Eleanor+of+Aquitaine's+early+life+and+adulthood

Eleanor of Aquitaine's early life
Eleanor of Aquitaine started her long life when she was born in the year 1122, in the duchy of Aquitaine. Her father was William X, duke of Aquitaine. He was quick to start an argument, and very obstinate. Her mother was Aenor. We know little more than her mother's name. She had a sister named Petronilla, and a brother named William Aigret. Eleanor and her sister were very close. Her life in Aquitaine was very exciting. Then, her grandfather, WIlliam IX, died and her father, William became William X, duke of Aquitaine. Later, her mother and brother died. William Aigret had been heir to the Aquitaine throne, and, being the oldest, Eleanor became heiress. Her father made sure that she had a good education. She was taught how to read, but probably was not taught how to write. She owned a falcon, who was specially trained to catch other small birds and small animals. She could ride horses, and hunt. Her father became William X, duke of Aquitaine. Then, while on a pilgrimage only a few miles from his destination, her father died. Now, she was under control of Louis VI, nicknamed "Louis the Fat" because he was so fat and could barely reach down to his knees. Louis VI acted shrewdly, and knowing that Aquitaine and France would be united if he did this, he arranged marraige between his son, Prince Louis, and Eleanor. Eleanor was guarded because anyone, noble to peasant, could kidnap her and force her to marry someone else. She and Louis were crowned duke and duchess of Aquitaine. Then, Louis VI died and Prince Louis became Louis VII of France. Then, her adulthood started.

Eleanor of Aquitaine's adulthood
Louis terribly wanted to impress Eleanor, so when he heard that the Pope had called a Second Crusade because the Moslem Turks had captured the city of Edessa, and were threatening Jerusalem, he immediately decided to lead it. They left with rows and rows of soldiers from Aquitaine, Normandy, Burgundy, and France. After a lot of long days and weeks, some people had died from starvation. Finally, they arrived in Antioch, where Eleanor's uncle, Prince Raymond, greeted them. Eleanor spent a lot of time with Raymond, wanting to get away from boring Louis. Louis got jealous. He told Eleanor that they were leaving the next day. Eleanor was furious. She told him she wanted a divorce. Louis's reaction was to sulk. Then, he asked advice from his advisors, and they said that if he and Eleanor divorced, they would lose all of the Aquitainian soldiers, therefore probably losing the Crusade. During the night, they snuk up on sleeping Eleanor and caught her, forcing her to go with them to the Crusades. When they had arrived in Asia, they were bothered constantly by the Turks, who they were trying to capture Jerusalem from. They decided to take a boat the rest of the way. Sadly, most crusaders died from starvation. When they arrived at their destination, Louis listened to the bad advice and tried to capture the city of Damascus, which, first of all, would have barely helped, and second of all, they were unsuccessful. They travelled home. When they got home, Eleanor had one child named Marie. When they arrived in France, Louis and Eleanor talked to the Pope about their marraige problems. The Pope refused to have them divorce. Then, Eleanor had another child named Alix. Soon after that, the Pope died. Eleanor and Louis immediately divorced. Then, Eleanor fell in love with Henry II, duke of Normandy. She had seen him when he had come to pay homage to Louis, so he could fully become duke of Normandy. So, Eleanor sent a secret message to him. He came to Aquitaine, and met Eleanor. They decided to marry. They were married on May 18, 1152. Both Eleanor and Henry knew that they could not marry without the King of France's permission, but they married anyway. When Louis found out, he was furious. He led an army against Normandy, but Henry with his good military skills easily fought them off. In 1153, Eleanor's first son William is born, and in the February of 1155, her second son Henry is born. In the meantime, Henry had gone to England to force the king of England to give him the crown when he died. Henry returned home successful. Soon after that, the king of England died, and Eleanor and Henry became king and queen of England. By this time, they were duke and duchess of Normandy, duke and duchess of Aquitaine, count and countess of Anjou, count and countess of Poitiers, and last but not least, king and queen of England. Sometime during her marraige she had eight children. Then, Henry became less and less loving to Eleanor. For example, Eleanor was having less power of ruling, so it was pretty much just Henry ruling now, not Henry and Eleanor. Also, Henry didn't want to give the throne to their eldest son Richard so soon, and he had fallen in love with another woman: Rosamund Clifford. So, Eleanor encouraged her two eldest sons Richard and John to rebel against Henry. They fought Henry, but Henry easily fought them off. Henry made peace with Richard and John, but he put Eleanor in prison and they divorced. Henry suggested that Eleanor retire to a nunnery, but Eleanor refused. Finally, Henry died, and Richard was now ruling. He became "Richard the Lionheart". Eleanor was like one of his most trusted advisors, and ruled for him when he was gone. Then, after a couple of years of that, Eleanor retired to a nunnery called Fontevrault Abbey. One time, she raced out of the nunnery to be with Richard, who had become Richard the Lionheart, when he died. Then her other son John became ruler. She lived through much of John's reign, but, sadly, she died in 1204. Phenomenally, she had lived until age 82, which, as you may guess, was a very long time to live back then.