Praise for Eleanor of Aquitaine “Eleanor of Aquitaine was among the powerful rulers in Europe.… In the sweeping pageant of Eleanor of Aquitaine … Weir convincingly debunks some of the more salacious fables about Eleanor’s libertine ways.” —The Boston Globe “As delicately textured as a 12th-century tapestry, royal biographer Weir’s newest book is exhilarating in its color, ambition, and human warmth. The author exhibits a breathtaking grasp of the physical and cultural context of Queen Eleanor’s life … Her account parades a sequence of extraordinary characters.… Above all, there is the heroine, viewed clear-sightedly in all her intoxicating and imperious irresistibility.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “One of the most fascinating women in not only English history but all of European history … The author’s well-written pages—as in her previous books —lead easily to a rich, deep, and accessible understanding of the topic.” —Booklist “Alison Weir … paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman, and provides new insights into her life.” —Koen Pacific “Weir provides the necessary checks and cautions against believing all we read, whilst enjoyably recording the gossip anyway. A balanced account, with myths, suppositions, and misunderstandings well ventilated.” —Literary Review “A fresh biography of a remarkable woman.” —Irish News (Belfast) 2008 Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Edition Copyright © 1999 by Alison Weir Reading group guide copyright © 1999 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. RANDOM HOUSE READER’S CIRCLE and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Originally published in the United Kingdom in slightly different form by Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Random House Group, Ltd., London, in 1999. Subsequently published in hardcover in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2000. A trade paperback edition was published by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2001. eISBN: 978-0-307-83185-9 www.randomhousereaderscircle.com v3.1 Contents Cover Title Page Copyright A Note on Names and Spellings Illustrations Map Preface Prologue: 18 May 1152 1 “Opulent Aquitaine” 2 “A Model of Virtue” 3 “Counsel of the Devil” 4 “To Jerusalem!” 5 “A Righteous Annulment” 6 “A Happy Issue” 7 “All the Business of the Kingdom” 8 “Eleanor, by the Grace of God, Queen of England” 9 “The King Has Wrought a Miracle” 10 “Conjectures Which Grow Day by Day” 11 “The Holy Martyr” 12 “The Cubs Shall Awake” 13 “Beware of Your Wife and Sons” 14 “Poor Prisoner” 15 “Shame, Shame on a Conquered King!” 16 “The Eagle Shall Rejoice in Her Third Nesting” 17 “The Admiration of Her Age” 18 “The Devil Is Loosed!” 19 “The Staff of My Old Age” 20 “The Most Reverend Eleanor” 21 “The Brood of the Wicked Shall Not Thrive” 22 “A Candle Goeth Out” Notes on the Chief Sources Bibliography Dedication Acknowledgements Notes and References Genealogical Tables A Reader’s Guide Other Books by This Author About the Author A Note on Names and Spellings Different variations of the names of people and places occur in twelfth-century sources. For example, the names Matilda, Maud, and Mahalde are interchangeable, as are Alice, Aaliz, and Alais. For the sake of clarity, I have used different spellings of the same name to identify different people. Eleanor’s daughter is called Alix, Richard I’s betrothed of the same name Alys, and the Lord John’s betrothed Alice. All are accurate renderings. A similar differentiation has been used with the name Amaury/Aymer/Aimery. Louis VII’s daughter, often called Margaret in other works, is here referred to by the French version of her name, Marguerite. Eleanor, who would have called herself Aliénore, is referred to by the more familiar anglicised version of her name. As in many other history books, William the Marshal is throughout referred to as such, even though he did not acquire his office of Marshal until 1199. Although Eleanor was Countess of Poitou and Duchess of Aquitaine, I have occasionally used the name Aquitaine as a blanket term covering both her domains, although I have tried to differentiate between them wherever possible. Many place names have changed since the twelfth century, and where appropriate I have given the modern name in parentheses. Some places no longer exist; wherever possible, I have attempted to discover their exact or approximate location. Illustrations Palais de Justice, Poitiers © Roger-Viollet William IX, Duke of Aquitaine. Manuscript illumination, fr. 12473 fol. 128 © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris Louis VII, King of France. Manuscript illumination from “Grands Chroniques de France,” fr. 2813 fol. 223 © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris Rock crystal vase, 12th c., from the Abbey of Saint-Denis, now in the Louvre © Réunion des Musées Nationaux—Daniel Arnaudet Retable of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (detail), anon., 12th c., Museo de Mallorca, on loan from the Sociedad Arqueológica Luliana Count Geoffrey of Anjou. Enamel tombstone, c. 1152, Musée de Tessé, Le Mans © Giraudon Eleanor’s seal, from a charter in the Archives de France © Atelier de photographie du Centre historique des Archives nationales, Paris Engaged capital, thought to portray Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection, 1934 (34.115.4ab) Tomb of Matilda, daughter of Henry II, and Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, Brunswick Cathedral, late 12th c. © AKG London Effigy of Henry the Young King (detail), late 12th c., Rouen Cathedral © Roger- Viollet Effigy of Henry II (detail), late 12th c., Fontevrault Abbey © AKG London Effigy of Richard I (detail), 1199–1200, Fontevrault Abbey © AKG London Effigy of Berengaria of Navarre (detail), after 1230, Le Mans Cathedral © Geoffrey Wheeler Effigy of King John (detail), c. 1225–1230, Worcester Cathedral © Geoffrey Wheeler Mural from Sainte-Radegonde, Chinon, c. 1196 © By courtesy of Les Amis du Vieux Chinon Effigy of Isabella of Angoulême (detail), mid 13th c., Fontevrault Abbey © Geoffrey Wheeler Effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine (detail), c. 1204, Fontevrault Abbey © AKG London The tombs of the Plantagenets in the Abbey of Fontevrault © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg Maps The Angevin Empire in 1154 Europe and the Holy Land in the Twelfth Century