Leonora of England
Encyclopedia
Eleanor of England (13 October 1162 – 31 October 1214) was Queen of Castile and Toledo
as wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile
. She was a daughter of Henry II of England
and his wife, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine
.
, Normandy
, and was baptised by Henry of Marcy
. She was the sixth child and second daughter of King Henry II and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. She received her first name as a namesake of her mother, whose name "Eleanor" (or Alienor) had previously been unrecorded though may have been related to the Greek Helen or the Italian Elena
. Another view holds that in the Occitan language, Eleanor simply meant "the other Aenor," since Eleanor of Aquitaine was named for her mother, called Aenor
.
and Alix of France
. She was a younger sister of William IX, Count of Poitiers, Henry the Young King
, Matilda, Duchess of Saxony, Richard I of England
and Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
. She was also an older sister of Queen Joan of Sicily
and King John of England
.
in Burgos. The marriage was arranged to secure the Pyreneean border, with Gascony
offered as her dowry.
Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughters, her namesake Eleanor best inherited her mother's political influence. She was almost as powerful as her husband, who specified in his will that she was to rule alongside their son in the event of his death. It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berengaria to the King of Leon in the interest of peace.
When Alfonso died, his Queen was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter, Berengaria, instead performed these honours. Eleanor then took sick and died only twenty-eight days after her husband, and was buried at Las Huelgas Abbey in Burgos.
Kingdom of Toledo
The Kingdom of Toledo was the juridical definition of a Christian medieval kingdom in what is now central Spain, created after Alfonso VI of León's capture of Toledo in 1085.-Background:...
as wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...
. She was a daughter of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
and his wife, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
.
Early life
Eleanor was born in the castle at DomfrontDomfront, Orne
Domfront is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.Beginning from the strategically sited castle of Domfront, the dispossessed count Henry, youngest son of William the Conqueror, rallied support among local lords and eventually ruled the Anglo-Norman dominions as Henry I of...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, and was baptised by Henry of Marcy
Henry of Marcy
Blessed Henry of Marcy was a Cistercian abbot first of Hautecombe and then of Clairvaux from 1177 until 1179. He was created Cardinal Bishop of Albano at the Third Lateran Council in 1179....
. She was the sixth child and second daughter of King Henry II and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. She received her first name as a namesake of her mother, whose name "Eleanor" (or Alienor) had previously been unrecorded though may have been related to the Greek Helen or the Italian Elena
Elena (name)
Elena is a popular Macedonian, Spanish, Romanian and Italian version of the Macedonian name Elena , meaning "light" and "beautiful". The name also means "love" or "happiness"....
. Another view holds that in the Occitan language, Eleanor simply meant "the other Aenor," since Eleanor of Aquitaine was named for her mother, called Aenor
Aenor de Châtellerault
Aénor of Châtellerault, duchess of Aquitaine was the mother of Eleanor of Aquitaine, arguably the most powerful woman in Europe of her generation....
.
Family
Eleanor was a younger maternal half-sister of Marie de ChampagneMarie de Champagne
Marie of France , Countess of Champagne was the elder daughter of Louis VII of France and his first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Family :Marie's younger sister was Alix of France....
and Alix of France
Alix of France
Alix of France was the second daughter born to King Louis VII of France and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Childhood :...
. She was a younger sister of William IX, Count of Poitiers, Henry the Young King
Henry the Young King
Henry, known as the Young King was the second of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine but the first to survive infancy. He was officially King of England; Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine.-Early life:Little is known of the young prince Henry before the events...
, Matilda, Duchess of Saxony, Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
and Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond was Duke of Brittany between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage with the heiress Constance. Geoffrey was the fourth son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.-Family:He was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de...
. She was also an older sister of Queen Joan of Sicily
Joan of England, Queen of Sicily
Joan of England was the seventh child of Henry II of England and his queen consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine.Joan was a younger maternal half-sister of Marie de Champagne and Alix of France...
and King John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
.
Marriage
When she was 14 years old, before 17 September 1177, she was married to King Alfonso VIII of CastileAlfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...
in Burgos. The marriage was arranged to secure the Pyreneean border, with Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
offered as her dowry.
Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughters, her namesake Eleanor best inherited her mother's political influence. She was almost as powerful as her husband, who specified in his will that she was to rule alongside their son in the event of his death. It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berengaria to the King of Leon in the interest of peace.
When Alfonso died, his Queen was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter, Berengaria, instead performed these honours. Eleanor then took sick and died only twenty-eight days after her husband, and was buried at Las Huelgas Abbey in Burgos.
Children
She and her husband had the following surviving issue:| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infanta Berenguela (Berengaria) | Burgos Burgos Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León... , 1 January/ June 1180 |
Las Huelgas near Burgos, 8 November 1246 |
Married firstly in Seligenstadt Seligenstadt Seligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany’s oldest towns and was already of great importance in Carolingian times.-Location:... on 23 April 1188 with Duke Conrad II of Swabia Conrad II, Duke of Swabia Conrad II was duke of Swabia from 1191 to his death and Duke of Rothenburg . He was the fourth son of Frederick III Barbarossa and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, and brother of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor... , but the union (only by contract and never solemnised) was later annulled. Married in Valladolid Valladolid Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales... between 1/16 December 1197 with King Alfonso IX of León Alfonso IX of Leon Alfonso IX was king of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death... as his second wife. After their marriage was dissolved on grounds of consanguinity Consanguinity Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person... in 1204, she returned to her homeland and became regent of her minor brother King Henry I. Queen of Castile in her own right after the death of Henry I in 1214, immediately abdicated in favour of her son. |
| Infante Sancho | Burgos, 5 April 1181 |
26 July 1181 | Heir of the throne since his birth, died aged three months. |
| Infanta Sancha | 20/28 March 1182 | 3 February 1184/ 16 October 1185 |
Died in early childhood. |
| Infante Enrique (Henry) | 1184 | 1184? | Heir of the throne since his birth, died either shortly after being born or in infancy. His existence is disputed among sources. |
| Infanta Urraca | 1186/ 28 May 1187 |
Coimbra Coimbra Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the... , 3 November 1220 |
Married in 1206 to Prince Alfonso, who succeeded his father in 1212 as King Alfonso II of Portugal. |
| Infanta Blanca Blanche of Castile Blanche of Castile , was a Queen consort of France as the wife of Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX.... (Blanche) |
Palencia Palencia Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon... , 4 March 1188 |
Paris, 27 November 1252 |
Married in the Abbaye de Port-Mort near Pont-Audemer, Normandy Normandy Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:... on 23 May 1200 with Prince Louis, who succeeded his father in 1223 as King Louis VIII of France Louis VIII of France Louis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226... . Regent of the Kingdom of France during her son's minority (1226–1234) and during his absence on the Seventh Crusade Seventh Crusade The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya... . |
| Infante Fernando (Ferdinand) | Cuenca Cuenca, Spain -History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria... , 29 September 1189 |
Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... , 14 October 1211 |
Heir of the throne since his birth. On whose behalf Diego of Acebo and the future Saint Dominic Saint Dominic Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order... travelled to Denmark in 1203 to secure a bride He died soon after returning from campaigning against the Moors. |
| Infanta Mafalda | Plasencia Plasencia Plasencia is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it had a population of 41,447.Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's strategic location along the Silver Route, or Ruta de la Plata... , 1191 |
Salamanca Salamanca Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to... , 1211 |
Betrothed in 1204 to Infante Ferdinand of Leon, eldest son of King Alfonso IX and stepson of her oldest sister. |
| Infanta Constanza (Constance) | 1195 | Las Huelgas, 1243 |
A nun at the Cistercian monastery of Santa María la Real at Las Huelgas in 1217, she later became Abbess of her community. |
| Infanta Leonor (Eleanor) | 1202 | Las Huelgas, 1244 |
Married in Ágreda Ágreda Ágreda is a town located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain.Ágreda is the regional services center in the Northeast of the province of Soria. Its abundant heritage as well as the local fiestas of the Virgin, and the Archangel Michael attract a large number of tourists.-History:In the... on 6 February 1221 with King James I of Aragon James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror was the King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276... . After her marriage was dissolved on grounds of consanguinity in April 1229, she became a nun at the Cistercian monastery of Santa María la Real at Las Huelgas. |
| King Enrique I (Henry I) of Castile Henry I of Castile Henry I of Castile was king of Castile. He was the son of Alfonso VIII of Castile and his wife Eleanor Plantagenet, .... |
Valladolid, 14 April 1204 |
Palencia, 6 June 1217 |
Only surviving son, he succeeded his father in 1214 aged ten under the regency firstly of his mother and later his oldest sister Berengaria. Married in Burgos before 29 August 1215 with Infanta Mafalda of Portugal Mafalda of Portugal Infanta Mafalda of Portugal was a Portuguese infanta , later Queen consort of Castile for a brief period. She was the second youngest daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon.... , the union was unconsummated and dissolved in 1216 on grounds of consanguinity. Soon after his divorce was betrothed with Infanta Sancha of León, eldest daughter of King Alfonso IX and stepdaughter of his oldest sister, but died killed by a tile coming off a roof before the marriage could be solemnized. |
Ancestors
Sources
- Fraser, Antonia. The Middle Ages, A Royal History of England. University of California Press, 2000. ISBN 0520227999.
- Gillingham, John. "Events and Opinions: Norman and English Views of Aquitaine, c.1152–c.1204." The World of Eleanor of Aquitaine: Literature and Society in Southern France between the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, edd. Marcus Bull and Catherine Léglu. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2005. ISBN 1-84383-114-7.
- Rada Jiménez, Rodrigo. Historia de los hechos de España.
- Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books, 2008. ISBN 009953973X.
- Wheeler, Bonnie, and Parsons, John Carmi. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. ISBN 0230602363.