![]() ![]() We discover that kings wore hairshirts and submitted themselves to monks for flagellation as penance for their myriad sins and that nobles often employed the claim of consanguinity as grounds for divorce, paving the way for new and more politically rewarding marriages that created a mosaic of extremely fluid alliances. Moreover, Weir seasons her account with voluminous and vivid detail culled from an impressive collection of sources. This lends a healthy vitality to the events Weir describes: This book doesn't read as history, this book is history. It is saturated with episodes demonstrating the Byzantine nature of dynastic politics and the intensely complex machinations involved in the often bloody chess game that characterized Europe at this time. ![]() She ostensibly chronicles the life of Eleanor, though the book also provides a tableau of 12th-century Europe. ![]() The author of six previous books about English history, Alison Weir tackles familiar territory with Eleanor of Aquitaine. Courageous, opinionated, and ambitious, she inspired great loyalty in vassals yet incurred the wrath of noblemen and prelates in her drive to acquire power for herself and her children. Eleanor of Aquitaine led a remarkable life: queen of England and France, participant in a Crusade, mother of Richard the Lionheart, patron of troubadours, benefactor of convents, and actor in numerous court intrigues that decided the fates of kingdoms and helped shape the political boundaries of medieval Europe. ![]()
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