Alienor, the original 'Grandmother of Europe,' with royal bloodlines throughout Europe.

Alienor, the original 'Grandmother of Europe,' with royal bloodlines throughout Europe.

1)

'All mankind are brothers' is a faithful saying.

We share common genes with many people.

Throughout history, consanguineous marriages were also actively practiced to preserve precious blood, especially from ancient times until the Middle Ages.

This is the story of one woman who was the starting point.

2)

18 May 1152 was the date of the marriage of Alienor d'Aquitaine.

Her partner was Henri, Count of Anjou, the future King Henry II of England.

3)

Born in the Aquitaine region of southwest France

We begin with Alienor's name.

According to the spelling, her name can also be read as Alienor de Aquitaine.

This would mean 'Alienor from Aquitaine.'

As the name suggests, she was the daughter of an Aquitaine lord in southwest France.

4)

This is the region that includes Bordeaux, famous for its wine.

It is about the same size as Kyushu.

It was a culturally prosperous region throughout the Roman Empire and the subsequent Frankish kingdom.

The name is Aquitania, the sister ship of the 20th-century cruise ship Lusitania.

So much so that it had its power.

5)

Because she was born the daughter of a rich man, Alienor was quite well educated in culture, art, and Latin, which was unusual for a woman of her time.

When her brother, who was to succeed her father, died young, Alienor became Aquitaine's heir.

6)

Before his death, her father told her to make Louis VI, King of France, her guardian.

Alienor married Louis VI's son, Louis VII, and the couple was to rule Aquitaine together.

No matter how well-educated she was, she could not become a monarch alone because of the 'Sarica Law' in France, a law that did not recognize female monarchs.

7)

It's your fault you lost!

Disastrous defeat in the Crusades and divorce.

They seemed to get on well for a while, and politics was going well.

However, they began to fall out when, at the age of 25, Alienor took part in the Second Crusade with her husband Louis VII.

8)

It was at this time that the Crusaders suffered a disastrous defeat by the Seljuk dynasty in what is now Turkey.

The Seljuks were a Muslim state in the Middle East in the 11th-12th century.

Moreover, they blamed the defeat because Alienor wanted to rest in a dangerous place.

9)

The Crusades at this time were uncoordinated, with each country's army trying to capture cities under Muslim power separately.

So at least it was not only Alienor's fault.

10)

To regain her honor, Alienor tried to attack the Count of Edessa (now Turkey) with her uncle, Raymond.

However, Louis VII did not listen.

Meanwhile, Alienor was detained, and Raymond was killed in battle.

Louis VII's strategy toward Jerusalem also failed, and the war and his marriage fell apart.

11)

Four years after his return to France, he was divorced on the grounds of 'nullity of marriage.'

And on 18 May, two months after her divorce from Louis VII, Alienor remarried Henri, Count of Anjou.

She was a rather elderly wife, 11 years older than Henri.

12)

Held responsible for the rebellion and held prisoner for 15 years

Henri's mother was, for a time, the first female monarch of England.

So when her cousin, the King of England, died naming Henri his successor, Henri went to England.

He acceded to the throne as Henry II.

Alienor became Queen of England.

13)

Incidentally, the reason for the "nullity of the marriage" with Louis VII was that it was an "incestuous marriage."

However, she and Henry II are closer in blood.

14)

However, the second marriage did not go so well either.

Perhaps because of her culture, Alienor eventually began to fall out with Henry II.

15)

Henry II and his second son Henry, who had become joint rulers, rebelled.

She and her younger sons tried to side with the second son.

Things must have become quite abusive.

The attempt failed, and Henry II captured Alienor.

She was held captive for the next 15 years.

16)

However, she was released on the accession of her son Richard I.

She then lived long into her 80s.

It would be Alienor who had the last laugh.