|
|
|
|
|
Eleanor Of ProvenceEleanor of Provence (c 1223 - 26 June,1291) was Queen Consort of King Henry III of England. Born in Aix-en-Provence, she was the daughter of Raymond Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198-1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1206-1266), the daughter of Tomasso, Count of Savoy and his second wife Margaruerite of Geneva. Eleanor's sister, Marguerite (1221-1295), married Louis IX, King of France and became Queen of France. Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was reknowned for her beauty. Eleanor was probably born in 1223; Matthew Paris describes her as being "jamque duodennem" (presently twelve) when she arrived in England for her marriage. Eleanor was married to Henry III, King of England (1207-1272) on January 14, 1236. She had never seen him prior to the wedding at Canterbury Cathedral and had never set foot in his impoverished kingdom. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The dynastic match became a true partnership, but her first year in London the despised foreign queen in her barge on the Thames was threatened by a London mob and fled to the bishop of London's palace for safety. Eleanor and Henry had five children: - Edward I (1239-1307)
- Margaret (born 1240), married King Alexander III of Scotland
- Beatrice (born 1242), married John II, Duke of Brittany
- Edmund Crouchback (born 1245)
- Katherine (born 1253), a deaf-mute who died young
Eleanor seems to have been especially devoted to her eldest son, Edward; when he was deathly ill in 1246, she stayed with him at the abbey at Beaulieu for three weeks, long past the time allowed by monastic rules. It was due to her influence that King Henry granted the duchy of Gascony to Edward in 1249. She was a confident consort to Henry, but she brought in her retinue a large number of cousins, "the Savoyards," and her influence with the King and her unpopularity with the English barons created friction during Henry's reign. She stoutly contested Simon de Montfort, raising troops in France for Henry's cause. In 1272 Henry died, and her son Edward, 33 years old, became Edward I, King of England. Eleanor retired to a convent but remained in touch with her son and her sister, Marguerite. Eleanor died in 1291 in Amesbury, England. Reference - Margaret Howell, Eleanor of Provence: Queenship in Thirteenth-century England, 1997
Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|