A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Eleanor of Aquitain
Eleanor was scarcely sixteen at the death of her father, and possessed of the most consummate beauty, elegance of manner, and vigour of mind. He had destined her for the eldest son of the king of France, afterwards Lewis VII. whom accordingly she married in 1137. Ten years after she accompanied her husband to the Holy land, where her conduct gave room for the suspicions he began to entertain; and violent dissentions took place between them. These were fomented by her uncle, the prince of Antioch, who had little respect, any more than Eleanor, for the character and capacity of Lewis. He persuaded her to demand the cassation of the marriage.
Eleanor entered but too readily into his views; and the king did not oppose them. It is certain that her scorn towards him augmented every day; that she had a free carriage and a haughty soul; and that she was perfectly the opposite to her husband; who, on his side, had all the aversion such a contrariety of mind must inspire. She said, she expected to have married a king, but he was only a monk.
Lewis had cut off his hair from a principle of devotion, then in fashion; an act which made him ridiculous in her eyes. Lewis told her gravely, "she ought not to be witty on such matters." She answered by fresh railleries. In fine, he was as anxious for the divorce as herself,—which took place on the 18th of March, 1152. On the 8th of May, the same year, Eleanor elected, from her numerous suitors, for her second husband, Henry, duke of Normandy, and carried with her all her large possessions, though she had two daughters by Lewis.
The breaking this unhappy marriage, destroyed what the policy of Louis le Gros had contrived, and all the grandeur that the prime minister had promised to France. Eleanor made choice of a husband, who, by his ardour for pleasure and business, by the proud dignity of his soul and his brilliant talents, appeared the most different to her former one. "Who would not have regarded this marriage as a happy one," says Gaillard; "they were almost chosen the one by the other; an advantage princes rarely possess; and, as to political reasons, Eleanor had given to the most potent king in Europe, a third of France. Five sons and three daughters, seemed to promise them happiness; but violent tempests troubled their repose."
This Eleanor, whose conduct had forced Lewis the Young to a separation; Eleanor, who of all people, ought not to have been jealous of a husband, had the misfortune to be so to excess. She could not pardon the infidelities of Henry, whom she persecuted in his mistresses, and by his sons. The famous Rosamond held for a long time captive the heart of Henry, who would never sacrifice her to Eleanor, but who could scarcely protect her from violence. Not less ambitious than jealous; or perhaps, jealous only because she was ambitious; Eleanor was indignant that Henry refused her the management of the provinces she had brought to him in marriage; and pushed so far the effects of her resentment, that she forced him to take measures which were the source of misery to both. She fomented the revolts and discontent of her children; who learned, in the French court, machinations to destroy the peace, and, finally, the life of their father. She wished herself to join them, and was discovered, in the habit of a man, attempting an escape, by Henry, who kept her in prison for some years. This severity, which appeared a criminal and scandalous ingratitude towards a queen to whom he had owed his greatness in France, without doubt, increased the number of the rebels.
After the death of his eldest son; Richard, now heir to the crown, became the source of equal trouble and grief to his too indulgent parent, who did not yet lose patience, but, releasing Eleanor from prison, was reconciled to her; and, partly by persuasions, partly by authority, a temporary peace was again established with his rebellious offspring.
Adelaide, the daughter of the French king, was contracted to Richard; but Henry shewed no impatience to consummate their marriage. Her father and intended husband pretended to be displeased at this, in order to give grounds for the continental war, which destroyed the peace of Henry's old age: and Eleanor accused him of being himself fond of Adelaide. A report even arose, that he wished to divorce the former, marry her, and, if he had children by her, would declare them his heirs. It is doubtful whether the troubles caused by his family, in reality, awakened this idea in the mind of Henry, or whether it was merely the jealous suggestions of the restless Eleanor.
After the death of Henry, when Richard was retained in prison by the emperor Henry VI. Eleanor, indignant at the indifference with which Europe, and the pope himself, suffered the hero of the crusades to be oppressed, wrote to the latter, and joined the bitterness of maternal complaint to the haughtiness of reproaches: but the pope, who had more to fear from the emperor than all the other sovereigns, refused to commit himself, by interfering in behalf of her son; and no cardinal was found who would charge himself with this perilous legation: yet, at length, the princes of Europe, ashamed of their backwardness in favour of so great a warrior, forced the emperor to release him; on condition of receiving a ransom, which Eleanor found it very difficult to raise. She had disapproved and repressed, as much as she was able, the revolts and misconduct of John; but, on the return of his brother, interceded for him, and obtained his pardon. She is supposed to have influenced the will of Richard, who appointed him his successor, in exclusion of Arthur, the true heir; and doubtless preserved a great ascendant over him, and a great part in the government during his frequent absences. This made her favour the claims of John, as the continuation of her power appeared more probable under her son than her grandson. Arthur had a mother not less ambitious than Eleanor, not less accustomed than she was to command in the name of her son, and who would no less essentially reign in England than in Brittany, if Arthur had succeeded Richard. Eleanor possessed great influence over John also, and, as much as in her lay, counteracted his indolence and folly, by vigorous measures. In crossing Poitou, the young Arthur, who had lost his mother, learned that his grandmother Eleanor was in the castle of Mirebeau; he besieged and took it by assault; but she had time to take refuge in a tower, from whence she found means to inform John of her danger, who was then at Rouen. This prince awoke in a moment from his slumber; he delivered his mother, and Arthur fell into his power. The certain destiny of the latter is unknown; but he disappeared two or three days after the death of Eleanor, who had never ceased to be his enemy, but who would not have suffered her son to be the executioner of her grand-child.