Читать книгу English History - Robert Peal - Страница 23

1204 | Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry II’s wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, was a remarkable Queen. In 1137, aged only fifteen, she married the King of France, Louis VII. However, Louis could not tolerate Eleanor’s independent mindedness, and they divorced in 1152. Eight weeks later, Eleanor shocked medieval Europe by marrying the heir to the English throne, the future Henry II. Henry II and Eleanor’s marriage started well having seven children together, but they began to quarrel. In 1174, Eleanor was arrested for plotting against her husband, and thrown in prison for sixteen years. When Henry II died, Eleanor’s favourite son Richard the Lionheart became King of England, and freed his mother from imprisonment.

Richard the Lionheart, whose statue stands outside the Houses of Parliament, is one of England’s most famous kings. However, he spent as little as six months actually in England during his ten-year reign. For most of the time, he was fighting on crusade in the Holy Land. Whilst Richard was fighting foreign wars, it was his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who ruled England. She died in 1204 at the astonishing age of 82, having become one of the most powerful and respected figures, male or female, in all of Europe.

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