Eleanor The Daughter Of The Duke English Literature Essay

In 1122, shortly to be Duke William X of Aquitaine was told he was holding a kid with Aenor, the girl of the Viscount Aimery. They named their girl Eleanor. Eleanor was an inheritress of a big sum of land Since Aquitaine was more than a 3rd of France, she was an inheritress of some regard. Aenor gave birth to Aelith and so William Aigret, The inheritor to the thrown. when Eleanor was eight, She inherited the whole Aquitaine part due to her female parent and brother go throughing off. Eleanor ‘s was influence came from her grandma, who sacrificed her topographic point as a Viscountess, for love. When Eleanor was 15, her male parent went on a pilgrim’s journey. On the manner, he suffered from nutrient toxic condition. He left Eleanor in the charge of King Louis the Fat, to get married her off. King Louis married her to his ain boy, and made her Queen of France upon his decease, some yearss after the nuptials.

Louis Capet, Eleanor s new hubby, was merely 16 when they wed. The 2nd boy, he had grown up in a monastery, fixing for a life in the service of the Lord. However, when his older brother fell off his Equus caballus and broke his cervix, Louis became inheritor to the throne of France. Louis was a quiet, profoundly spiritual adult male, eager to demo off for his new, rich and beautiful married woman. Eleanor dreamed of a warrior for a hubby, and Louis, despite his shyness, urgently wished to make full that portion. Quickly he went to war, against his lieges and anyone else that would oppose him. When Petronella was married to Count Ralph of Vermandois, his first married woman s household who he had divorced to get married Petronella rapidly took up weaponries against him. Louis jumped in to protect his sister-in-law s involvements. Even so, Louis s war was severely planned and his ground forces ended up firing an full small town that had taken safety in a church. The experience left him virtually destroyed, he who had been so in God s favour. The King and Queen went to a respected and feared Abbot, Abbot Bernard. Louis wished to atone for his wickednesss and Eleanor wished to bear Louis a kid. By the clip they left, Louis was committed to traveling on a campaign, and Eleanor was pregnant. By the clip the campaign was to get down, Eleanor had delivered a babe miss, fleetly named Marie Capet. Eleanor accompanied Louis on the campaign.

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The trip was long and hard. On their Holy Journey, the Germans, led by King Conrad, joined them. Louis was a bad adult male for a war, holding no existent gustatory sensation for it. He severely planned and was a hapless leader. Eleanor shortly began to contemn her hubby. After remaining about a hebdomad in a Grecian metropolis that didn Ts truly want them, they were eventually on their manner. Traveling through the mountains, Louis stayed at the dorsum of the train, dressed like a simple pilgrim. Eleanor and her kinsman rode at the forepart. Disobeying Louis s orders, they decided to bivouac on a grassy field. Leaving the dorsum of the train, they camped. Moslems attacked the dorsum of the train. Louis would hold been killed, but for his deficiency of worldly dressing. Finally, they reached the metropolis of Eleanor s Uncle Raymond, Antioch. He begged Louis to contend the Moslems at that place, to support his metropolis, but Louis, covetous of Raymond s coquettish attending to Eleanor, refused. Taking Eleanor in the center of the dark so she couldn t disobey him, Louis fled to Jerusalem. There they stayed, even though Louis ground forces could non contend the Moslems, for they ever lost. Eleanor hated Louis by this clip.

On their return, Eleanor declared to Louis that she wanted a divorce. Louis rapidly asked the Pope to step in and he did. Resulting from this, another girl, named Alise, was born. However, Eleanor still did non wish to stay married to Louis and finally she was granted a divorce. She retained her lands, but Louis got detention of the immature princesses.

Eleanor had another program. One of Louis lieges, a fiery immature adult male known as Henry Plantagenet, had in secret met with her. Henry, contending for his rightful topographic point as King of England, was Duke of Normandy, and Count of both Anjou and Angevin. He and Eleanor would fall in forces, giving her a throne and him the Duchy of Aquitaine as good. Henry was chesty, fine-looking, and immature, being some eleven old ages younger than Eleanor herself. Finally, after warring in England for merely two old ages after the nuptials, King Stephen of England died, go forthing Henry as his inheritor. Eleanor was queen one time once more.

As if to turn out that this was the better lucifer, Eleanor rapidly became pregnant and dullard Henry the boy he wished for. Unfortunately, immature William was non strong and died shortly after his 4th birthday. Eleanor bore Henry seven other kids nevertheless, get downing with Henry, who would go The Young King, Matilda, who would be Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria in Germany, Richard, better known as Richard-the-Lion-Heart, Geoffrey, eventual Duke of Brittany, Eleanor, future Queen of Castile, Joan, who would be the widowed Queen of Naples and eventual Duchess of Apulia, and eventually John Lackland, England s worst male monarch.

However, happy life was non for Eleanor. Despite being Queen of England, Thomas Becket had the King s ear in all affairs. Even when Thomas fell from grace and was finally murdered in the name of the King, Henry had fallen in love with Rosamond de Clifford. Eleanor, disgraced, left England on the stalking-horse of maintaining peace in her fatherland. She took her kids with her, except for John, whom she disliked, and Matilda, who had been sent to Germany.

Back in her tribunal in Aquitaine, Eleanor set up a tribunal where a adult female was superior. Men would come and be judged by a room full of adult females, who rated his actions harmonizing to a book dictated by Eleanor that taught the regulations of a adult females s high quality. Here besides, she fostered her boies turning hatred for their male parent, who denied them any type of power.

Prince Henry, who by this clip was really King Henry III, lusted for control. Joining forces with King Louis, he rebelled against his male parent along with his brothers Richard and Geoffrey. However, Henry shortly destroyed their force and set Eleanor under house apprehension in a rock palace in England.

Eleanor spent 17 old ages as a captive of her hubby. Cut off from everything she loved, Henry refused to even allow her maintain her ain family. Finally, during her boy s expostulations at her intervention, Henry easy allowed her more privileges. Through this clip, word came to Eleanor that her oldest boy, Henry, died warring against his ain male parent, every bit good as her boy Geoffrey. Then, as clip passed, her ferocious hubby died every bit good, amidst a war with King Philip of France, and Richard and John, his last living legitimate boies. Quickly, on the order of King Richard, who had ever been her favourite boy, Eleanor was set free. She was made Regent until Richard could come to the land himself.

Richard was unknown in his new land, with the repute of a parricide. Eleanor toured the land, emptying gaols and easing revenue enhancements in Richard s name. She had his face engraved on a new currency and planned a enthronement so glorious it became the footing for all undermentioned enthronements.

However, Richard was non concerned with England. He was purpose on puting out on a campaign instantly, in the company of King Philip of France and Duke Leopold of Austria. After he had everything set, Eleanor decided he could non travel without being married. He had been engaged to the royal princess Alais of France. However, his womanizing male parent had destroyed that program. King Henry subsequently became involved with his boy Richard s fianc, a Gallic princess who besides happened to be the girl of Eleanor s foremost hubby, Louis VII. Not surprisingly, Richard ne’er married the miss ( Meade 305 ) . Eleanor had to believe fast and rapidly journeyed afar to acquire Richard a new princess. However, Eleanor s favourite boy would non bring forth an inheritor. Not merely was he averse to get marrieding Alais because she had been his male parent s kept woman, he objected to get marrieding any adult female. It would be interesting to cognize how this cognition ab initio affected Eleanor, but certainly it must hold caused her some hurting. For good or ailment, she had molded him into a beautiful, glorious warrior, the Coeur de Lion, whose name would still be synonymous with heroism eight centuries subsequently. The lone defect in her planning was that her boy was a homosexual, harmonizing to some beginnings ( Meade 308 ) .

On Richard s return from a halfway-successful campaign, he was taken surety by the Holy Roman Emperor. Eleanor raised his ransom money while he attempted to set down her boy John s aspirations on the Crown. Richard ruled England for 10 old ages and was killed by an absurd hurt taken in the shoulder. For better or worse, and as history shows, it was decidedly worse ; John was now King of England.

John was a waster. Despite the fact that Eleanor was now 77, she could rapidly acknowledge that this boy, whom she had ne’er liked, was traveling to destruct the Plantagenet Empire she and Henry had so carefully built. Not one for war, John allow all his Continental lands be taken, one by one, by King Philip. Eleanor swallowed her pride and paid court to Philip for her Aquitaine, so as to non give him or Arthur of Brittany, her grandson who claimed the throne of England, an alibi to assail her lands every bit good.

Eleanor could no longer protect her household. She set down the foundations of courtly love, and thanks to her attempts, work forces appreciated adult females. A tradition such as opening a door for a lady, which in today s society is merely deceasing out, was originally thought of by Eleanor. At the age of 81, she died, holding been the female parent of 10, the grandma of 59 and despite being the married woman of two Kings, is best known merely as Eleanor of Aquitaine.

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