“Court life for a queen of France at that time was, however, stultifyingly routine. Eleanor found that she was expected to be no more than a decorative asset to her husband, the mother of his heirs and the arbiter of good taste and modesty.” - Alison Weir, Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life (Goodreads). The quote above explains how life as a queen was back in that time period. As the queen of France, Eleanor was expected to support her husband, give birth to his heirs and be modest and quiet. However, Eleanor wasn’t the usual queen. She was a well educated strong leader, a political advisor and she made her own decisions in court. The quote relates to my thesis because Eleanor didn’t follow the routine of most queens. She was independent and used …show more content…
Her Court of Love attracted many writers, artists, and troubadours, which were French lyric poets that wrote and sang about courtly love. The visitors added to the diverse culture and arts of Poitiers. Women in chivalry were to be “quiet goddesses” that waited for worthy suitors (Womeninworldhistory). Eleanor made sure that women had education which gave them an important role in society, even though that wasn’t common during that time. Another accomplishment was her use of the built-in fireplace for the first time. “Eleanor of Aquitaine is said to be responsible for the introduction of built-in fireplaces, first used when she renovated the palace of her first husband Louis in Paris. Shocked by the frigid north after her upbringing in southern France, Eleanor’s innovation spread quickly, transforming the domestic arrangements of the time.”- Eleanor of Aquitaine …show more content…
Many of her problems appeared because of her children. In 1173, her younger son Henry plotted against his father, the King of England, because he wanted the English throne. Eleanor was said to be supporting him in his fight against the King, so she was imprisoned for treason. She spent 16 years in different castles and cells because she was suspected to have been a part of the murder of one of the king’s mistresses. In 1183, her son died and his last wish was for his mother to be free. The king let her back into court but she was under guard watch (Historynet) King Henry died in July 1189 and Eleanor’s son, Richard succeeded him. When Richard became king he freed his mother and restored her freedom. Eleanor was in charge of England while Richard (known as Richard the Lionheart) was away during the Third Crusade. After Richard died in 1199, her youngest son, John was crowned king of England. Eleanor helped John in his battle with Arthur of Brittany, when he tried to gain control of Anjou and Aquitaine around 1202. Eleanor finally retired her crown and became a nun in the abbey at Fontevraud, Anjou. She died on March 31, 1204
While Eleanor was married to King Louis VII, Louis and Eleanor joined the second crusade and met up with Eleanor’s handsome uncle Raymond (Au, p.1). Louis began to notice Eleanor growing closer to Raymond (Au, p.1), so he forced her to go along with him to capture the Holy Land in Jerusalem, fearing an eventual love affair (Au, p.1). After the failed trip to Jerusalem, the pair went back to France, where Eleanor fell out of love with her husband. Even though the pope forbade them from dissolving the marriage (Goodman, 2013, p.3), she still found a way to divorce Louis, announcing that her marriage couldn’t be legal in God’s eyes since they were cousins (Au, p.1). Their marriage was annulled, and all of Eleanor’s property was then returned to her following medieval custom (Au, p.1). Hildegard of Bingen was the complete opposite in terms of how she went about achieving her goals, holding a religious authority’s opinion in the highest respect. Since Hildegard was especially concerned about sharing her visions because she lived in a period when the Church was torn apart by heresy, she didn’t want to do anything to label herself as a heretic (Hildegard of Bingen, 2015, p.1). With the permission of the abbot of St. Disibod, Hildegard began to write her vision down (Ferrante, 2014, p.1). Before she published it, it was approved by a papal commission named by Pope Eugene III, at the instigation of her archbishop, Henry of Mainz (Ferrante, 2014, p.1), and with support of Bernard of Clairvaux, who she had written to for advice (Delahoyde, Hildegard of Bingen, p.1). Eleanor always had her eye on the future, and didn’t allow her bad marriage with Louis to hold her back from further political influence. Just 2 months after she
After many years of marriage and eight children, Eleanor was displeased with King’s Henry’s love affairs so she decided to bring their three older sons against him. Their rebellion was unsuccessful causing Henry II to place Eleanor in a semi imprisonment in England.
In the summer of 1788, France was on the brink of revolution. Thousands were starving and peasant revolts were popping up all over the country. At this time, French government and society was in a period called the “Old Regime,” where mobility between classes was nearly unheard of. A person born into aristocracy was lucky, while one born into poverty would most likely struggle for their entire life. Women’s roles were “strictly defined,” no matter what class they were a part of (Streissguth 6). Before the revolution, most women did not question where their place was: in the home. It was very rare for a woman to work outside the domestic sphere, because they did not have as much freedom as men, even men in the lower class. In May of 1789, France had fallen into deep economic turmoil and public unrest was high, forcing the king to call the Estates General. The Estates General, according to Thomas Streis...
...ad been in a state of economic crisis for an extensive time. These actions created a rift between his subjects; many remained loyal to the church and wanted Henry to reinstate it, while others believed it to be corrupted, and accepted the new change. Revolution hung in the air and threatened the stability Henry had been pushing to create. He knew that the tension would recede should he bear a son to carry on the Tudor name.
...e over who should be the next king, John, or Eleanor's grandson, Arthur of Brittany. Eleanor helped defeat Arthur to help John to become the new King of England. Eleanor then started to take a less active political role and retired to Fontevrault Abbey. She died around 1204 at the age of 82 and was buried next to Richard's tomb.
Like many other women of her time Eleanor came from a long line of noble and royal blood. Her lineage can be traced back to the earliest kings of both England and France.(follow link to take a look at Eleanor’s very long family tree http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/scokin/12251) Her father William X was the son of France’s first troubadour, William IX and Eleanor’s early life was saturated with culture and learning. The court of her father and grandfather was thought to be the main culture center of the time. At age 15, with her father’s passing, Eleanor became the sole heiress and ruler of the largest duchy in France – Aquitane. Eleanor was then betrothed to Louis VII of France in order to unite their vast territories. In fifteen years however, Eleanor’s marriage and queenship were over. The pope on the pretext of close kinship ties annulled her unhappy marriage to Louis. At age 30 Eleanor had given up her throne and her daughters and returned to Aquitane to rule. Within a few years Eleanor was married to Henry Plantengent, the Duke of Normandy and ruler of the second most powerful duchy in France (second to her own Aquitane). In 1154 Henry was crowned King of England and Eleanor was now Queen of England, duchess of Aquitane and duchess of Normandy. Eleanor and Henry had eight children together, including Richard the Lionheart and John. In 1173, afte...
because her father was sent to a mental institution. A few years later, Eleanor's father
The simple fact is that Berengaria was chosen by Eleanor of Aquitaine to be the wife of her son Richard the Lionheart. Berengaria married Richard in 1191, when he was 36 and she was in around 22-25 years of age. Judged against custom of the time, their marriage came surprisingly late in life for both of them. Royal and noble first weddings usually occurred in one’s middle teens to assure production of several heirs (preferably male warriors), who would provide continuance of dynastic estates. Richard and Berengaria’s marriage lasted eight years until Richard’s death in 1199. Even though she had many remaining potential child bearing years, Berengaria did not marry again, and she had no recorded children or stillbirths, Berengaria possibly was barren, or her marriage to Richard may never have been consummated. Incredible as it seems, the latter possibility may be true. At no point in Richard’s life did he show anything but disinterested unconcern for Berengaria before, and during their marriage.
Elizabeth [grew up in complex and sometimes difficult circumstances]. In 1547 Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, died. Catherine Parr took care of Elizabeth. She hired tutors for Elizabeth. Fighting between Catherine and her husband, Thomas, made Elizabeth have to go back the Hatfield estate. [Elizabeth’s relationship with Thomas came under scrutiny. Thomas was later tried for marring Elizabeth for power. He was found guilty and later executed].
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a sickly son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
Her key role as Queen was to bare a son to be the heir. She constantly becomes pregnant but ends up having a miscarriage or giving birth to a still-born child. She eventually gives birth to a son who stirs up great celebrations but unfortunately falls ill and die...
Henry came to the throne at the age of 17. Henry was said to be the King to “clense every eye of tears and substitute praise for loan moaning”. (Starkey 1985) As his first act, Henry imprisoned the two most unpopular ministers and charged them with high treason, and had them executed. Such executions would be Henry’s main tactic for dealing with the ones who stood in his way.
...historical background set forth in the film, with the broad details of the attempted rebellion propelled by Queen Eleanor and led by Richard and Geoffrey are accurate, as is the attempt by Philip of France to undermine the Angevin Empire to regain the provinces acquired by Henry through his marriage to Eleanor. As depicted in the film, the indecision, faced by Henry II in attempting to determine which son to name as successor resulted from his desire to have the empire that he had created remain intact, rather than dividing the empire between his sons and this, in turn, led to the fracturing of both family and political cohesion, leaving the empire vulnerable to outside forces. Both Richard and John eventually ruled the empire, supported and influenced by their mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was released from her Salisbury prison upon the death of King Henry II.
The men treated their women as if they were an object. After marriage the husbands had full control over any finances or property that the women had once owned. Women didn’t have to many rights if any and were expected to stay at home and be the stereotypical house wife doing the daily house duties, looking after the children and making the meal. Even if women didn’t like it it was almost as if they were forced to be the stay at home mother. Mathilde Loisel suffering from this middle class life style just wanted to live a glamorous and luxuries life. “She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be seductive and sought after."(Maupassant 1). Loisel felt trapped in this life of almost poverty and just wants to escape. She wants to live this glamorous life of having things done for her and being able to have the luxuries that the upper class have and is clearly jealous of her wealthy friend Mme. Frostier and would like to be in her shoes. But at the end of the day she is confined in this middle class lifestyle and can only wish for a better
It is apparent as to how this notion that the women of the noble class led lives of fortune. Social parties and balls were common festivities, which these women regularly attended. For many, dancing was a favorite pastime. To an outsider, it seemed that a lady of the gentry class had nothing short of an enviable existence.