, drawn by
Matthew Paris Queen and regent (1154–1173) Early years in England (1154–1158) On 25 October 1154, King Stephen died. Although Henry was immediately summoned to England, it was not until 7 December that he and Eleanor were able to cross the channel from
Barfleur, landing near
Southampton on the 8th. They travelled first to
Winchester to greet Archbishop
Theobald of Canterbury, who had been acting as regent. From Winchester, the royal party moved to London and were lodged at the royal palace at
Bermondsey. On 19 December 1154, Theobald
crowned Henry as King Henry II in
Westminster Abbey, with Eleanor beside him. It is unclear whether Eleanor was actually crowned or
anointed as well, since she had already been crowned queen of France in 1137. This was the beginning of the
House of Plantagenet that would rule England till the end of the fifteenth century. As queen of England, Eleanor was provided for generously by Henry, including multiple dowerlands and regular settlements of money that made her one of the richest people in the kingdom, earning her the title of "
riche dame de riche rei". The chroniclers barely mention Eleanor during the reign of Henry II, other than to note when she was with the king, and biographies have been built on these itineraries and surviving official documents. She signed her official documents . This was not uncommon, in that the activities of women were not thought to be of sufficient importance to report, they were merely . Furthermore, the independence and authority of queens had been progressively eroded prior to her ascension to the role. She participated with the king in ceremonial occasions, though she never learned English. Henry's dominions stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees, and he was frequently travelling through them, both in England and France and was absent from England far more than any of his predecessors. For much of his absences from court, Eleanor acted as either regent or co-regent with the
justiciar. Although she sometimes accompanied Henry, she also travelled extensively throughout her domains on her own or with her children. While claims that she was an influential patron of the arts appear to be greatly exaggerated, many writers dedicated works to her. These include
Robert Wace's
Roman de Brut () and
William of Blois, while other writers such as
Marie de France and the author of
Roman de Thebes are believed to have been inspired by her. Some writers, such as Marie de France, appear to associate her with the
Arthurian Legends, while the more speculative Eleanor legends even associate her with the person of
Guinevere. On 28 February 1155, Eleanor gave birth to the couple's second child,
Henry, during the king's absence. On 10 January 1156, King Henry left England for one of his many prolonged absences, leaving Eleanor pregnant again. It was during this absence, in the spring of 1156, that Prince William died and was buried at
Reading Abbey, next to his great-grandfather
Henry I. In June of that year, the couple's third child
Matilda was born and Eleanor and her children travelled to France to be with Henry in July, returning in February 1157. Henry joined her in England in April, and on 8 September their fourth child, Richard, was born at
Beaumont Palace. After 1156, Eleanor's autonomous rule of her duchy was much diminished, her name disappearing other than to confirm acts of Henry, for whom Aquitainians had little respect.
Toulouse campaign (1159) Louis VII had remarried in 1154 to
Constance of Castile, and by 1157 had a third daughter,
Marguerite. Noting a seeming inability of Louis to produce a male heir, Henry II conceived of a plan to eventually acquire the French throne by marrying his son Henry to Marguerite and began making plans in 1158. He travelled to France in August to negotiate the terms with Louis and take the infant Marguerite into his care. He would remain away for over four years. Eleanor soon gave birth to a fourth son,
Geoffrey, on 23 September 1158, and shortly afterwards she rejoined Henry in France. In 1159, she and Henry made a further unsuccessful attempt at enforcing her claims to Toulouse through her grandmother, thereby alienating Louis again, since Count
Raymond V of Toulouse was both his vassal and now his relative. Although Henry had formed a coalition to conquer Toulouse, Louis came to Raymond's aid. Amongst Henry's allies was Count
Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona. Henry symbolically tied the two dynasties by betrothing his son Richard to Raymond Berengar's daughter. But by September Henry had been forced to a temporary truce, although this was the beginning of forty years of war between England and France. Eleanor sailed to England on 29 December, obtained funds for Henry's campaigns and escorted it to him in France before returning to England.
Later years in England (1159–1168) It was not until September 1160 that Henry again summoned Eleanor and the children to be with him in France. Queen Constance had died that year, providing Louis with two daughters but no male heir, and he promptly arranged a third marriage to
Adela of Champagne. Therefore, Henry II decided to immediately arrange for Prince Henry's marriage to Marguerite, despite their being only children. For this he obtained a special dispensation from the church, and the marriage proceeded on 2 November, unbeknown to Louis. Eleanor remained in France and in September 1161 gave birth to a daughter,
Eleanor, at
Domfront, Normandy. Henry and Eleanor finally returned to England on 25 January 1163 after a prolonged absence, which also marked the end of her duties as regent in England. February 1165 saw Henry back on the continent to arrange the marriages of their daughters Matilda and Eleanor to cement an alliance with Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa. Eleanor joined him on 1 May, acting as his regent in Anjou and
Maine. It was there that another daughter,
Joanna, was born at Angers in October, although Henry was not there, having returned to England only two weeks after her arrival. During much of these times the royal couple saw very little of each other, Henry not joining Eleanor till she asked for his help in dealing with a potential revolt in March 1166. His conflict with Breton nobles was settled by betrothing Prince Geoffrey to
Constance, daughter of Duke
Conan IV of Brittany. These long periods of separation would give rise to speculation and then rumours of Henry's infidelities, and a resultant rift between him and Eleanor. The most notorious of these stories was that of an affair with
Rosamund Clifford. Henry's affair had become known by late 1166 and was acknowledged by 1174. Henry had a reputation for philandering; he fathered illegitimate children throughout the marriage. Eleanor appears to have taken an ambivalent attitude towards these affairs.
Geoffrey of York, for example, was an illegitimate son of Henry, but acknowledged by Henry as his child and raised at
Westminster in the care of the Queen. Following the birth of Princess Joanna, Eleanor remained at Angers. Henry did not join her for Christmas that year, only crossing to France in March 1166, where he would remain for another four years. The unprecedented separation at Christmas also led to speculation of discord, but Henry was with her by Easter that year, when she conceived their last child,
John. After Easter, Eleanor returned to England, and Christmas 1166 was again spent apart, with John having been born on Christmas Eve. Eleanor did not join Henry in France till Christmas 1167, which they spent at Angers. This year also saw her bringing Matilda, then only eleven, to the continent in September in preparation for her marriage to the much older
duke of Saxony,
Henry the Lion, which took place on 1 February 1168. Henry II's reign was marred by a bitter feud with Thomas Becket, which began in 1163. Becket was initially a close friend and adviser, then his chancellor and eventually archbishop of Canterbury. There has been some speculation as to what role Eleanor may have played in this, but very little evidence. During his exile in France from 1164, Becket unsuccessfully sought her help. What little evidence exists though, suggests that she urged reconciliation. In December 1167, Eleanor gathered her movable possessions in England and transported them on several ships to
Argentan. Christmas was celebrated at the royal court there, and immediately afterward she left for her own city of Poitiers. Henry and his army went with her before attacking a castle belonging to the rebellious
Lusignan family. Henry then went about his own business outside Aquitaine, leaving
Patrick, Earl of Salisbury, his regional military commander, as her protective custodian. When Patrick was killed in a skirmish with the Lusignans, Eleanor, who proceeded to ransom his captured nephew, the young
William Marshal, was left in control of her lands. There she would remain until 1173, a move that facilitated Henry's control over a corner of his realm where the vassals were continually rebelling. This move also led to speculation of a marital breakdown. By this time, King Louis and Queen Adela had finally had a son,
Philip Augustus. Philip's birth in 1165 ended Henry II's attempts to add the throne of France to the Angevin empire through dynastic alliances.
Poitier years (1168–1173) , the seat of the counts of Poitou and dukes of Aquitaine in the 10th through to the 12th centuries, where Eleanor's court inspired tales of the Court of Love. The separation of Eleanor and Henry during the next five years has been the subject of much speculation as to whether it was predominantly a matter of political expediency, an indication of a growing rift between the couple or both. Certainly Eleanor had fulfilled her queenly duties of providing both male heirs and daughters as commodities for alliances, but was now too old to provide further children. She successfully set about restoring order in proverbially restless Aquitaine, and continued in her royal duties as Angevin queen, including acting as regent in various French territories. Richard of Devizes suggested it was Eleanor that initiated the separation and that Henry did not oppose it. Although not much is known about Eleanor's whereabouts during this period, Christmas 1168 was spent apart, Henry at Argentan and Eleanor at Poitiers. On 6 January 1169, the king, joined by Princes Henry and Richard, met with Louis VII at Montmirail, Maine. In the resulting treaty, Henry II divided his domains between his sons and betrothed Richard to Louis' daughter
Alys. In addition to keeping his vassals in order and maintaining relations with the French king, Henry was busy creating domestic alliances. Geoffrey was betrothed to
Constance of Brittany and negotiations were begun to marry Joanna to
William II of Sicily and John to Alicia, eldest daughter of
Humbert III of Savoy. To further secure a peaceful
succession, he sought to continue the Capetian tradition of crowning his heir, Prince Henry. Despite opposition from the Church, the prince was crowned on 14 June 1170, after which he was called Henry the Young King. While Eleanor and Henry appeared to be in communication during this period, it is not evident that they actually saw much of each other, other than at some of the major feasts, such as Christmas at Bur-le-Roi, near
Bayeux, in 1170 and at
Chinon in 1172. While there were rumours of alienation between the couple, Eleanor began to exert increasing autonomy in ruling her duchy. For instance she changed her formal address to omit "the king's", merely stating "to her faithful followers". During this period, relations between Henry II and his young sons became increasingly fractious. Having been allocated portions of the Angevin empire at Montmirail, they were eager to assume their powers, rather than wait for their father's death. Louis VII saw an opportunity to exploit these divisions. In November 1172, Louis invited his daughter Marguerite and son-in-law Henry to Paris, where he encouraged Young Henry's ambitions.
Courtly love, troubadours and the Golden Myth Of all her influence on culture, Eleanor's time in Poitiers between 1168 and 1173 has been claimed to be the most critical, yet very little is actually known about it. Henry II was occupied with his own affairs after escorting Eleanor there. For a long time, writers dealing with this period stated that her court was a center of
chivalry and the
troubadour culture. This evolved further into the tradition that Eleanor presided alongside her eldest child, Countess Marie of Champagne, over what became known as "The Court of Love", where
courtly love thrived. While troubadours both attended her court and praised her, the Court of Love was a later literary invention. This emerged from a late 12th-century treatise known as
The Art of Courtly Love, or
Tractatus de amore et de amoris remedio by
Andreas Capellanus, which appeared long after the period of Eleanor's court in Poitiers, and is largely
satirical. The
Tractatus stated that Eleanor, together with her daughter Marie,
Ermengarde of Narbonne,
Isabelle of Vermandois and other ladies, would listen to the quarrels of lovers and act as a jury on questions of romantic love. He records some twenty-one cases, the most famous of them being a problem posed to the women about whether true love can exist in marriage. According to Capellanus, the women decided that it was not at all likely. There is no evidence for any of Capellanus' claims. Despite this, many popular accounts, such as the biography by Polly Schoyer Brooks, continue to give credence to it, at least as some sort of "parlor game". There is no evidence to the claim that Eleanor invented "courtly love", an expression that only appeared in the late nineteenth century. The concept of
courtoisie (
amour courtois, ''fin'amor'') was a set of attitudes regarding love associated with the courts and praised by troubadours that had begun to grow before Eleanor's Poitier period. What can be said, is that this ''fin'amor'' first appeared in the south in the early twelfth century, became popular and spread north, and that there were troubadours at Eleanor's court, such as
Bernart de Ventadorn and
Arnaut Guilhem de Marsan, as at other Occitan courts. The rest is merely conjecture. The legend of a court of love has formed an important element in what has been referred to as the "Golden Myth" of Eleanor's life.
Revolt and imprisonment (1173–1189) Revolt and arrest (1173–1174) From 21 to 28 February 1173, Henry and Eleanor were together at
Montferrat for the betrothal of Prince John to
Alice of Maurienne, who died shortly thereafter. The occasion was marred by open conflict between the two Henrys over the delegation of powers. From Montferrat, the royal entourage moved to
Limoges, where matters worsened. The Henrys then headed north in March to Chinon, where they arrived on the 5th. In the morning, Henry II discovered his son had escaped his custody and travelled to Paris. Louis VII then informed Henry II that he was now supporting his son as the new reigning monarch. This was the beginning of the
Revolt of 1173–1174. Later chroniclers assigned much of the blame to Eleanor, adding to her deepening reputation and leading to much speculation regarding motive, despite lack of evidence, although they carefully added "so it was said" to their accounts. Other evidence implicates Louis VII, Young Henry's father-in-law. From Paris, William of Newburgh recounts, "the younger Henry, devising evil against his father from every side by the advice of the French king, went secretly into Aquitaine where his two youthful brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, were living with their mother, and with her connivance, so it is said, he incited them to join him." Roger of Hoveden gives a somewhat different account, stating that Eleanor sent the younger sons to France and their older brother "to join with him against their father the king." Young Henry and his brothers then returned to Paris in the spring and Eleanor encouraged her vassals to support her sons. Later, in April, Eleanor too would set out to travel to Paris to join her sons. But she was seized on the road to Chartres and taken to Henry II in Rouen. The king did not announce the arrest publicly but had her confined, and for the next year the Queen's whereabouts were unknown. Meanwhile, Louis held court in Paris, where the French nobles swore allegiance to Young Henry. Of Henry II's sons, only seven-year-old John remained with his father. Hostilities commenced in May, with the joined forces of Young Henry and Louis VII invading Normandy, although neither side prevailed during 1173. After a brief winter truce, Henry II entered Poitiers in May 1174, and took his daughter Joanna together with other noble ladies back to his stronghold in Normandy. On either 7 or 8 July 1174, Henry II, facing imminent invasion of England, took ship and sailed with Eleanor, John, Joanna and the other ladies from
Barfleur to Southampton, from where Eleanor was taken to an unknown place of confinement.
Imprisonment (1173–1189) While Henry II was ultimately victorious and made some concessions to his sons at the
Treaty of Montlouis on 30 September 1174, Eleanor was confined to various degrees for the rest of Henry's life in various locations in England, about which there is very little information, although
pipe rolls refer to
Ludgershall Castle in Wiltshire, to Buckinghamshire and houses in
Berkshire and
Nottinghamshire. Gerald of Wales states that Henry considered having his marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity during 1175, requesting a visit from a
papal legate to discuss the matter and meeting with Cardinal
Pietro Pierleoni at Winchester on 1 November. Pierleoni dissuaded him from this course. In early 1176, he tried again, by persuading Eleanor to become a nun at Fontevrault. She then requested the archbishop of Rouen to intervene and he supported her refusal, prompting Henry to once again attempt to seek papal approval, which was denied. Meanwhile, Henry continued using his children to forge alliances. In the summer of 1176, Eleanor was at Winchester with Joanna, then eleven. Joanna was sent to Sicily on 27 August, as soon as plans for her marriage to William II were concluded, the marriage taking place on 13 February 1177. On 28 September 1176, John was betrothed to his cousin
Isabella of Gloucester. In September 1177, Princess Eleanor left for Castile and was married to King
Alfonso VIII in
Burgos, while Geoffrey was married to Constance of Brittany in July 1181. While Eleanor remained confined, she was not strictly a prisoner, but rather in a form of "
house arrest", although stripped of her revenues. She enjoyed some greater freedoms from 1177 onwards and particularly after 1184, and would witness the deaths of three of her children (Henry, Matilda and Geoffrey), but very little information exists about these years. During her imprisonment, Eleanor became more and more distant from her sons, since Henry II could not afford having her in communication with them and possibly plotting against him. This was especially so for Richard, her heir in Aquitaine, who had always been her favourite. She did not have the opportunity to see her sons very often during her imprisonment, though she was released for special occasions such as Easter 1176.
Rosamund Clifford died in 1176 or 1177 at
Godstow, Oxfordshire. Henry erected a tomb in the abbey and gave gifts to the abbey in her memory. Her death would much later lead to myths concerning Eleanor's putative involvement that grew more elaborate over the centuries, and for a long time were accepted as established facts, further building her Black Legend, despite virtually no contemporary evidence to support this. Some chroniclers, including Gerald of Wales, Ralph Niger, Roger of Hoveden and Ranulf Higden state that Henry then began an affair with the sixteen-year-old Alys of France, a matter complicated by the fact that she was betrothed to his son Richard and was also the daughter of Louis VII, who became alarmed on hearing this news. In the meantime, Henry delayed the marriage, which Richard was now resisting. The years of Eleanor's confinement were marked by almost constant warfare, as her sons fought against rebellious vassals (especially in Aquitaine), among each other and with their father. The situation became further complicated after 1180, with the death of Louis VII and the succession of his son Philip II. Philip was even more determined than his father to regain the French lands of Henry II and his sons. He sought to exploit their familial conflicts. During one of these campaigns, Eleanor's son Henry died of dysentery on 11 June 1183, at
Martel, at age twenty-eight. His dying wishes included a plea for his mother to be set free and that his wife Marguerite be provided for. Henry II sent the
archdeacon of Wells, Thomas Agnellus, to Eleanor at Sarum to inform her of her son's death. Thomas later described how she told him she had a premonition in a dream. In 1193, she related to
Pope Celestine III how much she was tortured by her memories of her son. Young Henry's death changed the family dynamics, leaving Richard as the new heir. As a result of Young Henry's death and his wish for Marguerite's lands to be protected, Henry II found himself in conflict with Philip II of France, Marguerite's half-brother. Philip claimed that certain properties in Normandy and England belonged to Marguerite, but Henry insisted that they had once belonged to Eleanor and would revert to her upon her son's death. It was therefore politically expedient that Eleanor be seen in the disputed territories and Henry summoned her to Normandy in late summer 1183. This marked the beginning of a loosening of the restrictions on her. Roger of Hovenden states that the king commanded she "be freed and that she make a progress about her dowerlands". Her income also improved. Geoffroy du Brueil states that she remained in Normandy for about six months. Young Henry's death necessitated a renegotiation of the treaty of Montmirail and the contentious question of Richard's betrothal to Alys, resulting in a further meeting of the English and French kings at
Gisors, Normandy on 6 December 1183, at which time Henry revoked much of the land concessions he had made earlier. Eleanor returned to England in early 1184, where her daughter Matilda and son-in-law Henry (now in exile) were able to stay with her at Winchester and then
Berkhamsted. On 30 November at Westminster, Eleanor and Henry presided over another unsuccessful attempt to bring peace with their warring sons and settle their inheritance, and the family spent Christmas at Windsor. In early 1185, they journeyed to Normandy, where a further family council took place in May. She would remain in Normandy for nearly a year, the royal couple returning to Southampton from Barfleur on 27 April 1186, spending the summer together at Winchester, though her whereabouts are largely unknown from then till 1189. However, even in Aquitainian affairs, it was clear she had little freedom to act, stating that her acts were "with the assent and at the will of her lord Henry, King of England, and of Richard, Geoffrey and John, her sons". The family situation changed further when Geoffrey died in Paris on 18 or 19 August 1186, leaving only Richard and John as heirs but conflict between them and with their father continued over their inheritance, and Richard made yet another attempt at adding Toulouse to the Aquitaine domain, bringing Henry and Philip into direct conflict, leading to twenty-seven years of intermittent war. This time Richard and Philip combined their forces against an ailing Henry, forcing him to relinquish much of his French possessions. After John joined this alliance against his father, Henry's health deteriorated further and he died at Chinon on 6 July 1189, aged fifty-six. At around this time, Eleanor also received news of Matilda's death. Over the last few years Eleanor had often travelled with her husband and was sometimes associated with him in the government of the realm, but still had a custodian. Henry's death ended a marriage which has been described as tumultuous and Eleanor's long years of imprisonment. == Widow and queen mother (1189–1204) ==