Philologic al Society 32 ( 1986): 78- I 05.

39. Ovid, Letters from Pontus 1.3.114-119.

40. Fasti l. 535-6. (lf. Herbert-Brown, op.cit., 159-162.41. See ltarrett, <tp.cit.207-213 for details.

42, See Ulrikc Hahn, Die Frauen des r1misclten Kaiserhauses und ihrc Ehrungen intgriechischen Osten anhand epigraphischer und numismadscher Zeugrtisse von

Livia bis Sabina (Saarwellingcn: Saarbriicker Studien zur Archdologie und AltenGeschichte U, Saarbriicker Druckerei und Verlag, 1994),2l^27 ('Das Erbe des

Hellenismus').IGR iV 319.

See Barrett, op.cit., 145; 210-213;263 lirr details; Wood. op,cit., csp. 87-124.Hillard, "Vcspasian's Death-Bed Attitudc to his Impencling Deificatiodl in M. Dillon(ed.) Rc.ligion in the Ancient World: New Thentes and Approache.s (Amsterdam:

Adolf M. Hakkert, 1996),193-215.46. Ovid, Fasti 1. 532 speaks in those very terms.

43.44..+5.

22 23

Ralph V.Turner

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine, despite medieval notions ofwoment innate inferiority, sought power as her twohusbands' partner, and when that proved impossible,defyied them. She paid heavily for her pursuit of power,becoming the object of scurrilous gossip during herlifetime and for centuries afterward.

Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine (1124-1204), is doubtless the most famous orinfamous of all medieval queens: she was the wife of Louis VII of France,then wedded to Henry II of England, and she was the mother of threcEnglish kings.' Her life would have been noteworthy in any age, but itwas extraordinary by medieval standards. In an age that defined wontenby their powerlessness, she chose to live as she saw fit, seeking politicalpower despite traditions and teachings of women's innate inferiority antlsubordination to males. Eleanor paid heavily for her pursuit of power,becoming the object of scurrilous gossip comparable to that hurled at .r

later French queen, Marie-Antoinette.2In a culture of honor and shame, a persont fama (personal honor or

reputation) was all important, determined by the opinion of acquaintanccs,neighbors, friends or enemies. Cornmon knowledge of one's shamcl'ulcharacter not only brought loss of hona fama, but could result in seriouslegal and social disabilities.t Women especially were threatened by runrorsof sexual impropriety that could lead to charges against them in the chr,rrch

courts,a Since'the construction of b ona tbmaand tnala fantawas contr<lllctlby men,' both clerical and secular lcaders saw to it that 'femaleness was

defined by the .submissiveness of wives to their husbands15 Medieval writcrsascribed women's actions to irrational, sentimental or libidinous rnol ivcs,

and Eleanor's contemporaries attributed her rifts with her two husbandsto personal, passionate sources, not to political factors. This attitudc girvc

rise to a long lasting portrait of Eleanor as'an essentially frivolous wonrariand her life as a series of scandals.';

Turner

Bleanor was the proud daughter of a distingr.rished clynasty, and shcnever forgot that her lineage, successors to Carolingian sub-kings, equaledthc Capetians and surpassed the Plantagenets in prestige.t ln the centurybefore L,leanor'.s birth, laclies of southern F'rance had enjoyed greater libertythan those in the more'feudal' regions to the north.s Eleanor, aware of herbirthright as heir to the duchy of Aquitaine, felt that hcr marriage should bea partnership; she assumcd that she would share porver with her husband,especially over her own ancestral lands. Flven as a young woman soon afterher marriage to Louis Vll in 1137, she demonstrated a desire lbr power,resentful ofher husband'.s counselors. Seeking to influcnce Louis in mattersconcerning Aquitaine, she convinced him to invade the county of 'loulousc.'

Later sl.re would insist on accompanying him on tlrc Second Crusade. Aqueen's unique influence in the public sphere through lrer intimate accessto her royal husband n'as threatening to others at court seeking to swayhim to Lheir opinions.r0 t)amaging rumors offered a means of weakcningher reputation and Iirniting hcr influencc.

Eleanor's conduct on the Second Crusade first inspired rumors aboutthe troubled state of her marriage to Louis. An incident at Antioch gaverise to a 'black legend'that has tarnished her reputation for centuries.rr Theroyal c<luple's stay with her uncle, Raymond, prince of Antioch, made clearthe antipathy between ill-suited spouses, bcginning the urrraveling of theirmarriage that finally dissolved in I152. Louis VII insisted on nrarchingdirectly to ]erusalem to fulfill his pilgrim's voq despite his wife's urgingthat he adopt her uncle'.s plan for combating the Muslims. Unable to swayher husband, lileanor announced tl.rat she would stay with her uncle andseck an annuhnent of their marriage on grounds of consanguinitl'.

Eleanor's cont€mporary, )ohn of Salisbury, rvell informccl on the incidentat Antioch, made clear that Flleanor's open opposition to her husband'.smilitary and political decisions and her challenge to the legality of theirmarriage breached the submissiveness demanded of wives by a male-dominated Church and a militarized aristocracy.'' Iean llori, author of a

2004 biography, suggests that her delibcrate provocation was driverr by a

desire to assert her indepcndence that chroniclers interpretecl as infidclity,equivalent to actual adultery'.1r Observers at lLaymoncl',s court urrcicrstootllllcarror'.s hettclstrong bchavior as iln unilcccptablc chrrllcrrgc lo l.ouis'arrtliority, Ilotrtirtg thc ( lhtrrclrls tcaching orr worrrcrr'.s srrbot'tlitrirtr, r'olc'itt tttitrriitgc. Soolr rrlr)ors of llrc t[rt,enls irrlitlclity:iIt.t'irtl lo tlrt, llrcrrtlr(ftts;t(l('ts'(itlrll)s, ittrrttsirrll llrllctl ol'tlrc rIrt't.rr; llrt,srrltlir,l.s errtItcllislrrtl

Eleanor of Aquitaine

her misbehavior, redelining it as actual adultery with her uncle. On the

crusaciers'return to France, blaming thcir queen for the crusade's inglorious

end, they spread gossip about her adultery at Antioch. Whatever happened

at Antioch, the resulting rumors inspired talk of serial adulteries that sullied

Eleanor's reputation for centuries. ra

On Louis and Eleanor's journey lrom the Holy Lancl, returned by way

of Italy, where the pope stage-managed a short-lived reconciliation, but

after she gave birth to a second daughter, Louis divorced his queen in

1152. Hostile courtiers at Paris, displeased with her quick remarriage to

Henry Plantagenet, encouragcd more talk ofher outrageous conduct on the

crusade.ri Rumors tarnishing the private lives of the great were one of the

few means available for the weak to challenge their power, and chroniclers

alluded to their immorality as an indirect means of voicing criticism ofruiers, even if they had no way of knowing details of their private lives.r6

Later twelfth-century English chroniclers were well aware of scurriloustales circulating about the troubled nature of their new queen's firstmarriage; by then doubtless part of a widespread oral tradition.'t English

students returning from the schools of Paris would have brought back

such talk to clerical circles in their homeland. Some chroniclers contented

themselves with oblique references to Eleanor's indiscretion at Antioch.Clearly, theirveiled references indicate an expectation that readers wouldbe knowledgeable enough to fill in the details of the Antioch episode.'o

Others questioned the lawfulness of her marriage to Henry II. Williamof Newburgh wrote that he deserved divine retribution for two reasons:

irrst, for his marriage to Elcanor, the wife of another; and second for his

opposition to Thomas Becket.t''lwo authclrs of satirical accoLlnts of life at

the English court, Walter Map and Geralcl of Wales aclded a new charge,

writing that Count Geoffrey of Anjou, Henry IIb fat her, had tarnally knownllleanor during a visit to Louis VII's court. Their account, if true, made

lilcarror and Henryt marriage'incest of tlrc'second type] a son sharing a

wolllilu with his own father.'o

Itrcclisposecl towirrd suspicion of Eleanor, late twelfth-century Englishwrite rs jtrrlgccl hcr as f alling short of the standard set by the post-Norrnan( )orrtlrrcst lirrglish quccns. 'l'hey clcpictecl Eleanor's predecessors as

rrrotlcls ol Picly, tottscictttiotts ttr<lthcrs, atrcl worthy corttPlttions of theirIrrrslrlntls, t'vcrr il ttrcy sotnt'tittics ltrttl cxcrcisctl political powcr clrrt"ing

Ioyrrl rtlts.'tt,r's.'' A wotttirtt's lrtllsttit rtl politic'irl 1)tlwt'r, tl(tt tltlcttltttttotl ittIlrt'sorrlIrclrr l;r';rrrr r'nI Iilt'irttot lr t lriltllrooil, st't'ttlt'tl lo llrrlqlislr , lttlt'. lttltctt

Turner

to overturn the natural order. In the chroniclers' vicq princes who tolerirtedpowerful women riskccl bcing labeled 'unmanly' or even 'womanlyl Forhistorians of the Angio Norman and early Plantagenet pcriocls, royal rnightwas so closely associated with purely rnasculine' activities, cornmandingkniglrts in Lrattlc and bcsieging castles, that they cotrld not imagine a wouranwielding such power."

During thc first decade of Henry Il'.s reign (1154-116a) he wlrs awayfrom his new kingdom fighting in his French lands for long periods; andin his absencc lr,leanor was regent, excrcising power that she had coveted as

Louis'.s queen. Record sourccs, though meager, reveal her considerable roiein linglanclt governance.t'This was a time for restoring royal supremacvafter ycars of civil war in lingland, and llleanor hacl an important placeduring thc king'.s absences as the personification of roval authority to thelinglish pcople, even if shc is hardly visible in thc chronicles. I)uring hcrregencies, she was also busy bearing children, providing l{cnry with lcrursons and thrce daughters. After Eleanor's first decade as Ilenry'.s consort, hcrpublic role cJeclincd contparecl to that of her Angkr-Normirn predecessors,clue in large measure to an cxpalrding royal aclnrinistration that took onmany tzrsks torrnerly pcrformed by royal houscholcl olhciirls.

ln ll6t|, Elr'anor lcft Englancl antl rcturncd to Poitiers to take chargeof her honreland, ckrubtlcss welcorning the opportunity to rule over herduchy.)'By 1173, howevcr, shc was tlisilltrsionecl with hcr hustrancl, andshc incited her sons to rebel against thcir own father; she joined them inmakirrg war on l{enry Il. this unpleLedslllcd example of a rvife conspiringin a large-scalc revolt against hcr own l'rusband astoundecl and horrificclconterrporaries. For a scctlncl tin-re shc was appeared to be brcaking onc ofthc basic rulcs fbr a rrarried wornan, lbrgetting the sr.rbnrissivorcss owecl toher husband, just as she l-rad at Antioch.t'Yet it is hardly surprising that aneclucated, intelligent wolnan such as lileanor, fl'ustratcd at Iosing influencein public life, should have sought power through manipr.rlating her sons.Both late twelfth-centurv and rnany rnodcrn writers fail to credit Eleanorwith political impulses for turning against Henry II; instead, attribrrtingher actions to alt emotional craving f<lr vcngeance. We cau ask with faneMartindale, an rstute observcr of Eleanor of Aquitaine, 'Can there be nopolitical explanation of a wornan's actions?'26 It never occurred to Eleanor'.scorrtemporaries that her desire to preserve her authority in Aquitainc, herdisappointrnent at Henry'.s continued interventions there, and her hope ofensuri ng her second son ltichardt succession could have driven her to take

26

Eleanor of Aquitaine

revenge through her sons. Preventing her duchy from being slvallowed up

by her husband's empire, reduced to simply another Angevin province, was

i.r lnore important rnotivation for her revolt than a wror.rged wife's thirst

fbr revenge. tlcnry Ii crushed the 1173-1174 rebcllion, the greatest thrcat

that he faced during his reign, and he brought Eleanor back to Englirnd

as a prisoner, where she wtluld remain a captive until his c{eath in I189.

Only as a widow did Eleanor: taste the poiitical power shc had always

hungered for. In cxercising authority to preserve the Plantagenet lands

forhcrlast survivitrgsons, Richard lthc Lionheirrt (1189-1199) and )ohnLackland (1199-1216), she showecl herselfa skillcd politician.:7 She acted

almost as a regent during Richard'.s absence on the Third Crusarie and

his captivity in Germany, safeguarding England from her rebellion and

French threats until his release in I 194. Following Richarcl's death in I 199,

Elear.ror again threw herself into politicai activity. she worked to secure

the succession of her last surviving son, John Lacklancl, opposing liis

rival, her grandson Arthur of Brittany, who was supported by Philip ll ofFrancc. Eleanor as queen-nrother enjoycd the privileges associatecl with a

queen-consort during her two sotts' reiglls, for Richard's bride never visited

England, and Iohn',s wife was tott yotrng to assunle queenly duties.r* A t'ew

years before Eleanor's tleath at age eighty, she retired to Fontevraud Abbey

in France. Death came to her in 1204, a clecade bcfbre iohn's loss of Poitou,

the hcart of hcr duchy of AqLlitaine, to the h'rench king.

Within half a century of Eleanor's death, earlier guarcled allusions to

hcr allegetl inriiscretion at Antioch expanded into accusations of an allair

in the Holy l.and with a Muslim prince. An early exanlple is Mattherv

Paris, a monk and chroniclcr at Saint Albans Abbcy in England until l-ris

death about 1259.r'When discussing Eleanor, Matthew Paris could not

contain his predilection for'unscrupulous falsificationl ancl he charged her

not only with multiplc adttlteries, but 'especially infidelity with a certain

infidel prince in the East, pcrpetrated while her husband devoted himsclf

to the business of warlr" Around the same time ill France' an anonyn"Ious

minstrel of Reims composed a collection of historical :rnecdotcs. His book

inclutles a sirnilar tale of Elcanork liaison with a Muslim prince, whonr he

identified as the sultan Saladirr, who couid have been no more than a young

child during thc Seconcl Crusade; indeed, it is unlikely that he had yct bcen

born. Nonetheless, the minstrel depicts Eleanor falling rnadly in love with

SaladirT before rnecting him in person."

27

7, rrrc r;rrt Mitrttc Ages, st.rics -,"..-.,'u-r-'.,,i l:rrly

irtltrllo'y b,:,,n1:,, murdcr t<r Ercanor. Adcletr stoiies rord lbour I.rcnrylls hrvt'allhir with llosamtrnd Clilibrd ancl Elearror'.s rolc as the vintlictive;rrrtl jr'irlorrs rlnrrcierer of ll.osanrulrd.t, Mrrre ve rsions ol'Elca'or,s pursuitrl l;iri' R.sarrund appearetr i' tlie early modern era. 'Ihey inc.rp.rated arrrazt' lil<c b.wer thar Henry il br.rirt at wlodstock as a hiiing prace {irr hisIrve r'' brt l'llea.or succeedecl in penetratirlg it. The woocistock'rraze ap;,carsin tw..w.rks dating from thc final years .f the sixtee'th century: suino.ll)irriclls poeur, "Ihe oomplaint of Rosamo'd,'pri.tecl i' r592, and a ballad/;;rir'l{rrsirnr.rrde, also from around the end of tire sixtee'th century, th.ughrr.t ptrblishccl until the eighteenth century." eueen Eleanorls conrb.s.sion,ir s.crltish ballad published i' the seventecjnth cerltury that recycred earrierbirlhcls, tlepicts Elea'or c.'r'essing her sins to two friars, actually He'ry IIrrrrtl williirrn Marshal in disguise. In its verses, the queen conf-esses not onlytr p,iso'ing Henrys rnistrc.s.s Rosamund criflirrd, but t. tryi'g to poisonI lcnry as well.t'As late as the ni.eteenth century, crespite a'nci, scie'tificirpProach to historical studics, oid canarcls about ihe tw;lfth -ccntury queenwcrc still repeated. Agncs stricklant|s livcs ,r't,rre (lrrcer rs of F.ngrancr.cvived the talc of Eieanor's affair with a Muslinr, reporling that at Aniioch,l'llcan'r engaged in 'a crimi'al artachment ... to a you'g Saracen enrir ofgrcat bcauty, named Sal-Addin.,rr

Ily lhe twentieth century schornrly approacl.res to rrlea'.r tentlccr tcrlhll int<l onc of two categories. specialists i' mcdievar French liter.turc,c.nvinccd that close readi'g ofvernacular literature could discl.se twelfth-ccntury reality, created an image of Eleanor as muse of the troubacrour poets,presiding over tourts of rovc'at p.itiers. An example is Anry Kelly,s stillrrrpular I956 book, Lleanor of Aqttitaine nnd the Four Kings, ihat providesa fancifirl portrait of Eleanor foundirrg an academyat poitiers to.subduc tocivility'the boisterous yolrng poitevin knights oiher court.,,'

- "Ite seconcl catcgory corrsists of proiessio'al historian.s rerying on

Latin so'rccs, clismayed by this portrait of Erean.r proc{rced by cxpeits inliterature turning to vernacular poetry hist.rical for evidcnce. ir Fo. rnuchof the.twcntietlr century mares largcly dominated this ratter category, andthey showed little interest in women'.s history. .lhey

were h.pplitu'l"orr.sr-rch 'softer topics' as the study of medievai wornen to scholars in thefield of literature, often themselves women.,* As late as 1()73,W.1,. \Varrenwrote ir.r his biography, Henry II,..lb judgc lrom the chroniciers, the rnoststriking fact about Elcanor is her utte'iniignifica'ce in Henry II's reign.'re

28

Eleanor of Aquitaine

No knowledgeable authority tociay wor.rld accept Warreu',s neglect of hcrsignificancc l'or politics and govcrnmcnt.

'lbday, the conflict between the 'literary' and 'historical' camps olscholars is abating, and thc work of feminist scholars is adding newperspectives to Eleanor oIAquitaine's portrait.'Iheir more rounded portraitof Elcanor acknowledges her vital place as a political playcr. A pioneer is

iane Martindale, who for years has produced papers illuminating Eleanor'.s

key role in the politics of the Plantagenet Empire, and younger scholars are

furtlrering the process with studies of medieval queenship as an office.t"As a result, we see Eleanrlr of Aquitaine today as a woman who chose tolive her life on her own terms, in defiance of custom and religion, seekingpower through partnership with her husbands, or if that proved impossible,

then challcnging them and going her own way. The price of lrer choice was

a loss of her bona fanra, as a black iegend of sexual impropriety hauntedher over the centuries.'' Yet Eleanor merits a measure of glory because ofher refusal to conform to conventional curbs on a woman's power and herstruggle lo control her own destiny.

Notes

2.

'l'wo re ccrrt sch<rlarly biographies are Ralph V. Tu rner, F)leanor <tl-A<Tuilairte; Qtrt-enol'I:rance, Queen ol-Fttglald (l,ondon: Yale University Press, 2009); fcan Flori,AIi6nor tl'A<luitttinc: La reine in.soum.ise (Paris: l)ditions Payot & Rivagcs, 2004);

linglish trans. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Qtreen and Rebel (Edinburgh: lidinbr.rrghUniversity Press, 2007); also )ane Martindale, 'Eleatror, suo jure duchess of Aquitainec. 1I22-12O4)l in Oxford Dictionary of National tsiograplry, ed. H.C.G. Matthewsand B. I{arrison (Oxtbrd: Oxford University Press, 2004). Still irnportant is L.R-

l,abande, 'Pour une image v6ridique dAlidnor dhquitaine,' in Bulletin dc la socicte

des anfi<Ttrairies c/e lbuest, ed. Martin Aurell (l)oitiers: Ceste Etlitions/Soci6t6 dcs

Antiquaires de l'Ouest, 2005).

John Carnri Parsons,'I)amned If She Didnt and Damned When She Did: Botlies,

Ilabies, an<l Bastards in the Lives ofTwo Queens ofFrancel in Eleanor ot'Aquitaine:Lord antl Lady, ed. John Carmi Parsons and Bonnie Whccler (Ncw York: Palgravc

Macm illan, 2003), 265 *299.

Claude Gauvard, 'lntroduction,' in Ia Rumeur au Moyen Age: Du ntpris i Ia

tnanipulation Ve XVe sic\c1e, ed. N4aite Billori and Myriarn Soria (Renncs: Presscs

universitaires de l{ennes, 20lI\,26-27; 'lhelma Fenster and l)aniel l.ord Smail,'lntroductioni in Fama:'Ihe Politics of Ttrlk antl Reputation in Madieval Europe ed.'l helma l'enster and Daniel Lord Srnail (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2()03),1- I 4.

Madeline H. Caviness ancl Charles G. Nelson, 'Siler-rt Witnesses, Absent Wonren, and

29

\

Turner

the Law Courts in Medie val (iermanyi in Fama:'Ihe Politics of Talk and Reputationin Nledieval Europe, ed. '[helma Fcnstcr and Daniel [.ord Srnail (lthaca: (]ornellUniversity Prcss, 20O3), 47 -72.

5. Caviness and Nelson,'Silent Witnesscsj 72; Judith M. Bennett, Women in theMedieval English Countrysitic (Oxford: Oxford University I'rcss, 1987), 6, 45.

6. Janc Martindale, 'Eleanor of Aquitainel in Slatus, Authorily an<1 llegional Power.

Aquitaine and France,9th lo 12th Ccnturies, cd. Jane Martindale (London;Variorum, 1997), 24, 40.

7. John Gillingham, 'l'lvents ancl Opinions: Norman and Iinglish Views of Aquitalne,c. 1152 c. 1204,' in The Worltl c>f lileanor of Aquitainc: I-ileralurc and Socicty iD

.Sorrtjreln Frarrce betwee.n thc Elevcnth and [hirteenth Centurics, ed. CatherineLdglu and Malcus Bull (Woodbridgc: The Boydell Press, 2005), 57-81.

8. F..g. the elcventh-century Agnes, widow of Duke William the Grcat of Aquitaine,latcr wife ofGeoffrey Martel of Anjou: Isabelle Soulard-Berger, Agne\s de llourgognc,duchessedAquitainepuiscomtesseclhnjou.(t019-v. l0(rt|)iin llullclindelaSociitcdes antiguaire.s de l Ouest 6 (Poitiers, 1 992); and in thc twelfth ccntury: FrcdericL. Oheyette, F,rnengard ofNarborrrre antl thc World ol'the'l'roubadours (lthaca:

Cornell University l)ress, 2002), 25.9. Flori, Alitnor,58; Rdginc Pernoud, Alitnor rlAEritarne (Paris: A. Michel, 1965),

37- 38.

10. Oathcrine L6glu and Marcus Bull, 'lntroduction,' in lhe World of lileanor ol'Aquilainc: Litcraturc and Socicty in Southern France befweerr thc Eleventh andThirtt'enth Centuries, ecl. Catherine l.6glu and Marcus Bull (Woodbridge: ThcBoydell Prcss, 2005), 5.

I l. Martin Aurcll, Aux origincs de la l6gcndc noirc dAli6nor dhquitaine,' in Roy;rutesinay,irtaircs (Xllc-XVIe.sic\cle.s), (,ir//oqLrc de I'Universitc{ dc. Parjs X-Nanterrc drr

26 au 27 st'ptentbre 2003, ed. Anne l-I6le'ne Allirot, Cillcs Lecuppre ancl LyciwincScorclia ('lirrnhout: llrepols, 2005), 89- 1 02.

I2. MarjoritClribrrrll,HistolaPontificalisofJohn<tfSalisbury,OxtbrdMedievalTexts(Oxlirrd: Clarendon Press, l9t|6), 52, 53; Aurell, Aux origines de la ldgende noircJ90-94.

| ,1. Flori, A/ictnx, 333. For a syrnpathetic presentation ol'Elearror al Antioch, sce Parsons,'l )anrned lf She Didn'tl 270, 291 -292.

14. 'Ihe bishop of Poiticrs wrotc to Iohn ofSalisbury in I I 65 insinuating that Eleanorhad scandalous relations with irnother uncle, Ralph tle Fayc: W.J, Ivliller and (1. N.L. tsrooke, cd., ?he Lettcrs of John of Salisbury (Oxfbrd: Clarenclon Press, 1979,

t986), 343-347.15. Riclrard Barber,'Elcanor and the Ivledial in'lhe World of lJleanor of Aquitaine:

Literdlure and Society iu Southern France between thc F.lcvcnth and'lhirteenthCenturies, cd. (latherine Leglu and Marctrs Bull (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press,

2005), 26. Trouhadour verses composed in Palcstinc during the Sccond Crusadcalludc to l:leanor's adultery: Ruth E. I larvel', The Poet Marcabru and l-ove(London:Westlield (irllege University of London, 1989), 195.

16. Nicholas Vinccnt, 'Conclusion,' in La Rumeur au Moyen Age: Du nt{pris A la

30

Eleanor of Aquitaine

.milripulatian Ve-XVe siec?e ed. Mait6 Billord and Myriarn Soria (Rennes: Presses

universitaires de Rennes, 201 l),340. On the English chroniclers: Ralph V. l'urner''Elcanor of Aquitaine, Twelfth Century linglish Cl-rroniclers ar-rd her'Black Legencll

Mrttingham Medieval Studies 52, (20Q8): 17 42.

17. Alan Keith Bate, Gautier Map, Contes pour les gens de cour (Brussels: Brepols,

1993),31-32; Ilarber,'F.leanor and the Media; 26.

18. 8,.g. Gervase of Callterbttry wrote that follolving the corrple's retr-lrn from crusade:

"lhcre anrse a certain cliscord between [l,ouis] and his queen Eleanor which

concerned that pilgrimage, [and about whichl accordirlg to certain persons it was

perlraps better to keep silentl William Stubbs ed., Cervase of (:antcrbuty: Historical

14/or*s, (London 1879-80), I 149. Richard of Devizes, writing early in Richard I's

reign, placed a marginal note alongside a passage praising Eleanor to remind readcrs

of hcr conduct on crusacle stating: 'Many know rvhat I would I hat none of us knew'lhis samc queen, during the time of her first husband' rtas at ierusalem IrightlyAntiochl. Let no one say any more about it. I too know it well. Keep silent.' J. T'

Applcby, ed. and trans., 'lhe Chronicle ofRichanl ofDavizcs (London: T' Nclson,

1963), 25, 26. Gerald of Wales, ustrally eager to depict l:.leanor in the worst light,

wrotc sinply: 'lt is a rnatler of sufficlent notoriety how queen Eleanor had conductcd

hersclf . . . beyond the seal J,S. Brewer, J. F. Dimock ancl G.Fl Warner ed., Clira.ldi

Cainbrensis Opeta, De princjPis irrs(rucljonc (1891), VII 300' 301.

19. Witliam Newburgh, Ilistoria Rerunt Anglicarum, i, 2tll, bk 3' ch 26.

20. Waltcr Map, l)c nug,is curialittm, cd. (1. N' L. Brooke and M R. lames (Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1983), 474*77; Gerald of Walcs, Dc print-.ipis instructione, in

Giraldi Cambrensis VIII 300-01. Also: Aurcll, Aux origincs dc la l6gcnde noirc,'

94-99.21. Lois Hurreycut!, 'Femalc Succession and the Langriagc of Power in thc Writings

of 'lwelfth-Century Churchmenl i"t Medieval Quccnsh4r, ed. John Carnti Parsons

(New York: Alan Sutttxr, 199J), lu9-191; also: Lois FIuneycLrtt,'Alianora Ragina

Anglorunt: Eleanor of Aquitaine and IIer Anglo-Nornran Prcdeccssors as ()ueens

of Flrrgland,' in Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lctrd and Lady' cd. John Car:mi Parsols atr tl

Bonnie Wheeler (New Yrrrk: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)' I 1 5- 132.

22. Jane Martindale, 'Eleanor and a'Qucenly Court'?l in EJeanor til-Aquitaina: Lor<l arul

lady, ed. fohn Carmi Parsons and Bonnic lVhceler (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,

2003\,434,435 Klaus van Eickels, 'Gendered Violence: Castrirtiou and Blinding as

Punishment for Treason in Normandy and Anglo-Norrtran llnglandl Cenclcr an<1

History t6 (2004): 591*594.

23. Turrren l il eanor of Aquit ai ne, l 5l - 1 67, 17 3, 17 4; also: l{alph V't u rner, A Queenls

Power in the'1welfth Century: The }ixample of Eleanor of Aquitaine as Henry II's

Quecn,' in Sewanee Medier/al Studies, ed. Susan |. Rudyard (Sewanee: The Press of'

the University of the South, 20l0), 4i-63.24. Pernoud, Ali6nor,186.25. Georges l)uby, W'ornen of thc twelhh century: Eleanor of Aquitainc and six other.s,

trans. Jean Birrell (Chicago: University of Ohicago Prcss, 1997), l4; lean Flori,

Richarcl Coeur de Lion (l)aris: Ed. l)ayot & Rivages, 1999)' 42,43.

b

31

ao

2.)

Turner

26. lane Martindale, 'Hleanor of Aquitainel in Richard Coeur de Lion in llistory and

Myth, Kingb CollegeMedieval StudiesVII, ed. Janet Nelson (l.ondon: King's College

London, 1992); reprinted in Stalus, Authority and Rcgional Power,24,40,27. Turner, Eleanor, 256-7 5, 28O-89' also Ralph V. Turncr,'Eleanor of Aquitaine in the

Governments of Her Sor-rs Richard and }ohn,' in Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lorcl ancl

Lady,ed. John Carmi Parsons and Bonnie Wheeler (Ncw Y<rrk: Palgrave Macmillan,zo01\,77,94.E.g. Eleanor! continued collection ofquecn's gold: H. G. Richardson, "lhe Letters

and charters ofEleanor ofAquitainel English Historical RcviewT4 ( 1959): 209-21 I .

Richard Vaughn, Matther Parjs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958),

32-33, 143, 152; VH. Calbraith,'Roger Wcndover and Matthcw Paris,'in Kings

ancl Chroniclers: lissays in English Medieval fli.story (London: Hamblecion Press,

30. Vaughn, Matthew Pari.s, 134. Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, ed. I". Madden,(1866-i869), vol. I 288; a shorter account in I{.R. Luard, etl., Chronica Majori(1872-1883), vol Il 186.

31. Natalis de Wailly, RCcits d'un m{nestrel de Reims au XIIIe siic/e (Paris: Renouard,

1876), 3 7; D. D. R, Owen, Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and I'egend (Axford:Blackwell, 1993), I 05- 107. A tale repcated by Jcan Bouchet's Annales dAcquitaine,'fir.st published in 1524: l.abande, 'Pour une inage vdridiquei 140.

32. Owen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1 16. Citing a ntid-fourteenth-century chronicle: G ).Aungier, ed., Chroniques de London (London, 1ti44), 3-5.

33. 'Conrplaint of Rosamondj discussed by Owen, Eleanot of Aquitajre, 125'128; the

ballad Fa ir Rosamonde Owen, Elea nor ol' Aquitainc, 122- 124.

34 . Owen, Iileanor of Aquitainc, 1 56- 160.

35. I.ivasof theQueensof Englandfrom tJreNorman Conqiresf (firstedition London,1840- I {i49; rcprint 1893-99), I 17 | -72.

36. ArnyKclly,-EleanorofAquitaineandthcFottrKing.s(Cambridge:HarvardLlniversityPrcss, 1956), I 59- 150. Kelly writcs that Eieanor summoned her daughter by Louis

VII, Marie of Champagne, to head thc'royal academy,'although no evidence exists

for Marie at Poiticrs. Marion Meade reinterprets Kelly's 'academy' in her 1977

biography to re-visualize Elcanor as a feminist revolutionary, elevating women'.s

status by taming belligerent young nobles, tcaching them courtly respect lor ladies.

Marion Meade, Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Brcgraphy (New York: Hawthorn Books,

1977),250,2st.37. Owen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, 153-164, 213.

38. MargaretLabarge,AMcdievalMiscel)any(Ottawa: CarletonUniversityPress, 1997),

20.39. \\'. 1.. Warren, HenryII(Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of Caiifornia Press, 1973),

I 20.

40. E.g. Huneycutt,'I.'emale Succession and Language of Power,' 189-191; also

Huneycutt, 'A.lia nora Regina Angloruml I I5- 1321 Pauline Staff<rrd, 'The Portrayal

of lloyal Wcmen in England, Mid-Tenth to Mid-Twelfth Centuries,' in Medieval

Queenslrip, ed. John Carmi Pars<ins (New York: Alan Sutton, 1993),143 67.

32

Eleanor of Aquitaine

41. E.g. Allison Weir, Eleanor of A<luitaine. lly the Wrath of God, Queen of lingland(London: Random House, 2000), 68: '. . . it is puzzling to find that most of lrleanor'.s

modern biographers do not accept that she had an adulterous affair with Raymond.'

Flori, Ali6nor, 32 1,323,328,332-333; and Owen, .LJeanor ofAt1uitaine, 24, 25, takes

no stand, but innuendos indicates their strong suspicions. Owen writes,'Raymond

wclcomed her with open arms - all too open, some were to hint.'

33