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She could read, speak Latin, and was well-versed in music and literature. She also enjoyed riding, hawking, and hunting. Eleanor was very outgoing and stubborn. She was regarded as very beautiful during her time. She became heiress to Aquitaine (the largest and richest of the provinces in what would become modern France) and seven other countries 
Eleanor has recieved a full repaint, hand painted using artist quality paints and sealers - Her hair has been curled and pulled back to accommodate her mantle. Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), The exact date of Eleanor's birth is not known, but the year is known from the fact that the lords of Aquitaine swore fealty to her on her fourteenth birthday in 1136.
On the death of her father, Eleanor, about the age of 15, became the Duchess of Aquitaine, and thus the most eligible heiress in Europe. She married Prince Louis VII on Sunday July 25th 1137. However, there was a catch: the land Eleanor had inherited would remain independent of France, and Eleanor's oldest son would be both King of France and Duke of Aquitaine. Thus, her holdings would not be merged with France until the next generation. She gave Louis a wedding present that is still in existence, a rock crystal vase on display at the Louvre. Eleanor's horse is also hand-painted - she was originally a palomino and was given many many coats of paint to get the right look. The horse's saddle is 100% leather - the saddle tree of 8oz veg tanned leather molded to the horse and the cover, straps and bridle leather or suede. Eleanor's gown consists of a silk brocade bodice with hand embroidered dagged silk sleeves and a huge silk skirt both hand and machine embroidered. The bodice trim was hand painted. Her horse's saddle blanket is also silk... *grin*, trimmed with hand studded brocade
At the age 19, Eleanor knelt in the cathedral of Vezelay before the celebrated Abbe Bernard of Clairvaux offering him thousands of her vassals for the Second Crusade which included "many other ladies of quality": Sybille, Countess of Flanders, whose half brother was King of Jerusalem, Mamille of Roucy, Florine of Bourgogne, Torqueri of Bouillon, Faydide of Toulouse, and scores of others whom the chroniclers could not afford the parchment to enumerate.
A legend tells us that the queen and her ladies disappeared and presently reappeared on white horses in the guise of Amazons, in gilded buskins, plumed and with banners and that the queen and her cavalcade galloped over the hillside of Vezelay, rallying laggard knights. The tale is in character, and later allusions to Amazons en route, found in Greek histories, give some substance to it, although most 'serious' historians dispute it. In 1152 her marriage to Louis VII was annulled and her vast estates reverted to Eleanor's control. Hardly had her marriage to Louis been dissolved when Eleanor married Henry of Anjou, soon to become King Henry II of England. Eleanor's gorgeous hooded falcon was sculpted by
In 1173 their sons revolted against their father, Eleanor backed them and was subsequently imprisoned by Henry until his death in 1189. By then three of their sons had already died and Henry's successor was Eleanor's favourite son, Richard I Lionheart (1157-1199), who appreciated his mother's advice. When he went on crusade, Eleanor became regent and escorted Richard's bride-to-be to Sicily. When Richard was killed in 1199, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, John Lackland (1166-1216). Eleanor returned to Aquitaine and retired in the abbey of Fontevraud. She remained busy and active and personally arranged the marriage of her Castilian granddaughter to the grandson of Louis VII. Thus she lived to be about 82, an extraordinary age in the middle ages.
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