The Uncommon Commonality of Eleanor of Aquitaine

The 12^th century marked a major shift in the course of western history. As D.D.R. Owen writes in his book, Eleanor of Aquitaine:

"Western civilization was feeling the need for a reassessment, a redefinition of some of its basic principles regarding the nature of man, his place and function in creation, his social organization and responsibilities, his proper conduct in all his various activities."[1]

Here, he is referring to what has been called the “12^th Century Renaissance”. At this time economic stability, governmental systematization, and the flourishing of urban life gave rise to intellectual institutions and a resurgence of culture not seen in the west since the fall of Rome. 

The changes taking place in this 12^th century European world were not, however, uniform throughout Christendom. In his biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, simply named after its subject, Desmond Seward begins with a description of the culture of the province into which the future icon was born. In particular, he dwells on the fundamental differences between the southern province of Aquitaine and its northern counterparts of the Ils de France and the duchy of Normandy. These distinctions seem rather marked. One is southern preference for literature as the intellectual exercise of choice rather than religious life or institutions of government. Another is the place of women whose lot Seward argues improves as a result of the chivalric ideals of new literature. Yet another is the level of contact that southern France experienced with the world beyond the confines of northern and western Europe, particularly with the Middle East via Moorish Spain. All of this worked to create a society in Aquitaine that, despite geographical proximity, had little in common with its northern neighbors. 

Eleanor lived at the junction of these two phenomena. She was raised on the foundation of a reforming western world that her people, aesthetically speaking, pioneered in many ways. The history of her, fact and fiction, result from that background.

A key piece of Eleanor lore is her adventure to the east in the Second Crusade. In her book Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings Amy Kelly wrote that the young queen, weary from months of difficult travel from France to the East and military lifestyle, was thrilled to be greeted by a family member and fellow Aquitanian in her uncle, Prince Raymond of Antioch. The two immediately began an intimate acquaintance, spending hours together in the lavish splendor of Raymond’s great palace. This intimacy seems to have turned sordid in the minds of some who accuse the queen of committing incest with her uncle. While Kelly admits that the original chroniclers mention few if any details of the alleged episode, it still suffices for her to say that the queen suddenly told the king of France that she was unhappy in their marriage. Louis apparently had to kidnap his own queen in order to get her to leave Antioch.[2]

Desmond Seward, when describing the incest accusation in his book, explains that contemporary chroniclers, such as John of Salisbury and Gervase of Canterbury, believed strongly in Eleanor’s innocence and admits that this incest theory is rejected by most modern historians. Further, he cites his primary sources for the incident as an unnamed chronicler who was writing forty years after the fact. The fact that contemporary chroniclers write to refute the charge indicates that such a theory not only existed, but made its way from Antioch to France.  The theory was still in existence decades after the crusade was over is Seward dates his source correctly.  Whether true or not, it would seem that there were those in Christendom who did, indeed, by the tabloid plot.