What is the significance of Eleanor of Aquitaine?
Eleanor of Aquitaine was Duchess of Aquitaine (a substantial area of what is now France) in her own right, and as such a major matrimonial prize. She was married first to King Louis VII of France, with whom she had two daughters. She accompanied him on Crusade to the Holy Land, with a company of 300 women. Her marriage to Louis was annulled in 1152, as Louis wanted sons, and it seemed as if eleanor was not going to have any. eleanor seems to have been quite happy to be annulled, as she immediately married Henry, Duke of Normandy, who became King of England in 1154. She bore Henry eight children. In 1173 she supported her sons Richard and John when they rebelled against their father, was captured while attemmpting to return to Aquitaine, and was imprisoned by Henry for fifteen years, until his death in 1189. After he died, eleanor’s son Richard I released her from prison, and she made a triumphant progress through England, granting amnesty to prisoners and ensuring the country’s loyalty
