The Age of the Queen Mother
From the late twelfth to early thirteenth century three of the major kingdoms in Europe would be dominated by powerful women, mothers and often regents on behalf of their reigning sons. What’s more, the most prominent of these ruling mothers were related by blood, Eleanor of Aquitaine and her two granddaughters, themselves sisters, Blanche and Berenguela, revealing a network of powerful female relations stretching across decades and kingdoms.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1189-1204): one of the most famous queens of the medieval period, Eleanor of Aquitaine was, by her successive marriages, queen of France and England as well as duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. Though she enjoyed periods of great influence and authority (as well as conflict) as queen consort, it was during the reigns of her sons that Eleanor would exercise her greatest power. Firstly, Eleanor would act on behalf of her beloved son, Richard, securing the baron’s fealty to him prior to his coronation and ruling England alongside the Regency Council during his absence on crusade. When he was captured in Germany, Eleanor played a key role in raising and transporting his ransom and securing his release. Following Richard’s death, she played a similar role for her youngest son, John, aiding him in securing the English throne and supporting his rule against the pretensions of her grandson, Arthur of Brittany, and Philip Augustus of France, prior to her death.
Berenguela of Castile (1217-1246): the eldest child of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Leonor of England, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, Berenguela served first as queen consort of Leon, marrying her father’s cousin, Alfonso IX, in order to secure peace between the two kingdoms. Following the dissolution of that marriage and her parents’ deaths, Berenguela served as regent to her younger brother, Enrique I, actually inheriting the throne of Castile upon his death. However, immediately after her ascension, Berenguela ceded the title to her teenage son, Fernando III, at Valladolid, in what some have termed an “abdication”, however, she continued to remain her son’s most influential adviser and occupied a position almost as co-ruler for the remainder of her life. She was integral in Fernando’s successes against the Muslim kingdoms of Spain and securing his succession to the throne of Leon following the death of his father and her ex-husband, bringing about the ultimate union of the kingdoms of Leon and Castile. She would later become known as “Berenguela the Great” and her son, Fernando, would be canonized in the seventeenth century.
Blanche of Castile (1226-1234, 1248-1252): the third daughter of Alfonso VIII and Queen Leonor, Blanche was betrothed to Prince Louis (later Louis VIII of France) in the Treaty of Le Goulet, an agreement between her uncle, King John, and Philip Augustus of France. Blanche was personally escorted from Castile to France by her then-eighty-year-old grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Blanche became queen consort of France after her father-in-law’s death, however was left widowed three years later. She ruled as regent for her twelve-year-old son, Louis IX, protecting his throne and raising armies against discontented French barons and her cousin, Henry III of England. Blanche maintained contact and collaborated with her sister, Berenguela, in Castile. Even after her son reached his majority, Blanche continued to exercise great influence over him, and would be appointed regent once more upon his departure on the Seventh Crusade, during which time she died. Blanche’s son too would be canonized as St. Louis in 1297 along with her daughter, Isabelle.
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