Eleanor’s story is definitely a fascinating one. She was born a French aristocrat and was highly intelligent and a praised beauty, becoming the Duchess of Aquitaine at the age of fifteen and she was later married to Louis VII of France. This union failed to produce a son and was annulled to the mutual happiness of both sides, but Eleanor did not remain single for long – she would meet Henry Plantegenet, the Duke of Normandy, and marry him soon after in a quiet ceremony. Henry was the handsome, red-haired son of Empress Matilda and heir to his cousin King Stephen. While tempestuous, their marriage produced eight children, three of whom would become Kings of England.
Eventually, their sons revolted against Henry and Eleanor sided with her children. She fought alongside them in each of their violent squabbles, despite being imprisoned by her husband in Winchester Castle for years, all the way up until Henry II’s death in 1189, when their son was crowned as Richard I of England, known better as Richard the Lionheart.
She died in 1204, witnessing the death of her beloved son Richard on crusade and the reign of her next son King John, one of only two children to outlive her. She was 82 years old and buried alongside Henry II, where the former couple’s tombs can be seen today (pictured above).
Thorns of Time 