Download or read book Women of the Twelfth Century Eleanor of Aquitaine and Six Others written by Georges Duby and published by Polity. This book was released on 1997-10-20 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an engaging account of the lives of high-born women in the Middle Ages, by one of the foremost historians in Europe. Focusing on France in the twelfth century, Duby recreates the image of women that the men of high society made for themselves. Using written evidence from the period - official texts written by men, all intended for public consumption and reading aloud - he tells the story of six very different women. These women - fictional and real, religious and secular - range from famous historical figures such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Héloïse, through Mary Magdalen, whose cult grew throughout the twelfth century, to Soredamors and Fenice, the heroines of Cligès, the romance of Chrétien de Troyes. Duby sets all of these women within their historical context, using their personalities to explore the characteristics of female existence during this period. He discusses relations between the sexes, including marriage and different types of love, and shows how women were feared, mistrusted and, sometimes, admired by men. He vividly reconstructs the French nobility's system of values, examining the place assigned to women within this system. He argues that men's attitudes to women began to change in the twelfth century and that women began imperceptibly to extricate themselves from masculine power. This important book - the first of three volumes on women in the Middle Ages - will be of interest to a wide readership.
Download or read book Women of the Twelfth Century Volume 1 written by Georges Duby and published by . This book was released on 1997-11-24 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, Georges Duby examines the lives of prominent twelfth-century French women as well as popular female literary figures of that time. Focusing on medieval notions of women and love, Duby looks for the ideological motivations for the representation of the female sex. He analyzes the ways in which women's biographies were written and how female characters were treated in fable and legend, pointing to the social and political forces at work in these representations. The historical personages include Eleanor of Aquitaine whose several marriages brought her wealth and autonomy; the virtuous Héloïse; and the visionary recluse Juette. Duby also studies the literary figures of St. Marie-Madeleine, a composite figure who personified the essential female traits of frailty, ardent love, and evangelicalism; Iseut, literary beloved of Tristan; and two other emblematic figures, Dorée d'Amour and Phénix—women who became ladies through chivalrous love. Provocative, informative, and entertaining, this book offers new insight on courtly love and the representations of women under medieval patriarchy.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Alison Weir and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2012-12-05 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman and provides new insights into her intimate world. Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. Eleanor of Aquitaine lived a long life of many contrasts, of splendor and desolation, power and peril, and in this stunning narrative, Weir captures the woman—and the queen—in all her glory. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, she recreates not only a remarkable personality but a magnificent past era.
Download or read book The Life and Times of Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Earle Rice and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed as the most beautiful woman of her time, Eleanor of Aquitaine (c.1122-1204) uniquely shaped 12th-century Europe. As the wife of tow kings and the mother of three others, her beauty, grace, style, and intellect captivated a continent. At a time when men regarded women as little more than personal property to be owned and exploited, Eleanor threw off the shackles of male dominance and scribed an indelible mark on the history of France and England. As France's queen, Eleanor accompanied Louis VII on the Second Crusade to the Holy Land and championed a burgeoning feminist movement. After divorcing Louis, she married Henry II of England. Her marriages to Henry upset the balance of power in Europe and led to 300 years of warfare before its restoration. Perhaps best remembered as a symbol of courtly love, Eleanor of Aquitaine also continues to personify the proud image of emancipated womanhood. Book jacket.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine Courtly Love and the Troubadours written by Ffiona Swabey and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 2004-09-30 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author offers an accessible overview of the vibrant personal and intellectual developments in the medieval court and monasteries during Eleanor of Aquitaine's lifetime. Primary documents, biographical material and thematic chapters bring this unique period to life. Eleanor of Aquitaine lived in a remarkable age. The 12th century saw significant advances in both the intellectual and emotional spheres. Scholars explored new areas of philosophy and science and also began to reflect on relationships and what it meant to be human and an individual. For the troubadours and the writers of the new romances, who composed in vernacular language, the focus of their works was the expression of personal feelings and the image of the feminine. Women had had more significant parts to play in the first millennium than in the second, because with the militarization of Europe and the emergence of universities, from which women were excluded, they lost much of their influence. This created an imbalance in society and it is within this context that Eleanor's life should be reviewed. The period is sometimes called the Twelfth Century Awakening due to the outpouring of extraordinary intellectual inquiry and discovery. Cathedral schools and universities, Islamic influence on European thought, the classical revival, vernacular literature, and Gothic architecture all exerted powerful pulls on the era's culture and politics. Accounts of Eleanor of Aquitaine's life provides a rare glimpse into women's lives during the medieval period, and though an admittedly extraordinary figure, we are able to draw some general conclusions about marriage and motherhood. Troubadours and courtly love, which revolved around declarations of service, devotion, and passion, and an emerging sense of the self. Thematic chapters hit the major topics, laying them out in clear and easy-to-follow writing. Nineteen biographical sketches bring to life the topics, and 15 primary documents, including songs, letters, and poems provide a close-up glimpse of how the people of the time saw their own world. Genealogical tables, maps, chronology, and a timeline provide useful and information quickly. The book concludes with an annotated bibliography and an index.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Alison Weir and published by Random House (UK). This book was released on 1999 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh and provocative biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most controversial personalities of the Middle Ages. Married in turn to Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, she was mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John. She lived to be 82 and became virtual ruler of England.
Download or read book The Life and Times of Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Earle Rice Jr. and published by Mitchell Lane. This book was released on 2019-12-05 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed as the most beautiful woman of her time, Eleanor of Aquitaine uniquely shaped 12th-century Europe. As the wife of two kings and the mother of three others, her beauty, grace, style, and intellect captivated a continent. At a time when men regarded women as little more than personal property to be owned and exploited, Eleanor threw off the shackles of male dominance and scribed an indelible mark on the history of France and England. As France's queen, Eleanor accompanied Louis VII on the Second Crusade to the Holy Land and championed a burgeoning feminist movement. After divorcing Louis, she married Henry II of England. Her marriage to Henry upset the balance of power in Europe and led to 300 years of warfare before its restoration. Perhaps best remembered as a symbol of courtly love, Eleanor of Aquitaine also continues to personify the proud image of emancipated womanhood.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Marion Meade and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1991-11-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Marion Meade has told the story of Eleanor, wild, devious, from a thoroughly historical but different point of view: a woman's point of view."—Allene Talmey, Vogue.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by B. Wheeler and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-30 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eleanor's patrilineal descent, from a lineage already prestigious enough to have produced an empress in the eleventh century, gave her the lordship of Aquitaine. But marriage re-emphasized her sex which, in the medieval scheme of gender-power relations relegated her to the position of Lady in relation to her Lordly husbands. In this collection, essays provide a context for Eleanor's life and further an evolving understanding of Eleanor's multifaceted career. A valuable collection on the greatest heiress of the medieval period.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by D. Owen and published by Wiley-Blackwell. This book was released on 1996-05-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating new biography tells the story of one of the most influential figures of the twelfth century, Eleanor of Aquitaine, successively queen of France and of England. In tracing her life story Professor Owen reassesses her political importance during the reigns of her husband Henry II and her sons, Richard the Lionheart and John, and aims to separate the true historical Eleanor from the Eleanor of legend.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In addition to being queen consort of both Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, she was also the mother of Richard I the Lion-Heart and John of England.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine and the High Middle Ages written by Nancy Plain and published by Marshall Cavendish. This book was released on 2006 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of the twelfth-century queen, first of France, then of England, who was the wife of Henry II, also discusses life in the Middle Ages.
Download or read book Inventing Eleanor written by Michael R. Evans and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124-1204), queen of France and England and mother of two kings, has often been described as one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages. Yet her real achievements have been embellished--and even obscured--by myths that have grown up over eight centuries. This process began in her own lifetime, as chroniclers reported rumours of her scandalous conduct on crusade, and has continued ever since. She has been variously viewed as an adulterous queen, a monstrous mother and a jealous murderess, but also as a patron of literature, champion of courtly love and proto-feminist defender of women's rights. Inventing Eleanor interrogates the myths that have grown up around the figure of Eleanor of Aquitaine and investigates how and why historians and artists have invented an Eleanor who is very different from the 12th-century queen. The book first considers the medieval primary sources and then proceeds to trace the post-medieval development of the image of Eleanor, from demonic queen to feminist icon, in historiography and the broader culture.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Douglas David Roy Owen and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating new biography tells the story of one of the most influential figures of the twelfth century, Eleanor of Aquitaine, successively queen of France and of England. Her marriage at fifteen to the young Louis VII was later annulled on the grounds of consanguinity. After her divorce, she eluded rival pretenders to marry Henry II, then Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy. Having campaigned in England to assert his claim to the throne, Henry realized his ambition following the death of King Stephen in 1154. Eleanor thereby became the queen of potentially the most powerful leader in Europe, whose empire stretched from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees. Eleanor bore Henry eight children, two of them future kings of England - Richard Coeur-de-Lion (the Lionheart) and John. Her behaviour and political motives have always been open to question, not least her siding with her children against Henry. Believed by some to have been the prime mover in the affair, she supported rebellion against their father. As a result, although the revolt collapsed, Eleanor was kept in close custody in England for much of the next sixteen years. Then, after Henry's death, she lent her unflagging support to his successors Richard and, later, John. Professor Owen's portrait aims to separate the true historical Eleanor from the Eleanor of legend. In tracing her life story he examines her part in public affairs during the reigns of Louis, Henry, Richard and John, and her role as a literary and cultural patron at the time of the great intellectual revival known as the Twelfth-Century Renaissance. Even in her own day, Eleanor caught the imagination of chroniclers and other writers; and the final parts of Professor Owen's biography follow the development of the legend that built up around her life before considering her possible use as a role-model in the epic and romance of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Download or read book Queen Eleanor written by Polly Schoyer Brooks and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1999 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of the twelfth-century queen, first of France, then of England, who was the wife of Henry II and mother of several notable sons, including Richard the Lionhearted.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine written by Jean Markale and published by Inner Traditions. This book was released on 2007-10-12 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive view of the mythical and historic significance of the great medieval queen • Explains that courtly love was not a platonic and intellectual affectation but an initiatic process of male transcendence akin to Tantra • Shows that Eleanor’s embodiment of divine power undermined the pattern of patriarchy • Reveals how Eleanor inspired the powerful influence of the Arthurian cycle’s figures Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) has been long noted for her political and cultural achievements that profoundly shaped twelfth-century Europe. Culturally, beyond her role as wife of kings Louis VII of France and Henry II of England and mother of kings Richard and John, she inspired the huge diffusion of the Arthurian cycle and the Celtic myths underpinning it. Without Eleanor, figures such as Merlin, Arthur, and Guinevere (for whom Eleanor served as model) would never have assumed the enormous symbolic value they now possess. Politically, she embodied divine power that ended the dark age of patriarchy, playing a crucial role not only in the development of the Plantagenet Empire, but also in the granting of charters to merchants and craftsmen that led to the birth of the modern middle class. But her greatest influence, still shaping modern sensibilities, was her role as the symbol of courtly love, which was not a mere diversion of the aristocracy but a process of male initiation and transcendence that bore a close resemblance to Indian Tantra. While the Virgin Mary was restoring a feminine face to medieval religious life, Eleanor embodied the adulterous queen who incarnates sovereignty--the woman who shares authority with the men who act in her name, but only after that power has been transmitted to them through an initiatory process leading to sexual union.
Download or read book Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings written by Amy Kelly and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of that amazingly influential and still somewhat mysterious woman, Eleanor of Aquitaine, has the dramatic interest of a novel. She was at the very center of the rich culture and clashing politics of the twelfth century. Richest marriage prize of the Middle Ages, she was Queen of France as the wife of Louis VII, and went with him on the exciting and disastrous Second Crusade. Inspiration of troubadours and trouvères, she played a large part in rendering fashionable the Courts of Love and in establishing the whole courtly tradition of medieval times. Divorced from Louis, she married Henry Plantagenet, who became Henry II of England. Her resources and resourcefulness helped Henry win his throne, she was involved in the conflict over Thomas Becket, and, after Henry’s death, she handled the affairs of the Angevin empire with a sagacity that brought her the trust and confidence of popes and kings and emperors. Having been first a Capet and then a Plantagenet, Queen Eleanor was the central figure in the bitter rivalry between those houses for the control of their continental domains—a rivalry that excited the whole period: after Henry’s death, her sons, Richard Coeur-de-Lion and John “Lackland” (of Magna Carta fame), fiercely pursued the feud up to and even beyond the end of the century. But the dynastic struggle of the period was accompanied by other stirrings: the intellectual revolt, the struggle between church and state, the secularization of literature and other arts, the rise of the distinctive urban culture of the great cities. Eleanor was concerned with all the movements, closely connected with all the personages; and she knew every city from London and Paris to Byzantium, Jerusalem, and Rome. Amy Kelly’s story of the queen’s long life—the first modern biography—brings together more authentic information about her than has ever been assembled before and reveals in Eleanor a greatness of vision, an intelligence, and a political sagacity that have been missed by those who have dwelt on her caprice and frivolity. It also brings to life the whole period in whose every aspect Eleanor and her four kings were so intimately and influentially involved. Miss Kelly tells Eleanor’s absorbing story as it has long waited to be told—with verve and style and a sense of the quality of life in those times, and yet with a scrupulous care for the historic facts.
