Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Queen Who Rode Off to Battle

World History Biographies

by Ann Kramer

In medieval times, Eleanor of Aquitaine broke the mold for women. This remarkable woman lived life on her own terms, ultimately becoming queen of France and England. We first encounter the infant Eleanor, born into the ruling family of the Duchy of Aquitaine, in 1122. She grows into a lively and intelligent young girl, and quickly learns the arts of diplomacy and power brokering. Eleanor marries the young Prince Louis, and becomes Queen of France while still a teenager. She accompanies her husband's ill-fated Second Crusade to win back the Holy Land, but returns demanding a divorce, a bold move for a medieval woman. Her second marriage, to Henry, Duke of Normandy, leads to Eleanor's coronation as Queen of England in 1154. Contrary to her reign in France, she learns to wield power at the English court, and forges strong alliances to establish a lasting dynasty. National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources. Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Childrens, Historical

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Ann Kramer was born and educated in London but left school as soon as possible to work and travel; much later, as a ‘mature’ student, she gained an honours degree in history from Sussex University.

Her first job in publishing was as an editorial researcher, checking scripts for BBC quiz programmes. Subsequently she went freelance and worked as an editor with various publishing companies, including Diagram Visual Information, Dorling Kindersley, where she was the senior editor for DK’s Children’s Illustrated Encyclopedia, and Gaia. Increasingly, however, she concentrated on writing. For many years she wrote illustrated non-fiction books for children and young people, but now writes mainly for adults.

Reviews

[Leslie]

Terrific concise review of this woman's life. I especially loved the details of her life and The Crusades.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer]

This book is part of a series of biographies for children published by National Geographic. This one, on Eleanor of Aquitaine, was colorful and interesting. What a remarkable woman! She accomplished so much and lived so long for a woman of her time. Just surviving the birth of 11 children was feat enough. Mother of kings and queens, regent in her husband's absence, bringer of culture and courtly love to the courts in England and France, crusader with her husband to the Holy Land... Amazing. Wish I could have met her. I will definitely be reading more books in this series. I'd also like to read more about Queen Matilda, Henry's mother.

[Shelli]

Eleanor of Aquitaine, has a beautiful layout that is filled with interesting facts, photos, and a detailed timeline describing the life of Eleanor Plantagenet, former Queen of France and England. This book is perfect for intermediate age students on up for a biography report or to expand their understanding on this famous ruler, a woman ahead of her time.

[Sue]

Fantastic! I finally understood this properly.

[Lori Palen]

I didn’t know anything about Eleanor until she came up in my Women’s History page-a-day calendar. I picked up this book to learn more. Eleanor was a badass...queen of both England and France, popped out 10 kids, dumped her first husband because he was a wuss and then married a guy 11 years younger, traveled all over Europe and the Middle East (including on a crusade) constantly evaded kidnappers, and was a respected ruler. The lady was awesome...the book itself felt a little choppy.

[Angie]

Eleanor is one of my heroes! This is a biographical children's book and is full of interesting tidbits about her life. Excellent book

[Laura The Book Reader]

Interesting lady

[Cori]

Technically a children's book, but as an adult, I got a lot out of this book. The pictures and illustrations were beautiful! Well worth a read to get an overview of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

[Vivian]

My fourteen year old read and enjoyed this short biography. I highly recommend all the "National Geographic World History Biographies"--most of which are also available in paperback. If your local library does not own them put in a request or suggestion that they be added to the circulating collection.

[Ellen]

This is a beautiful children's pictoral history and biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. It has been so helpful to me keeping me centered while I write my time-travel history novel involving Eleanor's time.

[Amber]

G. Very easy read. Full of tidbits and colorful illustrations.

[Cheryl]

Quick, easy-to-read book.

**Just read this for the second time (four years later) and my opinion hasn't changed. Very nice book!

[Rebecca Hill]

Short overview of Eleanor and her life. This is more geared for kids, but a great way to get your feet wet and look at some different aspects of life.

[Lynne]

The book is aimed at elementary school children, but I enjoyed the visuals and information.

[stillme]

Biography book talk
see also: A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by EL Konisburg for a fun, fictionalized version of events

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

The book is fine for its purpose, to introduce younger readers to Eleanor of Aquitaine. I normally love National Geographic, but my personal issue with this specific book is that it relies too heavily on Alison Weir's biography of Eleanor, as well as another YA bio about her as well. Those are not entirely accurate portraits, and much more research and scholarship exists now. However, as I have been reading and collecting books about Eleanor for my own daughter, not coincidentally named Eleanor herself, I still feel this is a decent one to have in the collection.