Christian Women in the Medieval Era – Part 26
Introduction:
People who lived in Medieval times led very full and productive lives. Many changes were occurring throughout the world. It is a shame that Medieval History has been neglected in most schools. I’m not sure why, because there are plenty of exciting stories that took place for the thousand or so years from 500 AD to 1500 AD. On this blog that is dedicated to the stories of women in history we have only touched on a few.
So far, we have looked at the stories of women from the earliest Middle Ages such as Genovefa, Brigid of Ireland and Radegund[1] (5th and 6th centuries). Then we moved on to the 7th and 8th centuries with stories of abbesses and queens such as Gertrude, Frideswide, and Lioba. We continued with the stories of 9th and 10thcentury women such as Dhuoda (writer and Theologian), and Irene, Euphrosyne, and Theodora who were Byzantine empresses. Then we presented the story of the amazingly gifted Hrotsvitha, a poet and a playwright whose works are still influential today. We progressed to the 11th and 12th centuries with the stories of strong, passionate, and gifted empresses, queens and princesses including Empress Adelheid, Queen Margaret of Scotland and Anna Komnene. Let’s continue this week with our story of a most remarkable 12th century woman, Eleanor of Aquitaine who was the wife of two kings and the mother, grandmother, and ancestress of many more.
Queen Eleanor of England (1122-1204) – Part 2
At the end of Part 1 we left our intrepid Queen Eleanor in Poitiers. Eleanor had been married to the king of France. Louis VII had proven a disappointment for her with his many failures. They received an annulment to their marriage. Leaving him and her two daughters behind, Eleanor returned to her home in Aquitaine where she still ruled as Duchess.
As a powerful and wealthy ruler, Eleanor was a target for noblemen who wanted to kidnap her and force her into a marriage that would increase their own domains.
Not surprisingly, Eleanor immediately took matters into her own hands. She decided to marry Henry, Duke of Normandy. She could see that this young man (he was only eighteen) was going places. When she married Henry, they would rule together over Aquitaine, Normandy, and Anjou. Take a look at the map. This was over half of the land between Spain and the English Channel.
Louis VII realized that his kingdom had now shrunk to the size it was before he married Eleanor. (Again, see the little dark blue area in the map.) Louis sent troops into Normandy challenging Henry. Henry’s troops routed the French and they retreated to their home, leaving Louis to be content with his small domain.
In the meantime, Eleanor was happier than she had ever been in her life. Henry was a bold knight and as strong as Louis was weak. Eleanor and Henry enjoyed their new life together in Aquitaine. They were now the Duke and Duchess of Normandy, Duke and Duchess of Aquitaine, Count and Countess of Anjou, and Count and Countess of Poitou. With money, power and most importantly 146 knights and hundreds of archers, Henry was in a position to travel to England to press his claim to the throne.
Henry was the grandson of Henry I of England through his mother Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I (and granddaughter of William the Conqueror). Matilda’s cousin Stephen of Blois had challenged her for the throne and won setting Matilda aside. Henry traveled to England to convince Stephen to name him as the next king of England. Stephen agreed that Henry would become king after Stephen’s death.
While Henry was away Eleanor ruled her kingdom wisely. The people of Aquitaine loved her and were happy to have her back. Eleanor was soon pregnant. She would eventually have eight children with Henry – five sons (William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, and John) and three daughters (Matilda, Eleanor, and Joanna). If you are wondering if two of these are Richard the Lionhearted and King John of the Robin Hood stories, you are correct. More on this in Part 3.
After Henry returned from England, Eleanor gave birth to their first child William, named after her father and Henry’s great grandfather. Henry and Eleanor basked in their happiness while waiting for Stephen’s death. They didn’t have long to wait; King Stephen died in 1154 not mourned by many since lawlessness and civil war prevailed during his reign. The couple traveled to England to claim their crowns.
King Henry II and Queen Eleanor were crowned in Westminster Abbey amidst much cheering. They moved into their new home. This was a cold, drafty, cheerless place compared to Eleanor’s opulent palace in Aquitaine. As usual, Eleanor did not sit around and feel sorry for herself. She gave birth to a second son, Henry, and then rose from her childbed full of her usual vigor. She made changes in the dreary palace for their comfort. Eleanor retrained the servants instilling cleanliness, efficiency, and a new enthusiasm into their formerly slovenly lives.
Eleanor also looked around at the squalor in London and the towns about them. Many had been ravaged during Stephen’s reign. Henry realized that most communities had a hodgepodge of inconsistent laws. He set about codifying the law for everyone throughout the land. In order to get people to adopt the laws he went on long trips visiting each and every village and town. Eleanor went with him on many of these trips though she was often pregnant. The people loved her. Eleanor’s love of peace and justice was obvious and the towns gladly signed contracts acquiescing to Henry’s new laws.
When she did not accompany Henry, Eleanor ruled the kingdom in his absence. The people grateful to her as she meted out justice for all. To this day the English honor Eleanor as the one who helped to push England forward into a more equitable society.
It seemed like things should go well for the English once Henry and Eleanor began to reign. Unfortunately, this story does not have a fairy-tale ending. Henry was really quite conceited and impetuous. Though Eleanor was giving him everything a king could want, Henry’s eye still wandered. It is not unusual for kings to have mistresses. Eleanor put up with them. But one day Henry set up a special mistress in many of Eleanor’s favorite castles. The woman is known to history as “Fair Rosamond”. Pushing Eleanor out, Rosamond acted like she was the queen. Eleanor was pregnant with her last son, John. This did not matter to Henry who took her for granted. He allowed Eleanor to be sidelined by Rosamond. Once again, a powerful male ruler would underestimate the formidable Queen Eleanor.
Eleanor felt betrayed. She could not stand being in England anymore so she and Henry separated in 1167. She left for her beloved Aquitaine. Eleanor decided to get back at Henry in the way that would hurt him the most. Henry had been promising his sons that they would rule on the continent as his vice-regents. Unwilling to let go of any of his power he kept putting it off. While she was in Aquitaine, she installed her now grown sons, Prince Henry, Prince Richard, and Prince Geoffrey as rulers in Normandy, Aquitaine, Brittany, and Anjou. (William had died as a young child.)
Taking up the rulership of Aquitaine, Eleanor dispensed justice and brought peace to the people who had been desecrated by Henry’s cruel leadership. Once again, the people of Aquitaine were happy to have their duchess back. Eleanor had Richard declared the Duke of Aquitaine. She made her home in her favorite palace at Poitiers.
By now Eleanor was 45 years old. Her life was taking another new turn.
Besides her grown sons, Eleanor had four other children to take care of including the infant John. Ten-year old Matilda would soon be off to Germany where she would marry the Duke of Saxony. Princess Eleanor would go to Spain and marry the King of Castile. Joanna was engaged to the future King of Sicily.
Eleanor did not wait for life to pass her by but put in her usual energetic efforts at creating her courts the way she wanted them. Tournaments were popular. Besides entertainment, they provided something to do for the many knights who were out of work. Men were able to show off their prowess; ladies were encouraged to give them the honors.
This was the time of “courtly love” as put into songs by troubadours. Men were to serve and adore women; women
were to rule their hearts. Today it may seem like a romantic fantasy, but we have Eleanor’s rules of courtly love to thank for many of the manners that we still have today, such as “ladies go first” and men walk on the outside of the sidewalk protecting women.
This idyllic period in Eleanor’s life would not last very long. An angry Henry was lurking in the background planning his vengeance on Eleanor. Henry expected his wife to submit to him in all things including elevating his mistress over her, ravaging Eleanor’s lands, wreaking havoc in Ireland which led to the hatred of the Irish for the English to this day, and trying to put his son John on the throne bypassing his older sons.
Eleanor did not sit still. Never forgetting the betrayal of Henry, she sided with her sons as they tried to get the power that Henry had been denying them. Years would pass before Eleanor would eventually be ruler in England again, but not before experiencing much sorrow and loss. We will see how this indomitable woman prevailed in Part 3.
[1] Radegund’s influence was felt for centuries. This amazing queen was an inspiration for Eleanor of Aquitaine.
