Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was a twelfth-century queen who ruled as consort to two kings—Louis VII of France, then Henry II of England—and mother to two more: Richard the Lionheart and King John.

One of the wealthiest and most powerful women in medieval Europe, she controlled the vast duchy of Aquitaine and helped shape the politics of both kingdoms.

Her court at Poitiers became a center of troubadour poetry and courtly culture.