Eleanor of Aquitaine: A LifeIn this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman and provides new insights into her intimate world. Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. Eleanor of Aquitaine lived a long life of many contrasts, of splendor and desolation, power and peril, and in this stunning narrative, Weir captures the woman—and the queen—in all her glory. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, she recreates not only a remarkable personality but a magnificent past era. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - PhilSyphe - LibraryThingDespite the title, this isn’t really a biography about Eleanor of Aquitaine, because for much of the time she’s a background figure. The focus is on the men in her life. “Eleanor of Aquitaine & Her ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - LibraryCin - LibraryThingEleanor of Aquitaine lived in the 12th century. She was initially wed to King Louis VII of France, but when they only produced daughters, they went their separate ways and Eleanor then married King ... Read full review
Contents
A Model of Virtue | |
Counsel of the Devil | |
To Jerusalem | |
A Righteous Annulment | |
A Happy Issue | |
All the Business of the Kingdom | |
Poor Prisoner | |
Shame Shame on a Conquered King | |
The Eagle Shall Rejoice in Her Third Nesting | |
The Admiration of Her Age | |
The Devil Is Loosed | |
The Staff of My Old Age | |
The Brood of the Wicked Shall Not Thrive | |
Eleanor by the Grace of God Queen of England | |
The King Has Wrought a Miracle | |
Conjectures Which Grow Day by Day | |
The Holy Martyr | |
The Cubs Shall Awake | |
Beware of Your Wife and Sons | |
A Candle Goeth Out | |
Notes on the Chief Sources | |
Dedication | |
A Readers Guide | |
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Common terms and phrases
abbey Abbot Alys Angevin Anjou Archbishop army Arthur barons Berengaria Bernard Bishop Blois Bordeaux Brittany brother castle Cathedral Chinon Christmas chroniclers Church Count court crown crusade daughter death domains duchy Duke Eleanor of Aquitaine Emperor English excommunicated father Fontevrault France French Geoffrey Geoffrey’s Gervase of Canterbury Giraldus Cambrensis Guillaume le Maréchale heir Henry and Eleanor Henry’s honour household Hugh husband Ibid Jerusalem Joanna John of Salisbury John’s King Louis King’s kingdom knights L’Histoire de Guillaume London Longchamp Louis’s Lusignan marriage married Matilda mother Norman Normandy overlord palace Paris peace Philip Pipe Rolls Poitevin Poitiers Poitou Pope Queen Eleanor Ralph of Coggeshall Ralph of Diceto reign remained Richard of Devizes Robert of Torigni Roger of Hoveden Roger of Wendover Rolls Series Rosamund Rouen royal sent sons Suger Theobald took Toulouse troubadours twelfth century vassals vols Walter Map wife William of Newburgh Winchester Young King
Bibliographic information
| Title | Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life |
| Author | Alison Weir |
| Publisher | Random House Publishing Group, 2012 |
| ISBN | 030783185X, 9780307831859 |
| Length | 480 pages |
| Subjects | › › › Biography & Autobiography / Royalty History / Europe / Great Britain / General History / Europe / Medieval |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |