Eleanor of Aquitaine was the daughter of Duke Willaim X of Aquitaine. Due to such a high position, Eleanor was already born with more rights than a lot of women had during that time period. Compared to today’s standards, however, she had virtually no rights. Through her powerful position, Eleanor was able somewhat change the view of women during her time period. Eleanor was born in 1122 in Aquitaine, a part of southern France that was larger than the land the King of France ruled over. Unlike much of Europe during that time, Aquitaine gave a certain amounts of rights to women. Women in Aquitaine could inherit land and rule over it by themselves. Being her father’s oldest child, Eleanor was severely spoiled and was taught to read and …show more content…
Since Louis weak and loved Eleanor, he often let her have what she wanted, even if it went against the advice of his advisors. Abbot Suger, Louis’s best advisor, gave Louis advice that conflicted with the advice Eleanor had given him, so Louis decided to listen to Eleanor. This decision caused Eleanor to be confined to the domestic sphere, which was a change in tradition. Future queens of France were given no political power due to Eleanor’s blunder, which is something that severely limited the rights of women. Obviously Eleanor still thought she was able to make decision in the political arena because when she figured out her sister was having an affair with Count Raoul, Eleanor got involved. Count Raoul was married to the sister of Count Theobald of Champagne, who did not honor his feudal obligation, so Eleanor encouraged her sister’s affair and had Louis help get Raoul’s marriage annulled. This was a mistake, however, because Raoul and Eleanor’s sister were excommunicated, an interdict was placed over their lands, and Geoffrey of Anjou was able to invade Normandy while Louis was distracted. Multiple political mistakes led to Bernard of Clairvaux, on the most influential and admired figures of the 12th century, to publicly criticize Louis and Eleanor’s marriage. Bernard pointed out that Louis and Eleanor were fourth cousins, so their marriage shouldn’t have been allowed by the church. …show more content…
Suger is upset with Louis decision and even more upset that Eleanor is going as well. Pleased that she was able to go, Eleanor invests herself in the preparations for the crusade. Once it was time to leave, Eleanor had a large retinue of women and a lot of unnecessary luggage, which slowed the whole procession down. During the crusade, Eleanor had an affair with Count Geoffrey that was kept secret from everyone. A while after this, the crusaders make it to Antioch, which was ruled by Raymond of Poitiers, and Eleanor ended up having an affair with her uncle Raymond. Eventually Louis and Raymond get in an argument and Eleanor tells Louis that she wants an annulment. Louis and Eleanor separately confided in Pope Eugenius III about their problems, but he would not annul their marriage. Once they were back in France, there was still problems between Eleanor and Louis. When Eleanor bore a second daughter, Louis thought that God did not support the marriage, but was advised by Suger to not annul his marriage. The death of Suger in 1151 allowed Louis and Eleanor to get an annulment without any obstacles. Under this annulment, Eleanor was allowed to remarry and was given back her lands, but Louis was still her