| Eleanor of England | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Queen consort of Castile and Toledo | |
| Tenure | September 1170 – 5 October 1214 |
| Born | c. 1161 Domfront Castle,Normandy |
| Died | 31 October 1214 (aged 53) Burgos,Castile |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue more... | Berengaria, Queen of Castile Urraca, Queen of Portugal Blanche, Queen of France Eleanor, Queen of Aragon Henry I, King of Castile |
| House | Plantagenet-Angevin[nb 1] |
| Father | Henry II, King of England |
| Mother | Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine |
Eleanor of England (Spanish:Leonor;c. 1161[2] – 31 October 1214[3][4]), wasQueen of Castile andToledo[5] as the wife ofAlfonso VIII of Castile.[6][7] She was the sixth child and second daughter ofHenry II, King of England, andEleanor of Aquitaine.[8][9] She served as Regent of Castile during the minority of her son Henry I for 26 days between the death of her husband and her own death in 1214.[10] Her great-granddaughter and namesake,Eleanor of Castile, married the futureEdward I of England in 1254.[11]
Eleanor was born in the castle atDomfront,Normandy c. 1161,[2] as the second daughter ofKing Henry II of England and his wifeEleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, who she was named after.[11] She was baptised byHenry of Marcy and her godparents at her baptism were Achard, bishop of Avranches, and the abbot ofLe Mont Saint Michel,Robert of Torigni.[11]
Her full siblings wereHenry the Young King,Duchess Matilda of Saxony,King Richard I,Duke Geoffrey II of Brittany,Queen Joan of Sicily andKing John. Her half-siblings wereCountess Marie of Champagne andCountess Alix of Blois. Eleanor had an older brother,William (17 August 1153 – April 1156), the first son of Henry II, and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who died of a seizure atWallingford Castle, and was buried inReading Abbey at the feet of his great-grandfatherHenry I.
In 1165 her marriage was arranged toFrederick V, Duke of Swabia, the oldest son of the Holy Roman EmperorFrederick I Barbarossa andBeatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, but he died before the marriage was able to take place.[11]
In 1170 Eleanor married KingAlfonso VIII of Castile in Burgos at the age of 9.[2] Her parents' purpose in arranging the marriage was to secure Aquitaine's Pyrenean border, while Alfonso sought an ally in his struggles withSancho VI of Navarre. In 1177, this led to Henry overseeing arbitration of the border dispute.[12]
Around 1200, Alfonso began to claim that the duchy ofGascony was part of Eleanor's dowry, but there is no documented foundation for that claim. It is highly unlikely that Henry II would have parted with so significant a portion of his domains. At most, Gascony may have been pledged as security for the full payment of his daughter's dowry. Her husband went so far on this claim as to invade Gascony in her name in 1205. In 1206, her brotherJohn granted her safe passage to visit him, perhaps to try opening peace negotiations. In 1208, Alfonso yielded on the claim.[13] Decades later, their great-grandsonAlfonso X of Castile would claim the duchy on the grounds that her dowry had never been fully paid.
Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughters, her namesake was the only one who was enabled, by political circumstances, to wield the kind of influence her mother had exercised.[14] In her marriage treaty, and in the first marriage treaty for her daughterBerengaria, Eleanor was given direct control of many lands, towns, and castles throughout the kingdom,[15] including major towns likeAguilar de Campóo,Logroño, andCalahorra.[11] She was almost as powerful as Alfonso, who specified in his will in 1204 that she was to rule alongside their son in the event of his death, including taking responsibility for paying his debts and executing his will.[16] It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berengaria toAlfonso IX of León.
Troubadours and sages were regularly present in Alfonso VIII's court due to Eleanor's patronage.[17] The Catalan poet,Ramon Vidal de Besalu, wrote about Eleanor and described her as wrapped in a red silk mantle withAngevin lions, andGuillem de Bergued addressed a poem to her.[11]
Eleanor took a particular interest in supporting religious institutions. In 1179, she took responsibility to support and maintain the shrine toSt. Thomas Becket in thecathedral of Toledo,[18] which had been founded by CountNuño Peréz de Lara and his wifeTeresa Fernández in 1177.[11] She made gifts to the abbeys ofGrandmont andFontevraud.[11] She also created and supported theAbbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, outside the city ofBurgos, and its affiliated hospital for pilgrims, the Hospital del Rey.[19] It served as a refuge and tomb for her family for generations, and her daughter Constance took the veil there and became known as the Lady of Las Huelgas.
When Alfonso died, Eleanor was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter Berengaria instead performed these honours. In accordance with the will of her late spouse, Eleanor became regent of Castile during the minority of her son, in which her daughter acted as her advisor.[20] Her reign was not to be long, however; she was reportedly not in good enough health and left most of the affairs of state to her daughter, which created fear and opposition among the nobles that she was planning to leave the regency to her daughter.[21]
Eleanor later became sick and died only twenty-six days after her husband, and was buried atAbbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.[22]
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berengaria | Burgos, 1 January/ June 1180 | Las Huelgas near Burgos, 8 November 1246 | Married firstly inSeligenstadt on 23 April 1188 with DukeConrad II of Swabia, but the union (only by contract and never solemnised) was later annulled. Married inValladolid between 1/16 December 1197 with KingAlfonso IX of León as his second wife.[23] After their marriage was dissolved on grounds ofconsanguinity in 1204, she returned to her homeland and became regent of her minor brother King Henry I. Although Queen of Castile in her own right, after the death of Henry I in 1217, Berengaria quickly abdicated in favour of her sonFerdinand III of Castile who would re-unite the kingdoms of Castile and León. |
| Sancho | Burgos, 5 April 1181 | 26 July 1181 | Robert of Torigny records the birth "circa Pascha" in 1181 of "filium Sancius" to "Alienor filia regis Anglorum uxor Anfulsi regis de Castella".[24] "Aldefonsus...Rex Castellæ et Toleti...cum uxore mea Alienor Regina et cum filio meo Rege Sancio" donated property to the bishop of Segovia by charter dated 31 May 1181.[25] "Adefonsus...Rex Castellæ et Toleti...cum uxore mea Alienor Regina et cum filio meo Rege Sancio" donated property to the monastery of Rocamador by charter dated 13 July 1181.[26] |
| Sancha | 20/28 March 1182 | 3 February 1184/ 16 October 1185 | King Alfonso VIII "cum uxore mea Alionor regina et cum filiabus meis Berengaria et Sancia Infantissis" exchanged property with the Templars by charter dated 26 January 1183.[27] |
| Henry | before July 1182 | before January 1184 | The dating clause of a charter dated July 1182 records "regnante el Rey D. Alfonso...con su mugier Doña Lionor, con su fijo D. Anric".[28] The dating of the document in which his sister Sancha is named suggests that they may have been twins. |
| Ferdinand | before January 1184 | Died young, ca. 1184? | The dating clause of a charter dated January 1184 ("V Kal Feb Era 1222") records "regnante rege Alfonso cum uxore sua regina Eleonor et filio suo Fernando".[18] |
| Urraca | 1186/ 28 May 1187 | Coimbra, 3 November 1220 | Married in 1206 to Infante domAfonso of Portugal, who succeeded his father as King Afonso II on 26 March 1212. |
| Blanche | Palencia, 4 March 1188 | Paris, 27 November 1252 | Married on 23 May 1200 to PrinceLouis of France, who succeeded his father as King Louis VIII on 14 July 1223. Crowned Queen at Saint-Denis with her husband on 6 August 1223. Regent of the Kingdom of France during 1226–1234 (minority of her son) and during 1248–1252 (absence of her son on Crusade). |
| Ferdinand | Cuenca, 29 September 1189 | Madrid, 14 October 1211 | Heir of the throne since his birth. On whose behalfDiego of Acebo and the futureSaint Dominic travelled toDenmark in 1203 to secure a bride.[29] Ferdinand was returning through the San Vicente mountains from a campaign against the Muslims when he contracted a fever and died.[30] |
| Mafalda | Plasencia, 1191 | Salamanca, 1204 | Szabolcs de Vajay says that she "died at the point of becoming the fiancée of the Infante Fernando of León" (without citing the primary source on which this information is based) and refers to her burial at Salamanca Cathedral.[31] Betrothed in 1204 to Infante Ferdinand of Leon, eldest son of Alfonso IX and stepson of her oldest sister. |
| Eleanor | 1200[32] | Las Huelgas, 1244 | Married on 6 February 1221 with KingJames I of Aragon. They became separated in April 1229 on grounds of consanguinity. |
| Constance | c. 1202[32] | Las Huelgas, 1243 | A nun at the Cistercian monastery of Santa María la Real atLas Huelgas in 1217, she became known as the Lady of Las Huelgas, a title shared with later royal family members who joined the community.[32] |
| Henry | Valladolid, 14 April 1204 | Palencia, 6 June 1217 | Only surviving son, he succeeded his father in 1214 aged ten under the regency firstly of his mother and later his oldest sister. He was killed when he was struck by a tile falling from a roof.[33] |
Eleanor was praised for her beauty and regal nature by the poetRamón Vidal de Besalú after her death.[34] Her great-grandson Alfonso X referred to her as "noble and much loved".[35]
Eleanor was played by actress Ida Norden in the silent filmThe Jewess of Toledo.[citation needed]
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Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile Born:c. 1161 Died: 31 October 1214 | ||
| Spanish royalty | ||
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| Preceded by | Queen consort of Castile 1177–1214 | Succeeded by |
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