Queen of Two Kingdoms and Mother of an Empire | Eleanor of Aquitaine - Part 2

How did Eleanor of Aquitaine become queen of two powerful kingdoms, England and France? This video looks at her life in England, her tumultuous and fiery relationship with Henry II, and the influence she had on her sons Richard I and John, including the impact she made on their rule.
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She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor
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Eleanor Of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England by Alison Weir
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Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and her Successors by Alison Weir
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Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France and England, Mother of Empires by Sara Cockerill
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[@helpinyerdasellavon]

This is the best video documentary on Eleanor of Aquitaine I've ever seen so far. She was a formidable woman of great intelligence, bravery and resilience. I'm absolutely delighted with your content. Beautiful work in every aspect. Thank you so much 💐

[@AmandaRoseroadto1k]

Love 🌸 New subie 💐 Hope all is good 🦄 Love you alot beautiful 🌸

[@elainechubb971]

Very interesting video, and I like your presentation with the landscape shots to remind us where the action was taking place and how different the parts of the Angevin "empire:" were in terrain and climate. I think one of the problems of this period is the multitude of heirs of Henry and Eleanor--an heir and a spare is one thing, but an heir and a lot of spares can lead to a lot of disappointed princes and jealousy and turmoil. (This occurred earlier with the rivalries among the sons of William the Conqueror and later with all the descendants of Edward III.) In this case, the sons of two strong-minded and even combative parents seem to have been as strong-minded and determined, but not all equally talented. I wonder if the habit of rearing royal children away from their parents, often at the courts of important nobles, meant there was little chance to foster sibling ties, and not even to instill real affection for the parents? If members of a family don't live in the same household most of the time, how can family loyalties be instilled and maintained? As for the daughters, they were often married off at such an early age that they never had time to develop real ties to their birth family and to their country of birth. Eleanor was unusual, I think, in becoming so self-identified with Aquitaine and having a strong sense of her own identity and background. If the Empress Matilda, Henry I's daughter, had had a chance to develop ties with England before being shipped off as a child bride--and, of course, if she had been less unlikable--England might have been spared years of anguish and civil war during Stephen's reign.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

First off, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. 😀 Secondly, I think you're right about the way in which there wasn't always a sense of family loyalty, and that must have been due at least in part to being sent away when very young. Often there are royal relatives who side with an uncle or cousin over a parent or sibling, and usually they were sent away to the court of that particular relative, instead deepening ties with them over their 'immediate' family. Plus quite a lot of royal children, even if remaining with their parents, would have seen less of them than their nannies and nursemaids. Everyone seemed to rely very much on a sense of duty and divine right over anything else.

[@patriciajrs46]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeoplePart of your answer here reminds me of the depth of the story in Gone With Wind. Scarlett was much closer to her nannie than she was to her mother or father. Many times household servants have been the devoted ones because parents needed to work outside the home and were very busy, often too busy.

[@mandymagnolia1966]

I was fascinated when my mom mentioned her when I was in 4th grade. I had a biography about her and she became my favorite medieval queen consort. Funny enough, during my last semester of college my mom had taken a break from her genealogy and had been doing my dad’s. Found some really cool stuff, but the funny thing is she found Anne Hutchinson (nee Marbury), who in turn descends from Eleanor of Aquitaine 😂

[@KathrynSceneay]

I will never tire of learning about Eleanor of Aquitaine. The first woman whose life taught the empowerment of an intelligent, competent woman becoming a pioneer in a male dominated hierarchy. Of course there have been and will continue to be endless revisions and opinions of her life now as it was then. In fact, my first tattoo was a custom Eleanor of Aquitaine based on her tomb effigy in Fontevreau Abbey 😊. Love your channel 🎉

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it! ☺And your tattoo sounds amazing, what a cool idea for a design!

[@amaracrow0501]

This woman was the GOAT! And don't mess with Mama Bear.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Certainly no one could accuse her of half-measures when it came to her children! But I wonder how much her decisions were based on maternal instinct, and how much they were using an opportunity (albeit also for her kids)?

[@amyrat151]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople A little from column A and little from column B.

[@patriciajrs46]

This is quite an interesting video on the great troubles of mideival wives and practices. It's also a video on the great example that some truly powerful women left for the world to see. I admire their spunk, tenacity, bravery, and physical accumen.

[@cydkriletich6538]

This is what happens when there is no television! 😉

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I wonder how many royal conflicts have been avoided since television was invented? I guess we'll never know! 😂

[@PaulMellender]

Ah! My 24th great grandmother.

[@jamellfoster6029]

I can imagine Eleanor & Henry II having a tumultuous marriage...

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Oh, definitely! I think the pair were too evenly matched with their tempers and ambition to try and get along.

[@lfgifu296]

@@HistorysForgottenPeopleIndeed! Had they compromised even a little to each other’s demands they could have been the power couple of power couples! But o well, they did not

[@CommonSwindler]

Like many of the videos about Eleanor today, this too is one filled with a number of misleading and outright wrong statements about Henry II, who more than deserves his own video. 1. Henry’s father (Geoffrey of Anjou) did not have 20 illegitimate children, that is his grandfather Henry I 2. Eleanor’s so-called independence from Henry II in 1168-1172 was not independence in practice nor in governance. The officials and appointments were Henry’s and “the real power in Aquitaine, in the sense of the power to appoint men or collect and transfer money, lay, of course, with Henry - as it always did when he was on the Continent and chose to exercise it.” (Gillingham, Richard I) 3. It’s not clear at all that Eleanor was the “mastermind” of the Revolt of 1173-1174 rather an almost unwilling participant drawn in by her sons’ impulsiveness. (Lewis, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: Founding an Empire) 4. It’s difficult to imagine how Eleanor could be viewed as some sort of return to stability after Henry’s death in 1189 when Henry’s reign had been one characterized by order, stability, and a remarkably efficient management of government, particularly the last 15 years. Certainly Richard’s regime portrayed itself as new beginning but Eleanor was careful to tie her son and his government to Henry II’s legacy, sending messengers to every shire relaying Richard’s (and therefore her own) wishes that “for the good of King Henry’s soul” the unjustly imprisoned be released on condition they aid in the preservation of peace in the realm. Preservation meaning that peace and stability had already been achieved by Henry II. As “the greatest prince of his time, for wisdom, virtue, and abilities, and the most powerful in extent of dominion of all those that had ever filled the throne of England” (David Hume, History of England, ch. 9, p. 46), Henry II deserves attention every bit as much than the nonetheless ever-remarkable Eleanor; indeed, perhaps more so. It is of no use to imagine Eleanor as a forgotten figure, more especially whilst she enjoys her reputation as the most famous woman of the Middle Ages.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

You're quite right about my error for No. 1, it was of course Henry I, and I'll have to note my mistake in the video. Sometimes making videos while in the summer holidays with children is not the best idea! Thank you for pointing it out to me. As for your other points: 2. I believe in in the video I do state that her 'independence' from Henry when she was in Aquitaine was not a true autonomy, ( my exact words being, "the revenue from her lands still went into her husband's coffers, and she had no military might to impose rule or order on her own") as all financial and political decisions still had to go through the king. Those in her own lands who required these things had to appeal to him, not her. However, evidence stands that Henry took a step back from intervening unless he was directly asked to, such as through the evidence of the charters she enacted, at first mentioning her husband and/or son Richard, then later no mention at all. It was certainly the most independence women at that time expected without ruling through a son or husband. (Hivergneaux, Marie, Queen Eleanor and Aquitaine, 1137-1189, in Wheeler, Bonnie, and Parsons, John,C. (eds) Eleanor of Aquitaine. The New Middle Ages) 3. I don't believe I did state she was the 'mastermind' of the revolt, rather I have intimated that she saw an opportunity, and used it, alongside her sons' possible hot-headedness. Because she was drawn in does not mean she would not have used it to her advantage, especially as she was probably somewhat emotive in her decision-making as well (both Henry and Eleanor were known for their tempers towards each other). 4. Indeed, Henry II's reign was marked by its stable government in England. But to pretend there was no conflict due to his sons' rashness, especially the Younger Henry, would be odd. Even Richard had his moments! Because she had been forced out of political life for 15 years before Henry II died, she was not associated with the conflict that had been caused between father and sons, and therefore was now viewed as a calming influence instead of the problem she had been 15 years previously - whether there was real truth to that or not. (Castor, Helen, She-Wolves) As for the spotlight being on Henry II, I do believe he, as with most kings, has had plenty of the spotlight! But I do agree he was one of the better kings of the medieval period, and often his important governmental reforms get sidelined against the more exciting backdrop of everything else that happened, especially as they laid the groundwork for our modern system of law and order. Eleanor is indeed famous, but is usually categorised in a far worse light, with little explanation or design behind why she would make the choices she did, and how far those choices were a part of the period in which she lived.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you for watching! 😃Do you think Eleanor or Henry were more to blame for the choices their children made? Did Eleanor deserve her reputation? Let me know in the comments if there are any forgotten people you would love to see a video on. If you want to check out some of my other documentaries, here are a few of my faovurites: The FIRST Female Feminist Author in Europe? kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2nbn3x3jraSoLM Did The FIRST Queen Of England LOSE Her Crown? kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZuZcnmnmseBeLc This Is Why Life Was TERRIBLE For Medieval Peasants: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKHHlqetnbKCl9U

[@richardpaschal2218]

Henry was responsible. Very complicated person hidden by many of his interests.

[@Keeper0fmyHEART]

Real life Game of Thrones.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

It really is! And there's plenty of source material.

[@user-of8xm6jz8j]

Eleanor was a THINKER!

[@patriciajrs46]

Of course her new spouse had restless energy, he was 19! I think some people were just meant to be royal, and rulers. Some were good at it, and some weren't.

[@richardpaschal2218]

Henry always has restless energy regardless of his age.

[@jackiegamble5108]

What happened to the 20 illegitimate children of Henry 1

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Hmm, I might answer that in detail in a future video! Off the top of my head, they mostly did pretty well - they could never inherit the crown, but they WERE still the children of the king. Most of the sons were given titles and lands, and the daughters given advantageous marriages (all with the understanding that their children would likely not be able to inherit the crown of England, either). Robert of Gloucester, Henry I's eldest illegitimate son was very prominent, and there's a lot on him in my Empress Matilda documentary series as he was her biggest help, both politically and financially. He was very popular, and there were whispers at the time that despite not being a legal heir to the crown he could perhaps have tried to take it off Stephen - but instead he aided his legitimate cousin, Matilda.

[@Tugela60]

She was a traitor obviously, lol. She actively conspired to overthrow the king. The only thing that saved her neck is that she was married to him and Henry seems like a forgiving sort of a guy when it came to his family.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I agree that she was a traitor in the strictest sense, as you say, she did conspire to overthrow the king. But it seems likely that her sons were just as much a part of it, even if they were younger, but they were given a bit more leeway, especially as Henry still needed his heirs. Her actions might also have been connected to the fact that she was (going by documents and the way she was signing them, the way Henry left her mostly to herself in Aquitaine) trying to make Aquitaine more autonomous, and she over-reached herself. To be honest, I think Henry was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but she was the scapegoat, and perhaps got quite a harsh punishment in return for being such a prominent part of the whole plot.

[@Tugela60]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople The sons were also traitors, lol. Henry definitely got the short end of the stick when it came to his family. You have to feel sorry for him, they were all arogant assholes trying to get rid of him and essentially all he could do was wag his finger and try to set them on a more civil path since they were his heirs. It was a tough situation to be in.

[@richardpaschal2218]

​@@HistorysForgottenPeoplethe problem was that Aquitaine was Alienor's. Henry with his ego often getting in the way of his better judgment made mistakes with the Aquitaine vassals, who were like trying to herd cats This is why Alienor took Richard to Aquitaine to fix the problem. Later Henry tried to deprive Richard of Aquitaine. Was a stupid move.

[@richardpaschal2218]

Alienor knew that out of all her sons, the only competent one was Richard. They were an amazing team.

[@Tugela60]

@richardpaschal2218 Once he became king he spent almost no time actually in his kingdom, lmao. Mostly he was fighting wars in Europe or Palestinian. That is hardly the description of a competent king. Most of the problems that John had to deal with subsequently were precisely BECAUSE of Richards neglect of the kingdom.

[@jamellfoster6029]

I can see turning on your spouse, but kids should be loyal to parents. Medieval people were weird to think marriage guaranteed loyalty.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Agreed - often it seems those arranging the marriages often thought more of the gains than if it didn't work and they lost the lands they were trying to secure!

[@jamellfoster6029]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople EXACTLY... They didn't realize nor care that if one spouse mistreated the other, the mistreated spouse would get revenge...

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

@@jamellfoster6029 It does make you wonder if sometimes some people waiting in the wings actually wanted that to happen. Certainly her ex-husband Louis was happy to help drive a wedge as well!

[@animallover6645]

Exactly I understand Eleanor reasoning but his sons were such un loyal asses.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

They were certainly more loyal to their mother! But Richard at least behaved himself somewhat better while his mother was imprisoned. Perhaps their father was more absent from their lives, and that made them more distant? 🤔