Eleanor of England (also called Eleanor Plantagenet¹ and Eleanor of Leicester) was born in the year 1215, in Gloucester. She was the youngest child of King John of England and Isabelle of Angouleme. John's London was conquered and Isabella was in shame. He had been forced to sign the Magna Carta. Eleanor would never see her Father, as he died at Newark Castle when she was barely a year old. The French, led by Philip II of France, were marching through the south. The only lands loyal to her brother were in the middle and southwest. The barons ruled the north, but they united with the royalists under William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who protected the young king, and Philip was defeated. Events June 15 - King John of England forced to put his seal to the Magna Carta, outlining the rights of landowning men (nobles and knights) and restricting the kings power. ... Gloucester (pronounced ) is a city and district in south-west England, close to the Welsh border. ... John (December 24, 1166–October 18/19, 1216) reigned as King of England from April 6, 1199, until his death. ... Isabella of Angouleme (c. ... St. ... Magna Carta placed certain checks on the absolute power of the English Monarchs. ... Note: This page refers to the Newark Castle of Newark, Nottinghamshire, not the Newark Castle of Port Glasgow, Inverclyde. ... Philip II (French: Philippe II), called Philip Augustus (French: Philippe Auguste) (August 21, 1165 – July 14, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. ... William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146–1219) was an English aristocrat and statesman. ...

William Marshal died in 1219 and Eleanor was promised to his son, also named William. They were married on April 23, 1224 at New Temple Church in London. The younger William was 34 and Eleanor only nine. He died in London on April 6, 1231, days before their 7th anniversary. There were no children of this marriage. The widowed Eleanor swore a holy oath of chastity in the presence of Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury. Events Saint Francis of Assisi introduces Catholicism into Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade Ongoing events Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) Births Frederick II the Quarrelsome, last Babenberg Duke of Austria Deaths Jayavarman VII, ruler of the Khmer Empire Minamoto no Sanetomo, third shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan Monarchs/Presidents... William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (c. ... April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... Events Foundation of the University of Naples Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquers Latgallians Births Deaths Monarchs/Presidents Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276) Castile - Ferdinand III, the Saint King of Castile and Leon (reigned from 1217 to 1252) Holy See... St. ... April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... Events Ardengus becomes bishop of Florence. ... Edmund Rich, also known as Saint Edmund or Eadmund of Canterbury, was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1234. ...

Seven years later, she met Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. According to Matthew Paris, Simon was attracted to Eleanor's beauty and elegance as well as her wealth and high birth. They fell in love and married secretly on January 7, 1238 at the King's chapel at Westminister Palace. Her brother King Henry later alleged that he only allowed the marriage because Simon had seduced Eleanor. The marriage was controversial because of the oath Eleanor had sworn several years before to remain chaste. Because of this, Simon made a pilgrimage to Rome seeking papal approval for their union. Simon and Eleanor would have seven children: Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (1208 – August 4, 1265) was the principal leader of the baronial opposition to king Henry III of England. ... Self portrait of Matthew Paris from a manuscript of his chronicle (London, British Library, MS Royal 14. ... January 7 is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events In the Iberian peninsula, James I of Aragon captures the city of Valencia September 28 from the Moors; the Moors retreat to Granada. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...

1. Henry de Montfort (November 1238-1265)
2. Simon the younger de Montfort (April 1240-1271)
3. Amaury de Montfort, Canon of York (1242/1243-1300)
4. Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola (1244-1288)
5. A daughter, born and died in Bordeaux between 1248 and 1251.
6. Richard de Montfort (1252-1266)
7. Eleanor de Montfort (1258-1282)

Simon de Montfort had the real power behind the throne, but when he tried to take the throne, he was defeated with his son at the Battle of Evesham on August 4, 1265. Eleanor fled to exile in France where she became a nun at Montargis Abbey, a nunnery founded by her deceased husband's sister Amicia. She died and was buried there on April 13, 1275. Henry de Montfort (1238 - 1265) was the son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and with his father played an important role in the struggle of the barons against King Henry III. Henrys mother was Eleanor Plantagenet (daughter of King John), whose marriage to Simon further increased... Events In the Iberian peninsula, James I of Aragon captures the city of Valencia September 28 from the Moors; the Moors retreat to Granada. ... Events January 20 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting. ... Events Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kyiv Births Pope Benedict XI Deaths April 11 - Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn The Great Prince of Gwynedd Monarchs/Presidents Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276) Castile... Events Kublai Khan named his empire Yuan (元 yuan2), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty. ... Amaury de Montfort (1242/1243-1301) was the third son to parliamentary pioneer Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and Eleanor of England, daughter of King John. ... Events April 5 - During a battle on the ice of Russian forces rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights. ... 1243 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Events Beginning of the Renaissance. ... Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola (1244–c. ... Events Sultan Malik al-Muattam razes city walls. ... Events February 22 - Nicholas IV becomes Pope. ... Events Louis IX of France departs on the Seventh Crusade for Egypt Kingdom of Castile captures city of Seville from Muslims Cologne cathedral: old cathedral burns down April 30; foundation stone to current cathedral laid August 15 Births Deaths January 4 - King Sancho II of Portugal, in exile in Toledo... Events First Shepherds Crusade Births Deaths Monarchs/Presidents Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276) Castile - Ferdinand III, the Saint King of Castile and Leon (reigned from 1217 to 1252) Categories: 1251 ... Events Alfonso X of Castile, the Wise (el Sabio) Stockholm is founded by Birger Jarl (cf 1854) The widespread usage of torture by the Medieval Inquisition is introduced. ... Events February 26 - French defeat Germans and Sicilians at Battle of Benevento. ... Eleanor de Montfort (1252–June 1282) was the only daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and became the last princess of Wales before the English Conquest in 1283. ... Events= February 10 - Mongols overrun Baghdad, burning it to the ground and killing 800,000 citizens Llywelyn the Last declares himself Prince of Wales. ... Events English conquest of Wales begins under Edward I of England Sicilian Vespers - Sicilians rebel against Charles of Anjou and are aided by Peter III of Aragon Births Pope Innocent VI Deaths August 25 - Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford October 13 - Nichiren December 11 - Llywelyn the Last, Prince of Wales... The phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. ... The Battle of Evesham was an important battle in the history of England which took place on August 4, 1265. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... Events January 20 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... Events Eleanor de Montfort is captured by pirates in the employ of Edward I of England to prevent her marriage to Llywelyn the Last, prince of Jews over the age of 7 to wear the yellow badge and makes usury illegal Jean de Meun writes the second portion of the...

Sources

• Maddicott, J.R. Simon de Montfort, 1996

Fiction

Eleanor appears as a major character in Sharon Kay Penman's novel "Falls the Shadow", where she is called Nell.

Eleanor is also the main character in Virginia Henley's "The Dragon and the Jewel," which tells of her life from just before her marriage to William Marshal to right before the Battle of Lewes in 1264. Her romance and marriage to Simon de Montford are very much romanticized in this novel, especially since Simon is killed the following year yet, in the book, Eleanor and Simon have only just had their first two children.

Notes

• ¹The surname "Plantagenet" has been retrospectively applied to the male-line descendants of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou and Empress Matilda without historical justification: it is simply a convenient, if deceptive, method of referring to people who had, in fact, no surname. The first descendant of Geoffrey to use the surname was Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (father of both Edward IV of England and Richard III of England) who apparently assumed it about 1448.

Other women sometimes called Eleanor of England include the daughter of King Edward I of England, wife of Alfonso III of Aragon. Geoffrey of Anjou Geoffrey V (August 24, 1113 – September 7, 1151), Count of Anjou and Maine, and later Duke of Normandy, called Le Bel (The Fair) or Geoffrey Plantagenet, was the father of King Henry II of England, and thus the forefather of the Plantagenet dynasty of English kings. ... Empress Matilda (February 1102 – September 10, 1167) is the title by which Matilda, daughter and dispossessed heir of King Henry I of England and his wife Matilda of Scotland (herself daughter of Malcolm III Canmore and St. ... Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460) was the son of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, a noble who had been executed for treason by King Henry V in 1415, and of Anne de Mortimer, who, like her husband, was a direct descendant... Edward IV (April 28, 1442 – April 9, 1483) was King of England from March 4, 1461 to April 9, 1483, with a break of a few months in the period 1470-1471. ... King Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was the King of England from 1483 until his death and the last king from the House of York. ... Events January 5/ 6 - Christopher of Bavaria, Norway and Sweden dies with no designated heir leaving all three kingdoms with vacant thrones. ... King Edward I of England (June 17, 1239 – July 7, 1307), popularly known as Longshanks because of his 6 foot 2 inch frame and the Hammer of the Scots (his tombstone, in Latin, read, Hic est Edwardvs Primus Scottorum Malleus, Here lies Edward I, Hammer of the Scots), achieved fame... Alfons or Alfonso III of Aragon (1265 - June 18, 1291, also Alfons II of Barcelona), surnamed the Liberal, was the king of Aragon and count of Barcelona from 1285 to 1291. ...