Aquitaine and she is barely mentioned in records of the French court, and appears to have been actively erased from memory. Consequently, accounts of Eleanor appear largely as a peripheral figure in chronicles of the men around her. Important secular sources from England and Wales include Roger of Howden (d. c. 1203), Walter Map (1130 –c. 1210), Ralph de Diceto (c. 1120 – c. 1202), Gerald of Wales (c. 1146 – c. 1223) and Ralph Niger (c. 1140 – c. 1217). While some were relatively neutral, Map and Gerald were largely satirical polemic, while Niger's criticisms are mainly directed at Henry II rather than Eleanor. Among the chroniclers are also clerical sources, including Gervase of Canterbury (c. 1141 – c. 1210),, Ralph of Coggeshall (d. c. 1227), Richard of Devizes (fl. late 12th century) and William of Newburgh (1136–1198). The latter were mainly influenced by their revulsion at the murder of Thomas Becket (1170). Although Richard of Devizes admired Eleanor's perseverance in supporting her son Richard, all of them expressed negative views about women in power and hinted at some darker attributes that eventually led to the "Black Legend" that became associated with her.In the absence of reliable contemporary accounts, myth, legend and speculation have frequently been resorted to, to fill the gaps; "rarely in the course of historical endeavor has so much been written, over so many centuries, about one woman of whom we know so little". Childhood and adolescence (1124–1137) Family of origin and education Eleanor of Aquitaine was descended on her father's side from a long dynastic line of Dukes of Aquitaine (all named William), dating back to the 10th century, who in turn succeeded the Carolingian monarchs of the Kingdom of Aquitaine. Twelfth century Aquitaine was a relatively vast and somewhat ill-defined area of modern-day France, stretching from the Loire in the north to the Pyrenees in the south, and from the Atlantic to the west to the Massif Central to the east. It was one of the wealthiest and most powerful vassal states within France at that time. In contrast, the French kings ruled over a relatively small area around the Île-de-France to the north-west, and the rulers of the surrounding duchies (duchés) and counties (comtés) gave only nominal allegiance to the French crown. While little is known of Eleanor's early life or education, many biographers have speculated from what is known of aristocratic households of the era. Her year of birth is not known precisely, and the first mention of her occurs in July 1129. Tradition places her birth on one of her parents' visit to Bordeaux, likely at her father's nearby castle at Belin. Other authors suggest Poitiers, Ombrière Palace, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-l'Autise. While the date of her birth was once given as 1122 or 1124, the latter is now generally accepted. A late 13th-century genealogy of her family listing her as 13 years old at her father's death in the spring of 1137 provides the best evidence that Eleanor was born in 1124. Although some chronicles mention a fidelity oath of lords of Aquitaine on the occasion of Eleanor's fourteenth birthday in 1136. Her parents are unlikely to have married before 1121. Her age at her death is thus stated as 80 or 82.Eleanor (or Aliénor) was the oldest of three children born to William X, Duke of Aquitaine, son of William IX and Philippa of Toulouse, and his wife, Aenor de Châtellerault, the daughter of Aimery I, Viscount of Châtellerault, and Dangereuse de l'Isle Bouchard. Dangereuse was also William IX's longtime mistress. Eleanor's parents' marriage had been arranged by Dangereuse and William IX. Their other children were Aélith (1125–1151) and Aigret (1126–1130).Eleanor was named for her mother Aenor and baptised as Aliénor from the Latin alia Ænor, which means the other Aenor. It became Eléanor in the langues d'oïl of northern France and Eleanor in English, but the exact spelling was never fixed in her lifetime.Little, if anything, is known of Eleanor's education. Eleanor's mother die.... Discover the Eleanor Meyers popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Eleanor Meyers books.