Eleanor of Aquitaine
Born 1122 AD, Died 1204 AD
Silver Denier, 18 mm
O: legend around AW and two crosslettes
R: legend around cross
Aquitaine mint, struck 1137-1169.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, renowned for her cultivated intelligence and great beauty, was queen to two kings and mother of two others, and a patroness of courtly literature.
Heiress of the duchy of Aquitaine, she married King Louis VII of France in 1137, and accompanied him on the Second Crusade. During that crusade, her actions caused him to doubt her fidelity, and he annulled their marriage in 1152. Soon after, she married Henry of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England (1154-1189). After supporting her sons in an unsuccessful revolt against their father, she spent most of the time from 1173 to 1189 locked in a tower. After Henry's death in 1189, she became a dominant figure in English politics during the reign of her son, Richard I the Lion-Hearted (1189-1199). After Richard's death in battle, she supported the succession of her youngest son, John (1199-1216), before returning to her native Aquitaine at the end of her life.