When the King and Queen of France went on crusade in 1147 it nearly destroyed their marriage. The campaign led by King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine was an unmitigated disaster. But despite (or perhaps because of) it’s failure the Second Crusade would remain a potent part of Eleanor’s legend. It was rumored that she dressed like an Amazonian Queen and carried on affairs with everyone from the Muslim General Saladin to her own Uncle. Are any of these stories true or is just another part of Eleanor’s so-called “Black Legend”? Tune-in and find out how lost epics, cousin divorce, and Pope inspired conception all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

Cockerill, Sara. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France and England, Mother of Empires. Amberley Publishing, 2021.

Evans, Michael R. Inventing Eleanor: the Medieval and Post-Medieval Image of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Bloomsbury, 2016.

Markale, Jean. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of the Troubadours. Inner Traditions, 2008.

Meade, Marion. Eleanor of Aquitaine: a Biography. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2015.

Owen, D. D. R. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Legend. Blackwell, 2000.

Weir, Alison. Eleanor of Aquitaine. Ballantine, 1999.

Wheeler, Bonnie, and John Carmi Parsons. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Wheeler, Bonnie. “Medieval Heroines in History and Legend.” The Great Courses: Western Literature. The Great Courses, 2013. Digital Lecture.