Eleanor of Aquitaine Part I

Eleanor is unusual in that she is the only Queen of England who was also Queen of France.  She was born in Aquitaine, in south western France in 1142 or 44.   She was a very wealthy woman, as unusually she was an heiress in her own right.  She inherited the Duchy from her father William X of Aquitaine.  She had an excellent education for a girl though she learned female skills of housekeeping, sewing, and embroidery as well as academic subjects. She was trained in music and literature and also in upper class sports such as riding, falconry, and hunting.  She had one brother William, who died in childhood and one sister Petronella… so she became heiress to the Duchy.  Her father tried to ensure that his daughter should inherit. But he died in 1137.

Heiresses to wealth and property were often kidnapped and forced into marriage... so Eleanor was in a vulnerable positon as a young girl, if her father died.  King Louis VI of France was appointed her guardian... But he was eager to have the young heiress married to his son, Louis.

 The Younger Louis was the second son of the King and had been intended for a church career and he was extremely pious.  Eleanor had been reared in the South and had had a broad education...but the couple was married in July, soon after William’s death.

Eleanor and Louis were very much incompatible as a married couple.  Even allowing for the nature of upper class marriage at the time, they were a mismatched pair.   Very soon after the wedding, King Louis died and his son became King of France with Eleanor as his consort queen.  At that juncture Louis VII, as he had just become, was in love with his beautiful lively young wife and was willing to tolerate her spirited behavior.

For the first years of their marriage, Eleanor’s independent minded nature and her Southern ways did not endear her to the French court nor to her husband’s family.  They considered her improper and almost scandalous.... She was used to warmer weather and found the North of France very cold. She found her husband overly pious, it was said that he would have made a better monk than a King…