Eleanor Of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England

Product Information

Henry lost the woman reputed to be his great love, Rosamund Clifford, in 1176. He had met her in 1166 and had begun their liaison in 1173, supposedly contemplating divorce from Eleanor. This notorious affair caused a monkish scribe to transcribe Rosamund's name in Latin to "Rosa Immundi", or "Rose of Unchastity". The king had many mistresses, but although he treated earlier liaisons discreetly, he flaunted Rosamund. He may have done so to provoke Eleanor into seeking an annulment, but if so, the queen disappointed him. Nevertheless, rumours persisted, perhaps assisted by Henry's camp, that Eleanor had poisoned Rosamund. It is also speculated that Eleanor placed Rosamund in a bathtub and had an old woman cut Rosamund's arms. [23] Henry donated much money to Godstow Nunnery in Oxfordshire, where Rosamund was buried. The extraordinary life of Eleanor of Aquitaine is brilliantly recreated by Alison Weir in her winning biography." ( The Good Book Guide) After this, my next project will be Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley. When I was researching Elizabeth the Queen, most of the sources I read led me to the conclusion that Mary, Queen of Scots, knew in advance of the plot to murder her husband, Lord Darnley. However, it was felt by my publishers that this was so controversial an assertion that it should be the subject of a separate book, in which I will use the same research and analytical techniques that I used for an earlier historical whodunnit, The Princes in the Tower. I am therefore keeping an open mind on the subject until I see what the research reveals. I am really excited at the prospect of researching and writing another historical mystery - they are my favourite kind of books. I have been interested in history since the age of fourteen, when I read my first adult novel: a rather lurid book entitled Henry's Golden Queen. I was, however, enthralled by it: did people really go on like that in Tudor times, I asked myself, and dashed off to find some real history books - in which I learned that, yes, they did! My passion for history was born. By the time I was fifteen I had produced a reference work on the Tudor dynasty, a biography of Anne Boleyn and several historical plays, and had started work on the research that would one day take form as my first published book, Britain's Royal Families.

The photograph above was sent to me in 1999 by a reader. These heads, from the porch of the twelfth/thirteenth century church of Candes St Martin, between Chinon and Fontevrault, are thought to represent Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and date from c.1225. Duby, George (1997). Women of the Twelfth Century, Volume 1: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Six Others. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-16780-0. Fiona Harris-Stoertz, "Pregnancy and Childbirth in Twelfth-and Thirteenth-Century French and English Law". Journal of the History of Sexuality 21, n°. 2 (2012), pp. 263–281. JSTOR 41475080. As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to her third cousin Henry, Duke of Normandy. The couple married on Whitsun, 18 May 1152 in Poitiers. Eleanor was crowned queen of England at Westminster Abbey in 1154, when Henry acceded to the throne. Henry and Eleanor had five sons and three daughters, but eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting the revolt of their eldest son, Henry the Young King, against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when her husband died and their third son, Richard I, ascended the throne. As queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade. [5] She lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. In 1189, when King Henry II died, his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine was released after sixteen years of imprisonment. Her custodians, bearing in mind the love that the new King, Richard the Lion Heart, had for his mother, and his fearsome reputation, had not demurred when this grand old lady demanded to be set free. Soon, people were rushing to pay their respects, and King Richard sent word that Queen Eleanor was to be entrusted with the power of acting as regent until his return from Normandy. Indeed, he issued a general edict to the princes of the realm, that the Queen’s word should be law in all matters.

Alison Weir has written a vivid biography which is also an impressive piece of detective work, for she has scrutinised the evidence to produce a credible and balanced account of the life of an extraordinary woman." ( The Sunday Telegraph) Eleanor has featured in a number of screen versions of the Ivanhoe and Robin Hood stories. She has been played by Martita Hunt in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), Jill Esmond in the British TV adventure series The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955–1960), Phyllis Neilson-Terry in the British TV adventure series Ivanhoe (1958), Yvonne Mitchell in the BBC TV drama series The Legend of Robin Hood (1975), Siân Phillips in the TV series Ivanhoe (1997), and Tusse Silberg in the TV series The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997). She was portrayed by Lynda Bellingham in the BBC series Robin Hood. Most recently, she was portrayed by Eileen Atkins in Robin Hood (2010). Above all, history is full of the most riveting stories. I have often been told that my books read like novels, but I assure you that there is nothing made-up in them. The truth as they say is always stranger than fiction, and nowhere does this become more apparent than in history books. I can never understand, therefore, why the makers of historical films feel they have to change the facts.

Certainly Eleanor’s contemporaries were deeply impressed; even the highest in the land deferred to her authority, and after her death it was recorded that her rule had made her ‘exceedingly respected and beloved’. Having pub As delicately textured as a twelfth-century tapestry, Weir`s book is exhilarating in its colour, ambition and human warmth. The author exhibits a breathtaking grasp of the physical and cultural context of Queen Eleanor`s life. Her account parades a sequence of extraordinary characters... Above all, there is the heroine, viewed clear-sightedly in all her intoxicating and imperious irresistibility." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)Crawford, Katherine (2012). "Revisiting Monarchy: Women and the Prospects for Power". Journal of Women's History. 24 (1): 160–171. doi: 10.1353/jowh.2012.0006. S2CID 144074176. Rodríguez Viejo, Jesús (2016). "Royal manuscript patronage in late Ducal Normandy? A context for the female patron portrait of the Fécamp Psalter (c. 1180)" (PDF). Cerae. An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. 3: 1–35. ISSN 2204-146X. Evocative…A rich tapestry of a bygone age, and a judicious assessment of her subject's place within it." ( Newsday) Jones, Dan (2013). The Plantagenets: The Kings who made England. London: William Collins. p.45. ISBN 978-0-00-721394-8.