Eleanor Of Aquitaine: The Most Powerful Women Of The Middle Ages

Many powerful women of the Middle Ages ruled as monarchs or queens to help to help the king and other nobility with conflict and provide an heir to the throne. Eleanor of Aquitaine shows a great example as she became wealthy at the age of fifteen, and soon after became the queen of France and queen of England. She accompanied kings as they conquered great historical lands and bore many children to continue their legacy. Eleanor of Aquitaine held great responsibility at a young age, giving her the experience to rule with an iron fist. She became her father’s heir presumably at the age of five and she inherited her father’s title and extensive lands upon his death when she was fifteen, making her duchess of Aquitaine and one of the most powerful …show more content…
Eleanor had two daughters by Louis VII, which in 1152, became separate from their mother. Possession of her two daughters ended in the custody of the king after declaring her marriage void from the fact that they relate in blood. Eleanor later on had three daughters and five sons by her next husband, Henry II. Two of their sons, Richard I, and John, survived and later on continued to rule after Henry. Eleanor resisted marrying other French noblemen and chose to move away from France. Within two months of separation from her marriage and daughters, Eleanor married Henry of Anjou, also known as Henry II. She was more closely related in blood to her new husband than she had been to Louis VII, but their marriage resumed and after two years Henry and Eleanor were crowned king and queen of England. The power of a kingdom usually depends on the spread of the ruling. Eleanor accompanied Louis VII on the Second Crusade to the Holy Land known as Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, Louis initiated an attack on Damascus where the Crusaders suffered great losses. Not long after Easter 1149, Louis and Eleanor left the holy land of Jerusalem and sailed in separate