An heiress of a vast realm, married to kings and mother of three. Imprisoned at times and a power behind the throne, inciting revolts and discord, also putting the seed for a war that would last over a hundred years.
Story in the evening ...
Story in the evening ...
https://twitter.com/Arby_K/status/1322723798227955713
Eleonore d'Aquitaine was born in 1122 as the daughter of Guillaume, Duke of Aquitaine, one of the oldest duchies in present day France. With her father's death in 1137, she became the biggest heiress in the land, though her husbands would find her too hot to handle. 1/10 
In 1137, the young Duchess would marry the French crown prince Louis, who would soon become King. Eleonore would accompany her husband to the Levant for the Crusades in 1147, where her uncle Raymond (Illegitimate half brother of her father) ruled in Antioch. 2/10
The Crusade ended in a disaster, adding to the rift between Louis and Eleonore, who eventually annulled their marriage in 1152. Louis had no male heirs from his marriage. Eleonore would marry again, in 1152, to the heir to the English throne, Henri d'Anjou. 3/10
Henri and Eleonor would have seven children, including four sons. The tussle between the Angevian and the Capets had just begun. With the addition of Aquitaine (and Brittany later), Henri and his sons ruled over a considerable part of France. 4/10
Eleanore set up her court in Poitiers in 1168. In 1173, Henri faced a rebellion by his sons and wife, backed by the French king, which would end in failure and with Eleonore in prison till 1189. The rebel leader and her eldest son, King Henry the Younger would die in 1183. 5/10
Eleanore would be freed by her son, Richard, who had become king in 1189 after his father's death. She would have considerable influence in the English court when Richard was "away" for the Crusades. 6/10
Richard's death in 1199 without a son led to an ambiguity in succession. Though his younger brother, John, would be crowned king with the help of his mother, his elder brother's son, Arthur, Duke of Brittany, had a better claim. The French king Philippe backed Arthur. 7/10
In the war that followed, Eleonore who would find herself besieged by her grandson in Mirebeau, but John would arrive and capture his nephew, imprisoning him and removing his future from history. But Normandy, Anjou and Maine would be lost. 8/10
In 1204, Eleonore d'Aquitaine would finally die. She had outlived most of her children except two, retaining the Duchy of Aquitaine and County of Poitiers she started out with. The rivalry between England and France would continue. 9/10
In 1337, the senior line of the French royal house would die out, with the cadet line House of Valois taking over the rule. Eleonore's descendants would claim they have the better right. A Hundred Years War followed, with England nearly conquering France briefly. 10/10
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