Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile

For other people named Eleanor of England, see Eleanor of England (disambiguation).
For other people named Eleanor of Castile, see Eleanor of Castile (disambiguation).
Eleanor of England
Queen consort of Castile
Tenure September 1177 – 5 October 1214
Spouse Alfonso VIII of Castile
Issue
Berengaria, Queen of León and Castile
Infante Sancho of Castile
Infanta Sancha of Castile
Infante Henry of Castile
Urraca, Queen of Portugal
Blanche, Queen of France
Infante Ferdinand of Castile
Infanta Mafalda of Castile
Eleanor, Queen of Aragon
Infanta Constance of Castile
Henry I of Castile
House House of Plantagenet
Father Henry II of England
Mother Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine
Born 13 October 1162(1162-10-13)
Domfront Castle, Normandy
Died 31 October 1214(1214-10-31) (aged 52)
Burgos, Castile
Burial Las Huelgas, Burgos

Eleanor of England (known in Castilian as Leonor) (13 October 1162 – 31 October 1214) was Queen of Castile and Toledo as wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile. She was a daughter of Henry II of England and his wife, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Contents

Early life

Eleanor was born in the castle at Domfront, Normandy, and was baptised by Henry of Marcy. She was the sixth child and second daughter of King Henry II and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. She received her first name as a namesake of her mother, whose name "Eleanor" (or Alienor) had previously been unrecorded though may have been related to the Greek Helen or the Italian Elena. Another view holds that in the Occitan language, Eleanor simply meant "the other Aenor," since Eleanor of Aquitaine was named for her mother, called Aenor.

Family

Eleanor was a younger maternal half-sister of Marie de Champagne and Alix of France. She was a younger sister of William IX, Count of Poitiers, Henry the Young King, Matilda, Duchess of Saxony, Richard I of England and Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany. She was also an older sister of Queen Joan of Sicily and King John of England.

Marriage

When she was 14 years old, before 17 September 1177, she was married to King Alfonso VIII of Castile in Burgos.[1][2] The marriage was arranged to secure the Pyreneean border, with Gascony offered as her dowry.

Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughters, her namesake Eleanor best inherited her mother's political influence. She was almost as powerful as her husband, who specified in his will that she was to rule alongside their son in the event of his death. It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berengaria to the King of Leon in the interest of peace.

When Alfonso died, his Queen was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter, Berengaria, instead performed these honours. Eleanor then took sick and died only twenty-eight days after her husband, and was buried at Las Huelgas Abbey in Burgos.

Children

She and her husband had the following surviving issue:[2][3]

Name Birth Death Notes
Infanta Berenguela (Berengaria) Burgos,
1 January/
June 1180		 Las Huelgas near Burgos,
8 November 1246		 Married firstly in Seligenstadt on 23 April 1188 with Duke Conrad II of Swabia, but the union (only by contract and never solemnised) was later annulled. Married in Valladolid between 1/16 December 1197 with King Alfonso IX of León as his second wife.[4] After their marriage was dissolved on grounds of consanguinity in 1204, she returned to her homeland and became regent of her minor brother King Henry I. Queen of Castile in her own right after the death of Henry I in 1214, immediately abdicated in favour of her son.
Infante Sancho Burgos,
5 April 1181		 26 July 1181 Heir of the throne since his birth, died aged three months.
Infanta Sancha 20/28 March 1182 3 February 1184/
16 October 1185		 Died in early childhood.
Infante Enrique (Henry) 1184 1184? Heir of the throne since his birth, died either shortly after being born or in infancy. His existence is disputed among sources.
Infanta Urraca 1186/
28 May 1187		 Coimbra,
3 November 1220		 Married in 1206 to Prince Alfonso, who succeeded his father in 1212 as King Alfonso II of Portugal.
Infanta Blanca (Blanche) Palencia,
4 March 1188		 Paris,
27 November 1252		 Married in the Abbaye de Port-Mort near Pont-Audemer, Normandy on 23 May 1200 with Prince Louis, who succeeded his father in 1223 as King Louis VIII of France. Regent of the Kingdom of France during her son's minority (1226–1234) and during his absence on the Seventh Crusade.
Infante Fernando (Ferdinand) Cuenca,
29 September 1189		 Madrid,
14 October 1211		 Heir of the throne since his birth. On whose behalf Diego of Acebo and the future Saint Dominic travelled to Denmark in 1203 to secure a bride[5] He died soon after returning from campaigning against the Moors.
Infanta Mafalda Plasencia,
1191		 Salamanca,
1211		 Betrothed in 1204 to Infante Ferdinand of Leon, eldest son of King Alfonso IX and stepson of her oldest sister.
Infanta Constanza (Constance) 1195 Las Huelgas,
1243		 A nun at the Cistercian monastery of Santa María la Real at Las Huelgas in 1217, she later became Abbess of her community.
Infanta Leonor (Eleanor) 1202 Las Huelgas,
1244		 Married in Ágreda on 6 February 1221 with King James I of Aragon. After her marriage was dissolved on grounds of consanguinity in April 1229, she became a nun at the Cistercian monastery of Santa María la Real at Las Huelgas.
King Enrique I (Henry I) of Castile Valladolid,
14 April 1204		 Palencia,
6 June 1217		 Only surviving son, he succeeded his father in 1214 aged ten under the regency firstly of his mother and later his oldest sister Berengaria. Married in Burgos before 29 August 1215 with Infanta Mafalda of Portugal, the union was unconsummated and dissolved in 1216 on grounds of consanguinity. Soon after his divorce was betrothed with Infanta Sancha of León, eldest daughter of King Alfonso IX and stepdaughter of his oldest sister, but died killed by a tile coming off a roof before the marriage could be solemnized.

Ancestors

References

  1. ^ ENGLAND KINGS 1066-1603
  2. ^ a b Weir, 64.
  3. ^ CASTILE
  4. ^ New international encyclopedia, Vol.13, (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1915), 782.
  5. ^ Vicaire. pp 89–98.

Sources

External links

Spanish royalty
Preceded by
Richeza of Poland		 Queen consort of Castile
1177–1214		 Succeeded by
Mafalda of Portugal