Amazing Stories from the Web
continued from No. 23
Part 8. ONE FRAIL WOMAN
Pre-Reading: Discussion Questions
1. What is the right age to get married?
2. Can one person change history?
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) had a fascinating long life, and
influenced the history of several countries. If you enter her name into a search engine,
or begin reading her life story in Wikipedia, you will see plenty of links to various
people, places, and events. Born in Aquitaine, a province which served as a reason for
constant disagreements between France and England, she was married, at the age of fifteen,
to Louis VII (1120–1180) of France. They lived together for about twelve years, and had
two daughters, but no son and heir.
In France, only the male heir could inherit the throne. If the royal couple had no sons, conflicts and even wars were inevitable. In England, the law was soon introduced, to the effect that the eldest child was to succeed to the throne. Louis had the marriage to Eleanor annulled, which was practically unheard of, at that time. The land of Aquitaine was such a desired territory, that several dukes had tried to kidnap Eleanor and marry her, once she was free of her French husband. Eleanor was also sought after by Henry II (1133–1189), king of England, who was eleven years younger than she was. She sent messengers to him, telling him to hurry if he wished to marry her, before any of his powerful enemies succeeded in forcing her to accept them. Eleanor got married to Henry when she was 30, and he was 19 years old. They had eight children; their two sons later became kings of England: Richard, who later became King Richard I (1189), and John, who became King John (1199).
Henry II was responsible for various reforms which consolidated England under the royal rule, and which lessened the power of the feudal barons. His ruthlessness, though, excited a lot of unrest in the country. His wife, who was greatly respected throughout Britain, helped her sons in their protests against their father the king, hoping that one of them would eventually become the ruler of the country. Henry II was so angry with his wife that he imprisoned her for several years. Many of his actions led to public indignation, including his treatment of the famous philosopher and religious figure Thomas Becket (1118–1170).
From the son of a London merchant, to the member of the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to chancellor of Henry II, was quite an unusual career even at that time. In 1162, Becket became the Archbishop of Canterbury, which meant that he was churchman number one in his country. Obviously, Thomas Becket was a very intelligent man. But it seems that he was not very wise in his dealings with the monarch. He often came to court and openly criticized the king. Finally, Henry II decided he had had enough criticism. He ordered Thomas Becket to be secretly killed, and four of his men did it on December 29, 1170. Unfortunately, they killed the revered Archbishop right there in his own cathedral at Canterbury.
The population of Britain, including the Queen, “were not amused”, to use a much later phrase. This heinous act, coupled with his other unpopular deeds, eventually led to Henry’s losing his power. Thomas Becket was canonized, it means he was declared a saint, in 1773. Canterbury Cathedral, and the very place where the Archbishop was killed, became a place of pilgrimage. If you read “Canterbury Tales” written by Geoffrey Chaucer (1342–1400), you will realize that his pilgrims are traveling to the sacred place, to pay their respects to Thomas Becket’s memory.
With time, one of Eleanor’s sons became king. She continued to influence the events in Britain, as well as in Europe, until her death. The disputes about her native province of Aquitaine and some other territories continued for a long time, even leading to the Hundred Years War between England and France (1337–1453). Eleanor remains one of the well-known figures in the history of the United Kingdom, as an intelligent woman who managed to do a lot for her country, and her children. No comments as to the age difference between her and her second husband, or in fact to her marriages to two European kings, survived. Maybe there were none.
In modern history, Eleanor is sometimes remembered for her marriages. Agatha Christie, whose second husband was fourteen years younger than she was, mentioned the celebrated queen. The writer was rather hurt by the continuous comments about her second marriage to a much younger man, and she expressed regret that she could not be seen as her predecessor Eleanor: a talented woman who got married for the second time. Today, the actress Demi Moore, who chose Ashton Kutcher, a man sixteen years younger than she is, said that there would not have been any comments if it was the woman who was much younger than the man. Indeed, it seems that the people who lived eight or nine hundred years ago were more tolerant, and more sensible in this respect, than the people of the last two centuries!
annul (v.) cause to stop to exist
sought (pp. of seek) look for
ruthlessness (n.) absence of pity or forgiveness
revered (adj.) greatly respected and admired
heinous (adj.) very bad, shameful
In this story, we are introducing the so-called star method of research. It means that while reading about one person or event on the web, you may become interested in another one. All you have to do is click on any link that appears, moving from one “point” of our virtual start to another.
If you are interested in any of the famous names mentioned in our story, and would like to know more about them, you may go to any search engine at <yahoo.com>, <google.com>, and <wikipedia.org>. Just type in their names and click Search.