Eleanor Of Aquitaine Meaning

Even with all the different events going on in her life, Eleanor was still able to play an active role as the Duchess of Aquitaine. When her marriage to Henry began to fall apart, Eleanor kept busy by contributing to the rules of “courtly love.” She also spent most of her time finding powerful men to marry her daughters. Matilda married Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria ; Eleanor married Alfonso VIII, King of Sicily, and later married Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse. Eleanor also played an active role in the lives of her sons.

In the sixteenth century the role of women in society was very limited. Women were generally stereotyped as housewives and mothers. They were to be married, living their life providing for her husband and children. The patriarchal values of the Elizabethan times regarded women as the weaker sex.’ Men were considered the dominant gender and were treated with the utmost respect by females. Women were mainly restricted within the confines of their homes and were not allowed to go school or to university, but they could be educated at home by private tutors. Men were said to be the ones to provide for their families financially. Women were often seen as not intelligent. Property could not be titled in the name of a female within the family. Legally everything the female had belonged to her husband. Poor and middle class wives were kept very busy but rich women were not idle either. In a big house they had to organize and supervise the servants.

Born in modern day Southern France in 1122, Eleanor de Guyenne, also known as Eleanor of Aquitaine, was the eldest daughter of William X, tenth Duke of Aquitaine and Aenor of Chatellerault. She was brought up in one of England’s most cultured courts and was enthralled with riding and hunting. She was thoroughly versed in literature, philosophy, and several languages. Eleanor began training for the rigors of court life at the age of five, and was extremely bright to say the least. When Eleanor was fifteen, her father set out on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James of Compostella, leaving his daughters in the charge of Geoffrey de Lauroux, Archbishop of Bordeaux. He took gravely ill on his journey home and passed away on April 9, 1137. Eleanor, the heiress, inherited her father’s authority and land. After the death of her father, she was placed under guardianship of the king of France and quickly became betrothed to his son, Louis.

Vaughan, R. (2007). John | duke of Burgundy. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-duke-of-Burgundy [Accessed 21 May 2017].

The women wore amour and carried lances like Knights, although they never actually fought. After 15 years of marriage, King Louis and Queen Eleanor got a divorce in 1152 because they blamed each other for the failed crusade. King Louis then married Eleanor’s younger sister. Eleanor was no longer a teenager or

Cora Orme Kapelle Medieval Literature 23 February 2015 Marie de France’s “Lanval”: A New Model for Gender Roles in the Medieval Romance Genre Historically, Medieval women had little agency or control over their lives. Parents arranged marriages for political alliances and while the romantic compatibility of the engaged couple was almost never considered, Medieval society often prioritized men’s sexual preferences. Marie de France comments on women’s lack of agency and the unfulfilling nature of these marital alliances in her unconventional lai, “Lanval.” Her curious inversion of power dynamics skews the traditional gender roles and reveals flaws within the Medieval ideal of courtly romance.

Elenor of Aquitaine was the wealthiest and most powerful women of the 12 century. She started as the Duchess of Aquitaine, in her own right, to becoming the queen of England and France. In 1122 she was born in Aquitaine, she had a mother and a brother who both died in 1130. Her father, William X was the duke of Aquitaine. He educated her extremely well, she was talented in literature, philosophy, theology, language, diplomacy and was skilled in, what was known as ‘masculine traits’, such as horse riding and hunting. Apart from her beauty and education she was an extremely eligible bachelorette of the time, solely because of the amount of land she owned. This made her a target to people who would kidnap her, and exchange her for money and land.

Consider the word “see” in line 606, as Lanval’s love enters the room she is immediately noticed. This prompt response to her entrance straightaway reveals the implications of her beauty and the importance it has on Lanval’s trial along with the male relation the females in this time period. Women are objectified to a certain extent yet also essential to the inner workings of society. This can also be observed in the context of this passage due to the fact that the queen made the accusations against Lanval and though they were lies the extensive reach of her authority is notable. Also consider the line 607 “The king who was well bred rose and went to meet her” (166). This line directly relates aspects of the chivalric code to a woman’s beauty due to the fact that the king was “well bred” he did not make her walk all the way to him and instead rose to meet

“One of the most powerful and fascinating personalities of feudal Europe” (Women in world history, 2016), Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (figure 1), a contributor to the court of love, an active role in both French and British politics, and “a fashion icon in the Medieval Europe” (Olivia Longueville, 2015). Born the eldest daughter to William X in 1122, France, she was educated in subject that girls weren’t supposed to learn at the time, such as Latin. At only fifteen, Eleanor was inherited the duchy of Aquitaine after William died, and soon after married the heir to the French throne, Louis VI. During her time with Louis, Eleanor accompanied him to Jerusalem on the second crusades. There, along with 300 of her ladies, she tended the wounded. The

If I were to throw a dinner party I would want to invite women in history who made a difference, or who had a shocking amount of power for a woman of their time. I feel like most of the women would enjoy hearing, and appreciate, the changes and power the women in the room had.

Robertson discusses the representation of women in the Lais of de France and how they were constructed around the feudal society and were meant to represent the female agency. Robertson goes on to explain the feudal society and how it is a social ladder where everyone gets their opinions from who is on the very top—this being the “Church and the aristocracy” (Robertson 68). Robertson makes the point that these are two facets that are least acquainted with women. Robertson notes that medieval people also elevated the status of women at the same time as decimating it. Women—ladies—were compared to the Virgin Mary, who represents all things a woman should be: chaste, delicate, beautiful, modest, and so on. Marie de France wrote her lais so they could be enjoyed by both men and women, but she did explore the gender inequalities that existed in her time and still exist today!

Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life and marriages give insight into the process of how the nobility manipulated and ignored laws for personal gain. She was orphaned at a young age, and came under the guardianship of Louis VI, king of France. At the death of her father and the age of fifteen she became the Duchess of Aquitaine and the most sought after bride of the times. Aquitaine was a very important Duchy, and Eleanor owned it. Louis VI married her to his son soon after he became her guardian, and this marriage was made under duress.

According to Hodgson, during the medieval period, the noble class had special rights because of their social status and economic fortune. Eleanor and Henry viewed this marriage as a strategic move in order to secure political power and dominate Europe. Through this marriage, they couple owned the largest amount of land in France and revoked power from Louis VII, which led to quarrels between these two countries. Henry allowed Eleanor rule the throne of England during his absence. Subsequently, through this marriage, Eleanor aimed to restore her political power in the

Eleanor of Aquitaine has been one of the most renowned women or ‘she-wolves’ in medieval history, fascinating historians for over 800 years. She was the heiress to the region of Aquitaine in Southern France, she became the queen of France, by marrying Louis VII and later of England by marrying Henry II. She was also the mother of two of England’s kings, Richard I and John. She has been associated with the crusades, the development of courtly love and the Plantegenet-Capetian conflict. However, there is very little evidence about her life from primary historians. This has lead historians and novelists to speculate and create a character different to the real Eleanor: she ‘has been a victim of both a black legend and beneficiary of an embellished

     The weakness of women is found in various forms throughout the text. Henry refers to women as “a decorative sex” and that “they never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.” (Wilde 43) Nowhere is this better supported than during Lady Henry’s