{"product_id":"eleanor-of-aquitaine-queen-and-legend-9780631170723","title":"Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Legend","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis 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 Henrys death  she lent her unflagging support to his successors Richard and  later  John. Professor Owens 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 Owens 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651905642549,"sku":"ByrdShop_0631170723","price":215.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780631170723.jpg?v=1781844822","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/eleanor-of-aquitaine-queen-and-legend-9780631170723","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}