Eleanor+of+Aquitaine

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=Eleanor of Aquitaine= by: Laura Fleming

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 * Her father was William X, duke of Aquitaine, and her mother was Aenor. We know very little about her mother.
 * She had a sister, an her name was Petronilla. She also had a brother, and his name was William.
 * She was born in 1122, and died in April, 1204.
 * In 1130, her mother and brother died. She became heiress to the throne.
 * She had two husbands: Her first husband was Louis VII, and her second husband was Henry II.
 * She had two children when she was married to Louis, and eight children when she was married to Henry, five of whom became kings or queens.
 * She died at age 82, which was a long time to live back then.
 * Her religion was Christianity.
 * She was smart, considered beautiful, strong-willed, and probably spoiled.
 * She was imprisoned for 15 years because she had helped her two sons Henry and Richard rebel against her ex-husband, Henry.
 * One of her sons became Richard the Linoheart. She helped him rule the country.
 * To many people, she is considered one of history's most interesting and brave queens.
 * She had rebelled against her own husband. Her two eldest sons had also rebelled against their father with Eleanor!
 * Her father made sure she had a good education and that she could read. She propbably was not taught how to write.
 * Her father died while on a pilgrimage and she became duchess of Aquitaine. Before she was crowned queen, she married Louis VII.
 * Her son became Richard the Lionheart.
 * When she was imprisoned, she was not totally isolated from the world. For example, in 1176 she went to Winchester to help her youngest daughter Joanna prepare to marry to the king of Sicily.
 * She was taught how to ride and hunt with falcons that could be trained to hunt small animals. She was taught how to read, but probably did not know how to write.
 * Eleanor was about to have a stepmother named Emma, but Emma was kidnapped and forced to marry the count of Limoges
 * She was crowned queen of France on Christmas day
 * She and her husband, Louis, went to fight in the Second Crusade. They stopped at Eleanor's uncle's house, and Eleanor spent so much time with her uncle that Louis got jealous and forced Eleanor to leave early and go with him to Jerusalem
 * The origin of the name "Aquitaine" started when the Romans named a fertile land with lots of rivers Aquitania, and that name was later changed to "Aquitaine"
 * Louis was not Eleanor's type of husband. He had been trained to be a monk, but his older brother died, so he became heir to the French throne. Eleanor wanted someone courageous, brave, and warrior-like.
 * Louis wanted to impress Eleanor and prove to her that he was the kind of husband she wanted, so when Louis heard about the Second Crusade the Pope had called, he immediately he said he wanted to lead it, even though he had never even held a sword, let alone fight in a Crusade!
 * The Second Crusade that Eleanor went on was a total disaster. By the time everyone got to their destination, Jerusalem, almost everyone had starved to death. Luckily, Eleanor and Louis survived, but when they arrived at Jerusalem, Louis took the bad advice and attacked the city of Damascus. The Moslem Turks, who they were trying to beat, came and helped the city by driving Eleanor, Louis, and the army out.
 * Eleanor was 32 when she married Henry, who was 16.
 * Her mother-in-law, Matilda, was the granddaughter of William the Conqueror.
 * Eleanor and Louis were fourth cousins. Eleanor used that as an excuse for them to divorce, but then again, Henry and Eleanor were also fourth cousins.
 * Eleanor met Henry when he and his father had come to pay homage to Louis so Henry could really be duke of Normandy.
 * When Eleanor and Henry decided to marry, they both knew that they couldn't marry without Louis's permission because he was the king of France and they were his vassals, but they married anyway. Louis wouldn't have allowed them to marry if they had asked permission.
 * When Louis heard about Henry and Eleanor's marraige, he led an army against Normandy, but Henry easily fought them off.
 * Henry invented a more fair way of doing trials: instead of trials by ordeal, he did trials by jury. Trials by jury were much more fair.
 * Henry and Eleanor became duke and duchess of Aquitaine, duke and duchess of Normandy, count and countess of Anjou, count and countess of Poitou, and king and queen of England all at the same time!
 * Henry was always worrying about getting fat, so he was sure to exercise a lot. This made him skinny for a king.
 * Some people believe that Queen Guinivere, who was the wife of the legendary King Arthur, was modeled after Eleanor.
 * The only surviving possesion of Eleanor's was a crystal vase that she gave as a wedding present to Louis.
 * Louis acted like he was a monk. The reason for this was because he had not been heir to the throne originally, but when his older brother died, he was pulled out of a religion school and made Prince Louis.
 * Louis's mother, known as the "Dowager Queen," was not Eleanor's type of mother-in-law. She nagged, harrassed, and was mean to Eleanor. They never liked one another. Eventually, the Dowager Queen moved out just to get away from Eleanor.
 * Henry's mother, Matilda, was a lot nicer than Louis's mother. She was tough, kind, but strong-willed. She and Eleanor got along well.
 * When Eleanor moved to Paris after she married Louis, she found that Paris was //very// boring. For example, in Paris, people wore plain, boring clothes, and were not very exciting people to be around, but in Aquitaine, people "dressed up" and wore fancy and different clothes, and they were always very energetic. Energetic was an Aquitainian personality.
 * Eleanor and Henry wanted to rule England. So, Henry decided to go to England and force King Stephen of England to recognize him and Eleanor as heir and heiress to the English throne. Henry came back successful, and soon after, King Stephen died and Eleanor and Henry were crowned king and queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London. They helped England progress a lot.
 * In French her name is Alienor de Aquitaine, and in English her name is Eleanor of Aquitaine.
 * Her father argued with the Pope, and for that, he was excommunicated (banned from the church).

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