The articulate and wilful Eleanor was the most powerful woman of her generation, married first to the king of France, then to the king of England.
In 1137, as heir to the duchy of Aquitaine, she was married at 15 to Louis VII of France. But while on crusade with the king for two years (1147-9), during which she led her own troops dressed as an Amazonian warrior, she became particularly close to her uncle Raymond of Toulouse. Rumours persisted about their relationship long afterwards.
Eleanor and Louis had two daughters but not the desired male heir, so their marriage was annulled in 1152. The same year, she married the future Henry II, who was 12 years her junior. They were jointly crowned king and queen two years later. They eventually had eight children: five boys and three girls.
Eleanor took an active part in the government of both England and Aquitaine, acting as regent when Henry was away. But relations with her husband were stormy. In 1163, she returned to Aquitaine, educating her sons in her court of poets and musicians.
In 1173, Eleanor took the side of her sons Henry the Young King, Geoffrey and Richard in their revolt against their father. Arrested on her way to seek refuge with Louis, disguised as a man, she was kept in semi-imprisonment for the next 10 years.
She took an active part in the government of both her sons, Richard I and John. In old age, she retired to a nunnery at Fontevraud.
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 Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen
www.ehistory.com/middleages/PeopleView.c
fm?PID=394
Extremely detailed biography of the queen.
Female Hero: Eleanor of Aquitaine
www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine2.htm
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Concise biography of this fascinating woman, emphasising her role in women's history.
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Eleanor of Aquitaine: A biography by Marion Meade (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2002)
Wife of Louis VII of France and then of Henry II of England, and mother to Richard I Lionheart and King John, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the key political figures of the 12th century. At 25, she set out for the Holy Land as a Crusader, and at 78, she crossed the Pyrenees to Spain to fetch the granddaughter whose marriage would, she hoped, be a pledge of peace between England and France. This is a compassionate biography of this charismatic queen and the world she ruled over.
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Eleanor, April Queen of Aquitaine by Douglas Boyd (Sutton, 2004)
Biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine that presents her as a peculiarly 'modern' character.
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Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the wrath of God, Queen of England by Alison Weir (Pimlico, 2000)
A vivacious but scholarly book giving an objective and rich account of the staunch Eleanor, her feuding family and her complex and unstable world.
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 Château de Chinon
In France, at the western end of the Loire Valley, overlooking the river Vienne
This now-ruined castle on a rocky spur above the town of Chinon was once composed of three fortresses separated by deep moats. It was here that Henry II imprisoned Eleanor for some months in 1173 after she was captured during the revolt of their sons, on whose side she was. Sixteen years later, Henry died in the castle. The film The Lion in Winter (1968) – highly recommended, with Peter O'Toole as Henry II and Katharine Hepburn as a magnificent Eleanor – largely takes place here.
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