Her correspondence list is a who’s who of the medieval period. She wrote to, and received letters from, some of the shining stars of her generation, including three popes, St Bernard of Clairvaux, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, King Henry II of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.29 Although it was prohibited by the church, she even embarked on a ‘book/preaching tour’ around Germany, something few women up to the present day could entertain.30 She was a twelfth-century celebrity.
