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

Ralph V.Turner
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 int
griechischen Osten anhand epigraphischer und numismadscher Zeugrtisse von
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Livia bis Sabina (Saarwellingcn: Saarbriicker Studien zur Archdologie und Alten
Geschichte U, Saarbriicker Druckerei und Verlag, 1994),2l^27 ('Das Erbe des Eleanor of Aquitaine, despite medieval notions of
Hellenismus'). woment innate inferiority, sought power as her two
43. IGR iV 319.
44. See Barrett, op.cit., 145; 210-213;263 lirr details; Wood. op,cit., csp. 87-124.
husbands' partner, and when that proved impossible,
.+5. Hillard, "Vcspasian's Death-Bed Attitudc to his Impencling Deificatiodl in M. Dillon defyied them. She paid heavily for her pursuit of power,
(ed.) Rc.ligion in the Ancient World: New Thentes and Approache.s (Amsterdam:
becoming the object of scurrilous gossip during her
Adolf M. Hakkert, 1996),193-215.
46. Ovid, Fasti 1. 532 speaks in those very terms. lifetime and for centuries afterward.

Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine (1124-1204), is doubtless the most famous or

infamous 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 threc
English kings.' Her life would have been noteworthy in any age, but it
was extraordinary by medieval standards. In an age that defined wonten
by their powerlessness, she chose to live as she saw fit, seeking political
power despite traditions and teachings of women's innate inferiority antl
subordination 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.2
In 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'ul
character not only brought loss of hona fama, but could result in serious
legal and social disabilities.t Women especially were threatened by runrors
of 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<lllctl
by men,' both clerical and secular lcaders saw to it that 'femaleness was
defined by the .submissiveness of wives to their husbands15 Medieval writcrs
ascribed women's actions to irrational, sentimental or libidinous rnol ivcs,
and Eleanor's contemporaries attributed her rifts with her two husbands
to personal, passionate sources, not to political factors. This attitudc girvc
rise to a long lasting portrait of Eleanor as'an essentially frivolous wonrari
and her life as a series of scandals.';

22 23
Turner
Bleanor was the proud daughter of a distingr.rished clynasty, and shc
never forgot that her lineage, successors to Carolingian sub-kings, equaled
thc Capetians and surpassed the Plantagenets in prestige.t ln the century
before L,leanor'.s birth, laclies of southern F'rance had enjoyed greater liberty
than those in the more'feudal' regions to the north.s Eleanor, aware of her
birthright as heir to the duchy of Aquitaine, felt that hcr marriage should be
a partnership; she assumcd that she would share porver with her husband,
especially over her own ancestral lands. Flven as a young woman soon after
her marriage to Louis Vll in 1137, she demonstrated a desire lbr power,
resentful ofher husband'.s counselors. Seeking to influcnce Louis in matters
concerning Aquitaine, she convinced him to invade the county of 'loulousc.'
Later sl.re would insist on accompanying him on tlrc Second Crusade. A
queen's unique influence in the public sphere through lrer intimate access
to her royal husband n'as threatening to others at court seeking to sway
him to Lheir opinions.r0 t)amaging rumors offered a means of weakcning
her reputation and Iirniting hcr influencc.
Eleanor's conduct on the Second Crusade first inspired rumors about
the troubled state of her marriage to Louis. An incident at Antioch gave
rise to a 'black legend'that has tarnished her reputation for centuries.rr The
royal c<luple's stay with her uncle, Raymond, prince of Antioch, made clear
the antipathy between ill-suited spouses, bcginning the urrraveling of their
marriage that finally dissolved in I152. Louis VII insisted on nrarching
directly to ]erusalem to fulfill his pilgrim's voq despite his wife's urging
that he adopt her uncle'.s plan for combating the Muslims. Unable to sway
her husband, lileanor announced tl.rat she would stay with her uncle and
seck an annuhnent of their marriage on grounds of consanguinitl'.
Eleanor's cont€mporary, )ohn of Salisbury, rvell informccl on the incident
at Antioch, made clear that Flleanor's open opposition to her husband'.s
military and political decisions and her challenge to the legality of their
marriage 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 urrcicrstootl
lllcarror'.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
ra
Eleanor's reputation for centuries.
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 of
ruiers, even if they had no way of knowing details of their private lives.r6
Later twelfth-century English chroniclers were well aware of scurrilous
tales circulating about the troubled nature of their new queen's first
marriage; 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 would
be knowledgeable enough to fill in the details of the Antioch episode.'o
Others questioned the lawfulness of her marriage to Henry II. William
of 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 known
llleanor 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 English
write 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 their
Irrrslrlntls, 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 itt
Ilrt'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 tolerirted
powerful women riskccl bcing labeled 'unmanly' or even 'womanlyl For
historians of the Angio Norman and early Plantagenet pcriocls, royal rnight
was so closely associated with purely rnasculine' activities, cornmanding
kniglrts in Lrattlc and bcsieging castles, that they cotrld not imagine a wouran
wielding such power."
During thc first decade of Henry Il'.s reign (1154-116a) he wlrs away
from his new kingdom fighting in his French lands for long periods; and
in his absencc lr,leanor was regent, excrcising power that she had coveted as
Louis'.s queen. Record sourccs, though meager, reveal her considerable roie
in linglanclt governance.t'This was a time for restoring royal supremacv
after ycars of civil war in lingland, and llleanor hacl an important place
during thc king'.s absences as the personification of roval authority to the
linglish pcople, even if shc is hardly visible in thc chronicles. I)uring hcr
regencies, she was also busy bearing children, providing l{cnry with lcrur
sons and thrce daughters. After Eleanor's first decade as Ilenry'.s consort, hcr
public role cJeclincd contparecl to that of her Angkr-Normirn predecessors,
clue in large measure to an cxpalrding royal aclnrinistration that took on
many tzrsks torrnerly pcrformed by royal houscholcl olhciirls.
ln ll6t|, Elr'anor lcft Englancl antl rcturncd to Poitiers to take charge
of her honreland, ckrubtlcss welcorning the opportunity to rule over her
duchy.)'By 1173, howevcr, shc was tlisilltrsionecl with hcr hustrancl, and
shc incited her sons to rebel against thcir own father; she joined them in
makirrg war on l{enry Il. this unpleLedslllcd example of a rvife conspiring
in a large-scalc revolt against hcr own l'rusband astoundecl and horrificcl
conterrporaries. For a scctlncl tin-re shc was appeared to be brcaking onc of
thc basic rulcs fbr a rrarried wornan, lbrgetting the sr.rbnrissivorcss owecl to
her husband, just as she l-rad at Antioch.t'Yet it is hardly surprising that an
eclucated, intelligent wolnan such as lileanor, fl'ustratcd at Iosing influence
in public life, should have sought power through manipr.rlating her sons.
Both late twelfth-centurv and rnany rnodcrn writers fail to credit Eleanor
with political impulses for turning against Henry II; instead, attribrrting
her actions to alt emotional craving f<lr vcngeance. We cau ask with fane
Martindale, an rstute observcr of Eleanor of Aquitaine, 'Can there be no
political explanation of a wornan's actions?'26 It never occurred to Eleanor'.s
corrtemporaries that her desire to preserve her authority in Aquitainc, her
disappointrnent at Henry'.s continued interventions there, and her hope of
ensuri 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 )ohn
Lackland (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 of
Francc. 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
 Eleanor of Aquitaine
7, rrrc r;rrt Mitrttc Ages, st.rics
-,"..-.,'u-r-'.,, No knowledgeable authority tociay wor.rld accept Warreu',s neglect of hcr
irtltrllo'y b,:,,n1:,, murdcr t<r Ercanor. Adcletr stoiies rord lbour
i l:rrly
lls hrvt'allhir with llosamtrnd Clilibrd ancl Elearror'.s rolc as the
I.rcnry significancc l'or politics and govcrnmcnt.
'lbday, the conflict between the 'literary' and 'historical' camps ol
vintlictive
;rrrtl jr'irlorrs rlnrrcierer of ll.osanrulrd.t, Mrrre ve rsions
ol'Elca'or,s pursuit scholars is abating, and thc work of feminist scholars is adding new
rl l;iri' R.sarrund appearetr i' tlie early modern era. 'Ihey inc.rp.rated a perspectives to Eleanor oIAquitaine's portrait.'Iheir more rounded portrait
rrrazt' lil<c b.wer thar Henry il br.rirt at wlodstock
as a hiiing prace {irr his of Elcanor acknowledges her vital place as a political playcr. A pioneer is
Irve r'' brt l'llea.or succeedecl in penetratirlg it. The
woocistock'rraze ap;,cars iane Martindale, who for years has produced papers illuminating Eleanor'.s
in tw..w.rks dating from thc final years .f the sixtee'th
century: suino.l key role in the politics of the Plantagenet Empire, and younger scholars are
l)irriclls poeur, "Ihe oomplaint of Rosamo'd,'pri.tecl i'
r592, and a ballad furtlrering the process with studies of medieval queenship as an office.t"
/;;rir'l{rrsirnr.rrde, also from around the end of tire sixtee'th
century, th.ugh As a result, we see Eleanrlr of Aquitaine today as a woman who chose to
rr.t ptrblishccl until the eighteenth century."
eueen Eleanorls conrb.s.sion, live her life on her own terms, in defiance of custom and religion, seeking
ir s.crltish ballad published i' the seventecjnth
cerltury that recycred earrier power through partnership with her husbands, or if that proved impossible,
birlhcls, tlepicts Elea'or c.'r'essing her sins to two
friars, actually He'ry II then challcnging them and going her own way. The price of lrer choice was
rrrrtl williirrn Marshal in disguise. In its verses, the queen
conf-esses not only a loss of her bona fanra, as a black iegend of sexual impropriety haunted
tr p,iso'ing Henrys rnistrc.s.s Rosamund criflirrd, but t. tryi'g to poison her over the centuries.'' Yet Eleanor merits a measure of glory because of
I lcnry as well.t'As late as the ni.eteenth century, crespite a'nci, scie'tific her refusal to conform to conventional curbs on a woman's power and her
irpProach to historical studics, oid canarcls about ihe
tw;lfth -ccntury queen struggle lo control her own destiny.
wcrc 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 of Notes
grcat bcauty, named Sal-Addin.,rr
Ily lhe twentieth century schornrly approacl.res to rrlea'.r tentlccr 'l'wo re ccrrt sch<rlarly biographies are Ralph V. Tu rner, F)leanor <tl-A<Tuilairte; Qtrt-en
tcr
lhll int<l onc of two categories. specialists i' mcdievar French liter.turc, ol'I:rance, Queen ol-Fttglald (l,ondon: Yale University Press, 2009); fcan Flori,
c.nvinccd that close readi'g ofvernacular literature could AIi6nor tl'A<luitttinc: La reine in.soum.ise (Paris: l)ditions Payot & Rivagcs, 2004);
discl.se twelfth- linglish trans. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Qtreen and Rebel (Edinburgh: lidinbr.rrgh
ccntury reality, created an image of Eleanor as muse of the
troubacrour poets, University Press, 2007); also )ane Martindale, 'Eleatror, suo jure duchess of Aquitaine
presiding over tourts of rovc'at p.itiers. An example is
Anry Kelly,s still c. 1I22-12O4)l in Oxford Dictionary of National tsiograplry, ed. H.C.G. Matthews
rrrpular I956 book, Lleanor of Aqttitaine nnd the Four Kings, ihat provides and B. I{arrison (Oxtbrd: Oxford University Press, 2004). Still irnportant is L.R-
a fancifirl portrait of Eleanor foundirrg an academyat poitiers l,abande, 'Pour une image v6ridique dAlidnor dhquitaine,' in Bulletin dc la socicte
to.subduc to
civility'the boisterous yolrng poitevin knights oiher court.,,' des anfi<Ttrairies c/e lbuest, ed. Martin Aurell (l)oitiers: Ceste Etlitions/Soci6t6 dcs
"Ite seconcl catcgory corrsists Antiquaires de l'Ouest, 2005).
- of proiessio'al historian.s rerying on
Latin so'rccs, clismayed by this portrait of Erean.r proc{rced 2. John Carnri Parsons,'I)amned If She Didnt and Damned When She Did: Botlies,
by cxpeits in Ilabies, an<l Bastards in the Lives ofTwo Queens ofFrancel in Eleanor ot'Aquitaine:
literature turning to vernacular poetry hist.rical for ir
evidcnce. Fo. rnuch Lord antl Lady, ed. John Carmi Parsons and Bonnie Whccler (Ncw York: Palgravc
of the.twcntietlr century mares largcly dominated this ratter Macm illan, 2003), 265 *299.
category, and
they showed little interest in women'.s history. .lhey were Claude Gauvard, 'lntroduction,' in Ia Rumeur au Moyen Age: Du ntpris i Ia
h.pplitu'l"orr.
sr-rch 'softer topics' as the study of medievai tnanipulation Ve XVe sic\c1e, ed. N4aite Billori and Myriarn Soria (Renncs: Presscs
wornen to scholars in the
field of literature, often themselves women.,* As late as 1()73,W.1,. universitaires de l{ennes, 20lI\,26-27; 'lhelma Fenster and l)aniel l.ord Smail,
\Varren 'lntroductioni in Fama:'Ihe Politics of Ttrlk antl Reputation in Madieval Europe ed.
wrote ir.r his biography, Henry II,..lb judgc lrom the chroniciers,
the rnost 'l helma l'enster and Daniel Lord Srnail (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2()03),1- I 4.
striking fact about Elcanor is her utte'iniignifica'ce in Henry
II's reign.'re Madeline H. Caviness ancl Charles G. Nelson, 'Siler-rt Witnesses, Absent Wonren, and
28
29

\
 Turner
the Law Courts in Medie val (iermanyi in Fama:'Ihe Politics of Talk and Reputation
in Nledieval Europe, ed. '[helma Fcnstcr and Daniel [.ord Srnail (lthaca: (]ornell
University Prcss, 20O3), 47 -72.
5. Caviness and Nelson,'Silent Witnesscsj 72; Judith M. Bennett, Women in the
Medieval 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. Catherine
Ldglu 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 llullclindelaSociitc
des antiguaire.s de l Ouest 6 (Poitiers, 992); and in thc twelfth ccntury: Frcderic
1 Applcby, ed. and trans., 'lhe Chronicle ofRichanl ofDavizcs (London: T' Nclson,
L. 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 and
Thirtt'enth Centuries, ecl. Catherine l.6glu and Marcus Bull (Woodbridge: Thc
Boydell Prcss, 2005), 5.
I l. Martin Aurcll, Aux origincs de la l6gcndc noirc dAli6nor dhquitaine,' in Roy;rutes
inay,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 Lyciwinc
Scorclia ('lirrnhout: llrepols, 2005), 89- 1 02.
I2. MarjoritClribrrrll,HistolaPontificalisofJohn<tfSalisbury,OxtbrdMedievalTexts
(Oxlirrd: Clarendon Press, l9t|6), 52, 53; Aurell, Aux origines de la ldgende noircJ
90-94.
| ,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 Eleanor
had 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'lhirteenth
Centuries, cd. (latherine Leglu and Marctrs Bull (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press,
2005), 26. Trouhadour verses composed in Palcstinc during the Sccond Crusadc
alludc 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
b
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 Irightly
Antiochl. Let no one say any more about it. I too know it well. Keep silent.' J. T'
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 - 67, 17 3, 17 4; also: l{alph V't u rner, A Queenls
1
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.
31
 Eleanor of Aquitaine
Turner

26. lane Martindale, 'Hleanor of Aquitainel in Richard Coeur de Lion in llistory and 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
Myth, Kingb CollegeMedieval StudiesVII, ed. Janet Nelson (l.ondon: King's College
London, 1992); reprinted in Stalus, Authority and Rcgional Power,24,40, modern biographers do not accept that she had an adulterous affair with Raymond.'
27. Turner, Eleanor, 256-7 5, 28O-89' also Ralph V. Turncr,'Eleanor of Aquitaine in the Flori, Ali6nor, 32 1,323,328,332-333; and Owen, .LJeanor ofAt1uitaine, 24, 25, takes
Governments of Her Sor-rs Richard and }ohn,' in Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lorcl ancl no stand, but innuendos indicates their strong suspicions. Owen writes,'Raymond
Lady,ed. John Carmi Parsons and Bonnie Wheeler (Ncw Y<rrk: Palgrave Macmillan, wclcomed her with open arms - all too open, some were to hint.'
zo01\,77,94.
ao E.g. Eleanor! continued collection ofquecn's gold: H. G. Richardson, "lhe Letters
and charters ofEleanor ofAquitainel English Historical RcviewT4 ( 1959): 209-21 I .
2.) Richard Vaughn, Matther Parjs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958),
32-33, 143, 152; VH. Calbraith,'Roger Wcndover and Matthcw Paris,'in Kings
in English Medieval fli.story (London: Hamblecion Press,
ancl Chroniclers: lissays

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:HarvardLlniversity
Prcss, 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 33