Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was a colossal political and cultural figure of medieval Europe, ruling in her own right as Duchess of Aquitaine and Gascony and holding the crowns of two rival realms: first as Queen consort of France (1137–1152) through marriage to Louis VII, and subsequently as Queen consort of England (1154–1189) through marriage to Henry II Plantagenet.

Fiercely independent, cultured, and politically astute, Eleanor accompanied Louis VII on the Second Crusade to Antioch and Jerusalem. After their marriage was annulled, she swiftly married Henry Plantagenet, creating the vast Angevin Empire stretching from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. At her court in Poitiers, Eleanor patronized troubadours and chivalric literature, fostering the tradition of courtly love. After supporting her sons' revolt against Henry II, she was placed under house arrest for sixteen years. Upon Henry's death, she ruled England as regent for her beloved son King Richard the Lionheart, personally negotiating his ransom from German captivity. She lived to the extraordinary age of eighty-two, interred at Fontevraud Abbey.