Louis IX CAPET, Roi de France

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LHWP-6YX
• Royal House: ; Capet
• Name: Saint
• King of France: Between 1226 and 1270
• Ordered the burning of The Talmud in Paris: 1243, Paris, ?le-de-France, France
• MilitaryService: 1258, Egypt; Led the Seventh Crusade
• 8th crusade: 24 Mar 1267
• MilitaryService: 1270, Tunis, Tunisia; Leader of the Eighth Crusade

Notes:

Louis IX, Roi de France was born on 25 April 1215 at Poissy, ?le-de-France, FranceG.3 He was the son of Louis VIII, Roi de France and Blanca de Castilla. He married Marguerite de Provence, daughter of Raimond Berengar V, Comte de Provence and Beatrice di Savoia, in 1234.4 He died on 25 August 1270 at age 55 at Tunis, Tunisia. He was buried at Saint-Denis, ?le-de-France.

He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis IX, Roi de France also went by the nick-name of Louis 'the Saint'.2 He succeeded as the Roi Louis IX de France in 1226.
Children of Louis IX, Roi de France and Marguerite de Provence

Blanche de France b. 1240, d. 1243
Isabelle de France b. 1242, d. 1271
Louis de France b. 1243, d. c 1260
Philippe III, Roi de France
b. 1 May 1245, d. 5 Oct 1285
Jean de France b. c 1247, d. 1248
Jean Tristan de France, Comte de Valois
b. 1250, d. 1270
Pierre de France, Comte d'Alen?on
b. 1251, d. 1283
Blanche de France b. 1253, d. 1300
Marguerite de France b. c 1255, d. 1271
Robert de France, Comte de Clermont
b. 1256, d. 1317
Agnes de France b. 1260, d. 1327

Louis married Queen Margaret BERENGER, Of Provence in May 1234. Margaret (daughter of Count Raymond BERENGER, V and Countess Beatrice DE SAVOIE) was born in 1221 in Forcalquire, Aples-DE-Haute-Provence; died on 21 Dec 1295 in Paris, Seine, Ile-DE-France, France; was buried in , Saint Denis, Seine-St-Denis, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Louis married Marguerite DE PROVENCE, Reine de France on 27 May 1234 in Saint Etienne, Sens, Yonne, France. Marguerite was born in 1221 in Forcalqu ier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France; died on 21 Dec 1295 in Abbaye de Saint Marcel, Paris, Ile-de-France, France; was buried in Dec 1295 in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, ?le-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Blanche DE FRANCE was born on 4 Dec 1240; died on 29 Apr 1243 in ?le-de-France, France; was buried in Saint-Denis, Departement de Seine-Saint-Denis, ?le-de-France, France.
2. Isabelle DE FRANCE,, Queen of Navarre was born on 2 Mar 1241 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; died on 17 Apr 1271 in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy; was buried on 2 Mar 1271 in Seine-Saint-Denis, ?le-de-France, France.
3. Prince of France Louis DE FRANCE was born on 21 Sep 1243 in , Poissy, Isle De France, France; died before 13 Jan 1259.
4. King Philippe III CAPET, Roi de France was born on 30 Apr 1245 in Poissy, Yvelines, ?le-de-France, France; died on 5 Oct 1285 in Perpignan, Pyr?n?es-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon, France; was buried on 3 Dec 1285 in Seine-Saint-Denis, ?le-de-France, France.
5. Jeanne DE FRANCE was born about 1246 in , Poissy, Yvelines, France; died on 10 Mar 1248 in Poissy, Isle de France, France; was buried in Saint-Denis, Departement de Seine-Saint-Denis, ?le-de-France, France.
6. Jean Tristan DE FRANCE was born on 8 Apr 1250 in Damietta, Egypt; was christened in 1247 in Temple de Paris, Le Chesnay, Yvelines, ?le-de-France, Francia; died on 3 Aug 1270 in Carthage, Tunis, Africa; was buried in Aug 1270 in Saint Denis, Isle De France, France.

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LZPK-PLF
• Royal House: ; Capet
• Name: The Lion
• ACCEDED: 1223
• RULED: Between 1223 and 1226, King Of France
• Title: 1223; King of France
• Title (Nobility): Between 14 Jul 1223 and 8 Nov 1226; King of France

Notes:

Louis VIII the Lion, was the son of Philip II Augustus, King of the Franks and Isabelle of Hainaut. Louis was the King of France from 1223 to 1226 and a member of the house of Capet, as he was a direct descendant of Hughes Capet circa 940? 996.

His mother died in 1190, giving birth to twins sons, and Louis inherited her dowry and the title of Count of Artois, which he held until his father died, and the title reverted to the crown when Louis became King of France in 1223.

After lengthy negotiations between his father, Phillip, King of France and John Lackland, King of England, and as a condition of the Treaty of Le Goulet between these two, Louis was married on 23 May 1200, at the age of 12, to Richard's sister's daughter, Blanche of Castile, also 12 at the time and born in Spain. Her grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitane, would cross the Pyrenees, bringing the girl from Spain to France. The marriage was finally consummated in 1205 and Blanche would bear the first of thirteen children.

When the English Barons rebelled against King John Lackland of England, they offered the throne to Louis, who was able to land at the Isle of Thanet with an army in May of 1216 and march to London with very little resistance. There, Louis was proclaimed king by his supporters, including King Alexander II of Scotland. Louis captured Winchester in June, but when King John died in October, the barons turned their favors to John's son, Henry III, even though he was only nine years old. English forces led by William Marshall finally forced Louis to the Treaty of Lambeth in September of 1217, Louis promising not to attack England, agreeing that he really never was king, and Louis was given a compensation of 10,000 marks.

King Philip died on July 14, 1223, Louis was coronated August 6th at the cathedral at Reims. Louis would continue to battle his father's enemies, resulting in the capture of Avignon and Languedoc, yet he reversed his father's ruling of usury for Jews, creating havoc for both the church and the barons who were in disagreement as some were profiting from the lending. The conflicts would continue until Louis's death on November 8th, 1226 during his travels from the chateau at Montpensier, Puy-de-Dome Auvergne back to Paris. His son, Louis IX succeeded him on the throne.

The children of Louis and Blanche were:
Blanche 1205-1206
Agnes 1207-1207
Philip 1209-1218, betrothed to Agnes of Donzy
Alphonse, twin 1213-1213
John, twin 1213-1213
Louis 1214-1270, King of France
Robert Artois 1216-1250, killed in battle in Egypt
Philip 1218-1220
John Tristan 1219-1232, Count of Anjou and Maine
Alphonse 1220-1271 Count of Poitou and Avergne, Count of Toulouse thru marriage
Philip Dagobert 1222-1232
St Isabelle 1225-1269
Charles Stephen 1226-1285 Count of Anjou and Maine, Provence and King of Sicily

Louis married Blanche DE CASTILLA, Reine de France on 23 May 1200 in Pont-Audemer, Eure, Normandy, France. Blanche (daughter of King Alfonso "The Noble" SANCHEZ, VIII and Queen Alianor "Eleanor" PLANTAGENET) was born on 4 Mar 1188 in Palencia, Castilla y Le?n, Spain; died on 27 Nov 1252 in Palais du Louvre, Paris, France; was buried on 7 Dec 1253 in Maubuisson, Gironde, Aquitaine-Pyr?n?es (R?gion Moderne), France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: 9HK3-SWC
• Name: Blanche DE CASTILE

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: 9MXD-4XQ
• _UID: D84DF01A52234521B66498793914BBB7F44F
• ACCEDED: 1180, France
• RULED: Between 1180 and 1223, King Of France

King married Isabelle DE HAINAUT, Reine de France on 28 Apr 1180 in Bapaume, Pas-DE-Calais, France. Isabelle was born on 5 Apr 1170 in Valenciennes, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; was christened in in Hainaut (Bailliage), Belgium; died on 15 Mar 1190 in Paris, ?le-de-France, France; was buried on 27 Mar 1190 in Notre Dame, Paris, ?le-de-France France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: LCC8-C2J

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• FamilySearch ID: LZ1V-VZ8
• Royal House: ; Castilian House of Ivrea
• Name: Alfonso VIII
• Name: The Noble
• _UID: 893F24F3FA094011A94343ED1678E8BF8463
• ACCEDED: 1158
• TitleOfNobility: Between 1158 and 1214; King of Castile and Toledo

Notes:

Alfonso VIII (1155-1214), king of Castile (1158-1214); he succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Sancho III. Troubled by interference from Navarre in his youth, he later allied Castile with Arag?n, forming a connection that was eventually to become the basis for the unification of Spain. He also established Castilian dominance over Le?n. In 1170 he married Eleanor, daughter of King Henry II of England. From the 1170s, he resisted encroachments by the Almohads, Muslim invaders from northern Africa. Defeated by the Muslim caliph Yakub al-Mansur at Alarcos in 1195, Alfonso and his allies won a major victory over the Muslim commander al-Nasir at Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

Alfonso married Queen Alianor "Eleanor" PLANTAGENET on 22 Sep 1177 in Castile, Burgos, Spain. Alianor (daughter of King Henry II PLANTAGENET and Queen Eleanor De AQUITAINE) was born on 13 Oct 1162 in Domfront Castle, Normandy; was christened in in , Domfront, Normandie; died on 25 Oct 1214 in Las Huelgas, Burgos, Burgos, Spain; was buried in Abbey Of Las Huelgas, Burgos, Castile, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LZ1V-V82
• Name: Eleanor
• _UID: 4888ABA98390466CA52FEF5CF3CCC270F93E

Notes:

Ancestral File Number: 8XJ3-Z8

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LZBY-5LP
• Name: The Younger
• _UID: 4D513476B8F04A8E86A7915F637946AEB56A
• ACCEDED: 1137
• RULED: Between 1137 and 1180, King Of France

Notes:

byname LOUIS THE YOUNGER, French LOUIS LE JEUNE, Capetian king of France who pursued a long rivalry, marked by recurrent warfare and continuous intrigue, with Henry II of England.
In 1131 Louis was anointed as successor to his father, Louis VI, and in 1137 he became the sole ruler at his father's death. Louis married Eleanor, daughter of William X, duke of Aquitaine, in 1137, a few days before his effective rule began, and he thus temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees. Louis continued his father's pacification program by building the prestige of the kingship through an administrative government based on trustworthy men of humble origin and by consolidating his rule over his royal domains rather than by adding new acquisitions. From 1141 to 1143 he was involved in a fruitless conflict with Count Thibaut of Champagne and the papacy. But thereafter his relations with the popes were good; Alexander II, whom he supported against Frederick Barbarossa, took refuge in France. But the major threat to his reign came from Geoffrey, count of Anjou and, briefly, of Normandy, and Geoffrey's son Henry, who later (1154) became King Henry II of England as well as ruler of both Anjou and Normandy. After Louis repudiated his wife Eleanor for misconduct on March 21, 1152, she married Henry, who then took over control of Aquitaine. Ironically, this act was probably to Capetian advantage because Aquitaine might have drained the resources of Louis's kingdom while bringing him little revenue. After the death of Louis's second wife, he married Alix of Champagne, whose Carolingian blood brought added prestige to the monarchy (1160); their son became Philip II Augustus.

Louis might have defeated Henry if he had made concerted attacks rather than weak assaults on Normandy in 1152. Anglo-Norman family disputes saved Louis's kingdom from severe incursions during the many conflicts that Louis had with Henry between 1152 and 1174. Louis was helped by the quarrel (1164-70) between Henry and Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and a revolt (1173-74) of Henry's sons. Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis, who acted as regent in 1147-49 while Louis was away on the Second Crusade, is the primary historian for Louis's reign.

Louis married Queen Adelaide Alix De BLOIS on 13 Nov 1160 in Blois Loir-Et-Cher, France. Adelaide (daughter of Theobalk (Thibald) IV "The Great", Count Of Blois) was born about 1140 in Blois Loir-Et-Cher, France; died on 4 Jun 1206 in Paris, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 5965D2FDDA2A41A195AF58BFE6EDFEF69596

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: M1JV-6Z9
• _UID: 9DCF85EC202F49F4AFE6BDB757A393020156

Sancho married Princess Blanche Garcia RAMIREZ, Of Navarre. Blanche was born about 1139 in Navarre, Spain; died on 24 Jun 1158 in Castilla, Castilla, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LZ1V-V5P
• _UID: DAB24210C3FD415786896C1552DB4D4484AD

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LYD7-TB9
• Name: Henri COMTE D'ANJOU
• Name: Henry II CURTMANTLE
• Occupation: ; King of England
• Residence: Abad?a de Fontevrault, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, , France
• _UID: 1732A7A23693403A840A0D5C65FAB2F5D278
• Knighted - by David, King of the Scots: 22 May 1149, Carlisle, Cumberland, England
• RULED: Between 1154 and 1189, King Of England
• ACCEDED: 19 Dec 1154, Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England
• Coronation: 19 Dec 1154, Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England

Notes:

Henry was the first of the Plantagenets, the name coming from the fact that he was fond of wearing a spring of the broom-plant in his helmet.

From Enclopedia Britannica Online, article titled Henry II:

"by name HENRY OF ANJOU, HENRY PLANTAGENET, HENRY FITZEMPRESS, OR HENRY CURTMANTLE (SHORT MANTLE) duke of Normandy (from 1150), count of Anjou (from 1151), duke of Aquitaine (from 1152), and king of England (from 1154), who greatly expanded his Anglo-French domains and strengthened the royal administration in England. His quarrels with Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and with members of his family (his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and such sons as Richard the Lion-Heart and John Lackland) ultimately brought about his defeat.

"Henry II lived in an age of biographers and letter writers of genius. John of Salisbury, Thomas Becket, Giraldus Cambrensis, Walter Map, Peter of Blois, and others knew him well and left their impressions. All agreed on his outstanding ability and striking personality and also recorded his errors and aspects of his character that appear contradictory, whereas modern historians agree upon the difficulty of reconciling its main features. Without deep religious or moral conviction, Henry nevertheless was
respected by three contemporary saints, Aelred of Rievaulx, Gilbert of Sempringham, and Hugh of Lincoln. Normally an approachable and faithful friend and master, he could behave with unreasonable inhumanity. His conduct and aims were always self-centred, but he was neither a tyrant nor an odious egoist. Both as man and ruler he lacked the stamp of greatness that marked Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror. He seemed also to lack wisdom and serenity; and he had no comprehensive view of the
country's interest, no ideals of kingship, no sympathetic care for his people. But if his reign is to be judged by its consequences for England, it undoubtedly stands high in importance, and Henry, as its mainspring, appears among the most notable of English kings." Henry II was Count of Anjou (1151-1189) whose family emblem was the 'plantegenet', a yellow flowering broom; Duke of Normandy (1151-1189); Duke of Aquitane (1152-1189) and as King of England (1154-1189), ruled an empire that stretched from the Tweed to the Pyrenees. He was the Founder of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line. Henry was the first of fourteen hereditary kings, who were later referred to in the history oracles as Plantagenets. He is more commonly known as FitzEmpress, Henry II Curtmantle, King of England.
In spite of frequent hostilities with the French King, his own family and rebellious Barons (culminating in the great revolt of 1173-74) and his quarrel with Thomas Becket, Henry II maintained control over his possessions until shortly before his death.
Henry II's judicial and administrative reforms, which increased Royal control and influence at the expense of the Barons, were of great constitutional importance. Henry II Introduced trial by Jury.
Henry II, by marrying ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE immediately after her divorce from Louis VII, King of France, gained vast territories in France. Henry had lands reaching for 1000 miles, and it was this vast domain, which was called the Angevin Empire.
In 1153 he invaded England and forced STEPHEN to acknowledge him as his heir. As king he restored order to war-ravaged England, subdued the barons, centralized the power of government in royalty, and strengthened royal courts. Henry's desire to increase royal authority brought him into conflict with THOMAS ?A BECKET, whom he had made (1162) archbishop of Canterbury. The quarrel, which focused largely on the jurisdiction of the church courts, came to a head when Henry issued (1163) the Constitutions of CLARENDON, defining the relationship between church and state, and ended (1170) with Becket's murder, for which Henry was forced by public indignation to do penance. During his reign he gained northern counties from Scotland and increased his French holdings.
Henry II was also involved in family struggles. Encouraged by their mother and LOUIS VI of France, his three oldest sons, Henry, RICHARD I, and Geoffrey, rebelled (1173-74) against him. The rebellion collapsed, but at the time of Henry's death, Richard and the youngest son, JOHN, were in the course of another rebellion. He was unfortunate in love, relentlessly and romantically pursuing the hand of his wife, Eleanor, who became a selfish spoilt lady, and who turned her sons against their own father. Because of the rebellion by the eldest son, Henry was crushed, and Eleanor was placed under house arrest for fifteen years. The other brothers placed continual pressure on their father, in alliances with the King of France. Henry died a lonely and grief stricken man deserted by all of those he had loved and honored.

Contemporaries: Louis VII (King of France, 1137-1180), Thomas Beckett (Archbishop of Canterbury), Pope Adrian IV, Frederick I (Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, 1152-1190)
Henry II, first of the Angevin kings, was one of the most effective of all England's monarchs. He came to the throne amid the anarchy of Stephen's reign and promptly collared his errant barons. He refined Norman government and created a capable, self-standing bureaucracy. His energy was equaled only by his ambition and intelligence. Henry survived wars, rebellion, and controversy to successfully rule one of the Middle Ages' most powerful kingdoms.

Henry was raised in the French province of Anjou and first visited England in 1142 to defend his mother's claim to the disputed throne of Stephen. His continental possessions were already vast before his coronation: He acquired Normandy and Anjou upon the death of his father in September 1151, and his French holdings more than doubled with his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitane (ex-wife of King Louis VII of France). In accordance with the Treaty of Wallingford, a succession agreement signed by Stephen and Matilda in 1153, Henry was crowned in October 1154. The continental empire ruled by Henry and his sons included the French counties of Brittany, Maine, Poitou, Touraine, Gascony, Anjou, Aquitane, and Normandy. Henry was technically a feudal vassal of the king of France but, in reality, owned more territory and was more powerful than his French lord. Although King John (Henry's son) lost most of the English holdings in France, English kings laid claim to the French throne until the fifteenth century. Henry also extended his territory in the British Isles in two significant ways. First, he retrieved Cumbria and Northumbria form Malcom IV of Scotland and settled the Anglo-Scot border in the North. Secondly, although his success with Welsh campaigns was limited, Henry invaded Ireland and secured an English presence on the island.

English and Norman barons in Stephen's reign manipulated feudal law to undermine royal authority; Henry instituted many reforms to weaken traditional feudal ties and strengthen his position. Unauthorized castles built during the previous reign were razed. Monetary payments replaced military service as the primary duty of vassals. The Exchequer was revitalized to enforce accurate record keeping and tax collection. Incompetent sheriffs were replaced and the authority of royal courts was expanded. Henry empowered a new social class of government clerks that stabilized procedure - the government could operate effectively in the king's absence and would subsequently prove sufficiently tenacious to survive the reign of incompetent kings. Henry's reforms allowed the emergence of a body of common law to replace the disparate customs of feudal and county courts. Jury trials were initiated to end the old Germanic trials by ordeal or battle. Henry's systematic approach to law provided a common basis for development of royal institutions throughout the entire realm.

The process of strengthening the royal courts, however, yielded an unexpected controversy. The church courts instituted by William the Conqueror became a safe haven for criminals of varying degree and ability, for one in fifty of the English population qualified as clerics. Henry wished to transfer sentencing in such cases to the royal courts, as church courts merely demoted clerics to laymen. Thomas Beckett, Henry's close friend and chancellor since 1155, was named Archbishop of Canterbury in June 1162 but distanced himself from Henry and vehemently opposed the weakening of church courts. Beckett fled England in 1164, but through the intervention of Pope Adrian IV (the lone English pope), returned in 1170. He greatly angered Henry by opposing the coronation of Prince Henry. Exasperated, Henry hastily and publicly conveyed his desire to be rid of the contentious Archbishop - four ambitious knights took the king at his word and murdered Beckett in his own cathedral on December 29, 1170. Henry endured a rather limited storm of protest over the incident and the controversy passed.

Henry's plans of dividing his myriad lands and titles evoked treachery from his sons. At the encouragement - and sometimes because of the treatment - of their mother, they rebelled against their father several times, often with Louis VII of France as their accomplice. The deaths of Henry the Young King in 1183 and Geoffrey in 1186 gave no respite from his children's rebellious nature; Richard, with the assistance of Philip II Augustus of France, attacked and defeated Henry on July 4, 1189 and forced him to accept a humiliating peace. Henry II died two days later, on July 6, 1189.

A few quotes from historic manuscripts shed a unique light on Henry, Eleanor, and their sons.
From Sir Winston Churchill Kt, 1675: "Henry II Plantagenet, the very first of that name and race, and the very greatest King that England ever knew, but withal the most unfortunate . . . his death being imputed to those only to whom himself had given life, his ungracious sons. . ."

From Sir Richard Baker, A Chronicle of the Kings of England: Concerning endowments of mind, he was of a spirit in the highest degree generous . . . His custom was to be always in action; for which cause, if he had no real wars, he would have feigned . . . To his children he was both indulgent and hard; for out of indulgence he caused his son henry to be crowned King in his own time; and out of hardness he caused his younger sons to rebel against him . . . He married Eleanor, daughter of William Duke of Guienne, late wife of Lewis the Seventh of France.

Henry married Queen Eleanor De AQUITAINE on 18 May 1152 in Bordeaux Cathedral, Bordeaux, France. Eleanor (daughter of Guillaume X Duke Of AQUITAINE, Poitou Guillaume and Elbeanor De CHATELLERAULT) was born in 1121-1122 in Chateau DE Belin, Bordeaux, Aquitaine; died on 31 Mar 1204 in Poitiers, Poitou, Aquitaine; was buried in Fontevraud Abbey, Maine-Et-Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Fact 10: They Had 8 Children; Fact 10
• FamilySearch ID: 9C8T-V1R
• Name: DETAILLEFER
• _UID: 485FD2AD6746498BB76C6BACA5826F87FEF2
• ACCEDED: 12 Dec 1154

Notes:

From Encyclopedia Britannica Online, article titled Eleanor of Aquitaine:

"also called ELEANOR OF GUYENNE, French ?EL?EONORE, OR ALI?ENOR, D'AQUITAINE, OR DEGUYENNE, queen consort of both Louis VII of France (in 1137-52) and Henry II of England (in 1152-1204) and mother of Richard I the Lion-Heart and John of England. She was perhaps the most powerful woman in 12th-century Europe.

"She died in 1204 at the monastery at Fontevrault, Anjou, where she had retired after the campaign at Mirebeau. Her contribution to England extended beyond her own lifetime; after the loss of Normandy (1204), it was her own ancestral lands and not the old Norman territories that remained loyal to England. She has been misjudged by many French historians who have noted only her youthful frivolity, ignoring the tenacity, political wisdom, and energy that characterized the years of her maturity. "She was beautiful and just, imposing and modest, humble and elegant"; and, as the nuns of Fontevrault wrote in their necrology: a queen "who surpassed almost all the queens of the world."ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE (1122-1204) was one of the most important rulers of Medieval Europe.

Many noblewomen in the Middle Ages were well-educated. but Eleanor had the chance to use her education at a time when European politics was dominated by men.

When she was just fifteen, Eleanor's father died, and she inherited Aquitaine. the largest kingdom in France. That same year she married King Louis VII and became Queen of France. Although still a teenager, Eleanor was an impressive figure--beautiful, very well-educated, and fearlessly independent.
When Louis went off on the Crusades, she went with him, traveling thousands of miles, much of it through hostile lands.

But Eleanor and Louis had no male heir, and tensions developed between them. The Pope granted them a divorce when Eleanor was twenty-nine. Within months. Eleanor married Henry Plantagent, her ex-husband's main rival. Two years later Henry became King of England--and Eleanor was a queen again.

However, Henry soon fell in love with another woman, and Eleanor left England to set up her own court in Aquitaine, which she still ruled. Troubadours from all over France flocked to her palace at Poitiers, where Eleanor acted as patron of the arts. Many of the ideas of chivalry that we associate with the Middle Ages were developed in Eleanor's court..

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Some say King Lewis carried her into the Holy Land, where she carried herself not very holily, but led a licentious life; and, which is the worst kind of licentiousness, in carnal familiarity with a Turk.

Birth:
Some sources states that she was born in 1123.

Notes:

Married:
They may have been married on the 11th of May.