Eleanor of Aquitaine

Also known as Aliénor d’Aquitaine.

Events

Date of Birth: 1124.

The date is given byTurner (p. 11, p. 28), who notes that the date 1122 is also given, but that 1124 is now generally accepted. Martindale (ODNB) gives about 1122.

Place of Birth: uncertain.

Cawley gives Nieul-sur-Autize, Vendée, or Château de Belin, Guyenne, or Palais d’Ombrière, Bordeaux.

Date of Death: 31 March 1204.

Place of Death: uncertain.

The date is given by Martindale (ODNB), who notes that there is disagreement about whether Eleanor was then in Poitiers or Fontevrault.

Place of Burial: the abbey church at Fontevrault.

The place is given by Martindale (ODNB) and by Turner (p. 294).

Relationships

Father: Guillaume X (1099 - 1137), count of Poitou and duke of Aquitaine.

This relationship is given by père Anselme (1:76; 2:521), by Turner (p. 20), by Keats-Rohan (p. 1097), and by Martindale (ODNB).

Mother: Aliénor de Châtellerault.

This relationship is given by père Anselme (1:76; 2:521), by Turner (p. 29), and by Martindale (ODNB).

Spouse: Louis VII “le Jeune” (1120 - 1180), king of France. Married 25 July 1137, separated 18 March 1152.

This relationship is given by père Anselme (1:76), by Turner (p. 48), and by Martindale (ODNB).

Spouse: Henry II (1133 - 1189), king of England. Married 18 May 1152.

This relationship is given by père Anselme (1:76), by Turner (p. 108), and by Martindale (ODNB).

Children (by Louis):

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. Most information below is from Baldwin and Cawley.)

Marie de France (1145 - 11 March 1198) married Henri I “le Libéral”, count of Champagne.

Alix de France (1150 - 11 September, after 1195) married Thibaut V “le Bon”, count of Blois.

Children (by Henry):

William (17 August 1153 - 1156).

Henry (28 February 1155 - 11 June 1183) married Marguerite de France. Henry was joint-king of England.

Matilda (1156 - 13 July 1189) married Heinrich der Löwe, duke of Saxony.

Richard I (8 September 1157 - 6 April 1199) married Berengaria of Navarre 12 May 1191. Richard was king of England 1189 - 1199.

Geoffrey (23 September 1158 - 19 August 1186) married Constance, heiress of Brittany.

Eleanor (born 1161 or 1162) married Alphonso VIII, king of Castille.

son.

Joan (October 1165 - September 1199) married (1) William, king of Sicily, 13 February 1177; married (2) Raymond VI, count of Toulouse in 1196.

John (1166 or 1167 - 19 October 1216) married (1) Isabella of Gloucester in 1189, divorced 1199; married (2) Isabella of Angoulême in 1200. John was king of England 1199-1216.

References

Anselme de Sainte-Marie. Histoire Généalogique et Chronologique de la Maison Royale de France, des Pairs, Grands Officiers de la Couronne, de la Maison du Roy et des Anciens Barons du Royaume. 9 Volumes (Paris: 1726-1733).

Baldwin, Stewart. “Henry II of England” in The Henry Project.

Cawley, Charles. “ELEONORE d'Aquitaine” in Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families.

Keats-Rohan, Katharine S. B. Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1106 - 1166. (Woodbridge: 2002).

Martindale, Jane. “Eleanor, suo jure duchess of Aquitaine (c. 1222 - 1204)”, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2006).

Turner, Ralph V. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France, Queen of England (Yale University Press, 2009).