Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) Was the Woman Who Probably Wielded the Greatest Power of Any Woman in the Middle Ages

CK_4_TH_HG_P087_242.QXD 10/6/05 9:02 AM Page 121 Murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral While Henry established certain rights for ordinary Englishmen, he wanted to curtail the rights of English clergy and subjugate the Church in England to the crown. For example, Henry wanted clergy accused of a crime tried in a royal court, not in an ecclesiastical court. This put him in conflict with Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury (the most powerful cleric in England). Becket had been Henry’s friend and also served him as chancellor of England. Henry appoint- ed him archbishop, apparently thinking that his friend Becket would go along with his plans. But once he became archbishop, Becket stood up for the Church and refused to bend to Henry’s will. At one point, Becket fled England, but was allowed to return; however, he continued to oppose Henry. In 1170, after eight years of Becket’s intransigence, Henry supposedly angrily declared, “What a pack of fools and cowards I have nourished that not one of them will avenge me of this turbulent priest.” Four knights took Henry at his word. They followed Becket to the cathedral at Canterbury and killed him as he prayed. The assassination of Becket was a disaster for Henry. The pope canonized Becket (made him a saint), and Henry, to escape papal excommunication, was forced to do penance. He walked to Canterbury Cathedral from London in sackcloth and allowed himself to be flogged. However, Henry returned to power and eventually forced the pope into exile. Miracles were soon associated with Canterbury Cathedral, and it became a place of pilgrimage that was made most famous in the 1300s by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales, a long story about a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral. 32 Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) was the woman who probably wielded the greatest power of any woman in the Middle Ages. Indeed, she is one of the great female figures in history. Eleanor was both a master political manipulator and a primary force for the advancements of the cultural movement of courtly love in the High Middle Ages. Eleanor was the daughter of the duke of Aquitaine, a large province in north- ern France. In 1137, she was married to Louis VI, who became king of France. She accompanied Louis on the Second Crusade in 1149, where her flirtations and political meddling resulted in a falling-out with the king. Their marriage was annulled in 1152. Two years later, she married Henry II, king of England. When Eleanor’s French holdings were united with Henry’s property, the result was a for- midable political empire. Eleanor had four sons, two of whom became kings of England, Richard I (the Lionhearted) and John. In 1173, Henry’s sons rebelled against their father and Eleanor sided with her sons (some historians think she instigated the rebellion). Henry crushed the rebellion and had her imprisoned for several years. Eleanor orchestrated Richard’s coronation as king in 1189 after Henry’s death, and despite her advancing years, she held the kingdom together when Richard was away on the Third Crusade. History and Geography: World 121.

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