Eleonore von Aquitanien

No queen of the Middle Ages was as powerful, as famous, and at the same time as notorious as Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124-1204). She was first queen of France, then queen of England, a prisoner of her own husband, and an ally of her sons in their fight against their father, not to mention the regent of a vast empire stretching from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. She promoted the rise of Gothic art and is still regarded as the "Queen of the Troubadours." The adventurous life of Eleanor of Aquitaine reads like a well-crafted novel – and indeed, it provides the material for countless stories, legends, and even films, but as so often happens, real life surpasses fiction. Eleanor came from an influential ruling family based in western France. As the heiress of the Duke of Aquitaine, she married the King of France at the age of 13, and after the annulment of that marriage, she married the future King of England, Henry II. Her sons, Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, ascended to the English throne after Henry II's death. She was famous for her beauty, her assertiveness, and her independence. Eleanor traveled with the Crusade to the Holy Land, exercised governmental power on behalf of Henry II during his absence, and also for Richard the Lionheart when he was captured by the Staufer. She personally commanded troops and undertook long journeys even in old age to marry off her daughters and granddaughters to the European royal courts. Ralph V. Turner, a specialist in 12th-century European history, has written the definitive biography of the most famous queen of the Middle Ages with this book.