Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the most well-known English queens of the Middle Ages.
Henry II and Arthurian Legend
March 19, 2015 By
For several decades now, a number of medievalists have directly linked this new fashion in Arthurian literature to the patronage of Henry II.
An actress’ approach to the role of Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion In Winter by James Goldman
November 13, 2014 By
The story of her struggle with her husband, Henry II, at the time of the death of their eldest son, Henry the Young King, in 1183, has been made into a play by James Goldman, called The Lion in Winter, which was produced successfully on Broadway in March, 1966.
BOOK REVIEW: A King’s Ransom – Sharon Kay Penman
March 23, 2014 By
A King’s Ransom is the follow up to Lionheart and tells the story of King Richard I’s imprisonment in Germany at the hands of Duke Leopold of Austria and Emperor Heinrich VI and of his battle to win back his Kingdom from his rapacious brother John.
Analyzing History: Bertran de Born – Innocent Poet or Inciter of Revolt
February 22, 2014 By
While words are powerful tools that can invoke emotions ranging from jubilation to revulsion, could they be the cause of a rebellion against Henry II of England by his children and wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine? Could the words of a mere troubadour drive the revolt of a family against their king?
BOOKS: Great Reads about Medieval Queens!
January 19, 2014 By
Queens Consort: England’s Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York Author: Lisa Hilton Publisher: Pegasus (August 3, 2010) Summary England’s medieval queens were elemental in shaping the history of the nation. In an age where all politics were family politics, dynastic marriages placed English queens at the very center of power—the king’s bed. […]
Eleanor, Queen of France and England and Duchess of Aquitaine
November 13, 2013 By
There never has been another Queen like her.
Agatha, Clerical ‘Wife’ and Wet Nurse to King John of England, Longtime Companion to Godfrey de Lucy, Bishop of Winchester
June 15, 2013 By
Agatha’s life, like that of her mistress Eleanor of Aquitaine, is remarkable in an age when women’s innate inferiority and wives’ subordination to their husbands were almost universally accepted, and discussions of women and marriage in learned treatises, sermons, and vernacular stories were ‘at worst misogynistic and at best ambivalent.’
Queen’s Gold and Intercession: The Case of Eleanor of Aquitaine
April 26, 2013 By
This essay will consider basic questions about queen’s gold and intercession. First it will address the mechanics of the levy and collection of queen’s gold, beginning with fundamentals such as the nature of the levy and who paid. An investigation into the origins of queen’s gold will follow.
How did the expansion of royal authority affect the traditional ruling institutions during the reigns of Henry II and Philip II Augustus?
March 17, 2013 By
The study of the Angevin kings can be seen as effectivelyseparating Henry II and his successors from mere kings of England and can be seen asresponsible for highlighting the continental origins of these kings.
The Queen of troubadours goes to England: Eleanor of Aquitaine and 12th Century Anglo-Norman Literary Milieu
August 19, 2012 By
Although her importance in the growth of courtly love literature in France has been sufficiently stated, little attention has been paid to her patronising activities in England.
Triangles of the Sacred Sisterhood
August 19, 2012 By
In courtly works, the resolution is generally in favour of the status quo as a courtly adulterous affair rarely works out, while in the fabliau the marriage is generally left intact, although a deceitful wife may be given carte blanche to philander.
The Uncommon Commonality of Eleanor of Aquitaine
June 26, 2012 By
Eleanor lived at the junction of these two phenomena. She was raised on the foundation of a reforming western world that her people, aesthetically speaking, pioneered in many ways. The history of her, fact and fiction, result from that background.
The daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: a comparative study of twelfth-century royal women
June 17, 2012 By
This thesis is the first study of the daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine which considers them in a dynastic context.
Saints and sinners in the works of Marie de France
June 3, 2012 By
What was Marie trying to share with her twelfth century audience when she wrote The Lais?
Partners in Rule: A Study of Twelfth-Century Queens of England
May 30, 2012 By
The queens of twelfth-century England provide a prime example of how the queen was not, in fact, powerless in the rule of her realm, but rather a significant governmental official who had the opportunity to take a complementary part in royal rule that suited her strengths.
The Outlandish Lioness: Eleanor of Aquitaine in Literature
September 1, 2011 By
The Outlandish Lioness: Eleanor of Aquitaine in Literature Tolhurst, Fiona Medieval Feminist Forum, 37, no. 1 (2004) Abstract The image the viewer gets of Eleanor of Aquitaine in Anthony Harvey’s The Lion in Winter is that she was a woman of many talents and moods who was both dangerous and fascinating. This image is like […]
Gerald of Wales and the Angevin Kings
May 22, 2011 By
Gerald of Wales and the Angevin Kings Steele, Helen Published Online (2006) Abstract On the 10th of November 1203, Silvester Giraldus Cambrensis attended a meeting at Westminster Abbey in London at which Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, announced the selection of Geoffrey de Henelawe as Bishop of the See of St David’s. Although five years […]
Do We Know What We Think We Know? Making Assumptions About Eleanor of Aquitaine
February 27, 2011 By
A survey of the literature on Eleanor of Aquitaine reveals that time after time, scholars who accuse their predecessors of ‘exaggeration and anachronistic fantasy …wish-fulfillment and projection’ or ‘gossip’ about the queen cannot avoid the lure of doing the same.
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