Eleanor of Aquitaine

Summary (from the publisher): Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and the mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. Although she lived in an age in which 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. In this beautifully written new biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of this truly exceptional woman, and provides new insights into her intimate life.

Born in 1122 into the sophisticated and cultured court of Poitiers, Eleanor came of age in a world of luxury, intrigue, bloody combat, and unbridled ambition. At only fifteen, she inherited one of the great fortunes of Europe--the prize duchy of Aquitaine--yet her father had been shrewd enough to realize that her future security lay in a powerful marriage. Consequently the sensual Duchess submitted to a union with the handsome but sexually withholding Louis VII, the teenage king of France. The marriage endured for fifteen fraught years, until Eleanor finally succeeded in having it annulled--only to enter an even stormier match with the aggressively virile, hot-tempered Henry of Anjou, who would soon ascend to the English throne as Henry II.

Eleanor comes to life as a complex, boldly original woman who transcended the mores of society. Eventually, after enduring Henry's flagrant infidelities, she showed herself a formidable and dangerous enemy of the King's interests by plotting to overthrow him with their sons, Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey. A tireless political fighter and a born survivor, the humbled Queen emerged from sixteen years of imprisonment, age sixty-seven, to rule England with wisdom and panache during the absence of her son King Richard the Lion Heart, while he fought in the ruinous Third Crusade.

Review: I've read multiple novels based on Eleanor of Aquitaine's life so I was already familiar with most of her life, but I really enjoyed the in-depth analysis of her life and that of her family. Weir has done an excellent job of sifting through the archives to create an account of a woman of whom very little is known concerning personal details and everyday life. 

Many of the fictional tales I've read about Eleanor are concerned with the infamous end to her first marriage to King Louis of France and second marriage to the much younger (11 years) King Henry of England. I was amused by the multiple references to both Henry and Eleanor's vigorous sexual appetites, which helped make their marriage when he was 19 and she was 30 a success.  I had never heard much about her family or childhood or about the Crusade she went on with her first husband soon after marriage. I also enjoyed learning more about her later life even after Henry's death, since Eleanor, most unusually for her time, leaved to be in her 80s. 

Eleanor was a beautiful, strong willed, and powerful woman. She was a formidable force during her lifetime and was able to wield significance influence well into her later years. She became the bane of Henry's rule and played their sons against him, leading to her imprisonment until Henry's death. She was a wily and untrustworthy old thing who wasn't afraid to cross anyone in pursuit of her desires. I found it baffling that it was widely rumored during her lifetime that she had multiple affairs, since that was generally highly unacceptable in females, especially ones of such a high rank as Eleanor. Additionally, she made no secret of the fact that her son Richard was her favorite, while many of her children never knew her and would go decades without ever seeing their mother. Of course, the time period, especially for women of rank, was a very different time for parents.

My main frustration, which is certainly not the fault of the author but rather that of the fragmented historical accounts, was the rather distant account of Eleanor's life. I would love to have had more direct quotes and details about her everyday life and an insight into her thoughts. Most of the book looks at her life through the lens of the men in her life, since more historical records survive regarding them. It was frustrating trying to learn more about Eleanor but instead learn significant amounts about her two husbands. 

Stars: 4