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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Eleanor of Aquitaine
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(c.1122–1204) One of the most powerful figures of the 12C, wife of two kings and mother of two more, famous in her time for her great possessions, her beauty and her patronage of the arts. She was heiress to the vast lands of Aquitaine in southwest France. Her first marriage, to *Louis VII of France, was annulled in 1152. Within two months she had married Henry of Anjou, who in 1154 became *Henry II of England. It was through this marriage that most of southwest France became attached to the English crown, later one of the causes of the *Hundred Years' War. Her family life was turbulent, for she supported her sons against their father in 1173, as a result of which she spent the next ten years in virtual imprisonment. But she remained a force to be reckoned during the reigns of her sons, *Richard I and *John.
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