The 31st of March marks the anniversary of the death of Eleanor of Aquitaine...1204.
Eleanor was an amazing woman of her time. Some facts about her:
She was "confined to quarters" for sixteen years by her very in-charge husband, who felt threatened by her determinations. Her address for that time was, Tower of London. It was
basically a condominium of the time, with prisoner quarters included, but usually comfy ones for the the more respectable VIP's.
Married twice, her first husband was a bit of a prude and is known to have flogged himself often for his relationship with her. ~_~?? The pope at the time refused a divorce for them until an exasperated Eleanor conjured up that she was too closely related to Louis to be married to him. The divorce was finally granted for those reasons.
Once freed from this unhappy situation, she was unwittingly or not married to Henry II, from whom we get our line. It has been debated whether she initially agreed to this, arranged it herself, or was not even initially consulted about it.
She was the grand-daughter of Duke William the IX, poet and composer, patron of the arts, known and loved for his talent for song and also his good looks. Eleanor is credited for creating her own school of Love and Poetry, a Court mediating Romantic Disputes, promoting Romantic Love and Celebration of the Feminine. ....our kind of woman.
Eleanor was the mother of Ten Children. Two were with King Louis, Marie and Alix. The others, with Henry included the well-known kings of England, Richard and John.
Family disputes and arguments being what they can be, the aforementioned sons eventually were able to rally their forces and rescued their mother from her 'confinement' in the Tower. They went on to release all prisoners of the realm. Must we point out that this was against their father's wishes and therefore, battle ensued. Henry died in battle, fighting his sons and Eleanore too. Ah, they were always arguing about something.
Eleanore lived to support her sons in their kingship, and see to it that her daughters married well. She was full of beauty and grace, strength and compassion, and her grandfather's love of poetry and finer things in life. She was also fiercely devoted to her causes and remarkably brave. I think she must have made one wonderful grandma.
Note that our dear Grandpapa Henry's birthday is mentioned in the Birthday blog.....March 5, 1133.
