ELEANORA OF AQUITAINE,

QUEEN OF HENRY II.

THE life of the consort of Henry II. commences the biographies of a series of Provençal princesses, with whom the earlier monarchs of our royal house of Plantagenet allied themselves, for upwards of a century. Important effects, not only on the domestic history of the court of England, but on its commerce and statistics, may be traced to its union, by means of this queen, with the most polished and civilized people on the face of the earth, as the Provençals of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries indisputably were. With the arts, the idealities, and the refinements of life, Eleanora brought acquisitions of more importance to the Anglo-Norman people, than even that great "Provence dower" on which Dante dwells with such earnestness.

The grandfather of Eleanora had been gay and even licentious in his youth; and now, at the age of sixty-eight, he wished to devote some time, before his death, to meditation and penitence, for the sins of his early life. When his grand-daughter had attained her fourteenth year, he commenced his career of self-denial, by summoning the baronage of Aquitaine, and communicating his intention of abdicating in favor of his grand-daughter, to whom they all took the oath of allegiance. He then opened his great project of uniting Aquitaine with France, by giving Eleanora in marriage to the heir of Louis le Gros. The barons agreed to this proposal, on condition that the laws and customs of Aqui

taine should be held inviolate; and that the consent of the young prin cess should be obtained. Eleanora had an interview with her suitor, and professed herself pleased with the arrangement.

Louis and Eleanora were immediately married with great pomp, at Bourdeaux; and, on the solemn resignation of Duke William, the youthful pair were crowned duke and duchess of Aquitaine, August 1, 1137.

On the conclusion of this grand ceremony, duke William, grandsire of the bride, laid down his robes and insignia of sovereignty, and took up the hermit's cowl and staff. He departed on a pilgrimage to St. James's of Compostenella, in Spain, and died soon after, very penitent, in one of the cells of that rocky wilderness.

At the time when duke William resigned the dominions of the south to his grand-daughter, he was the most powerful prince in Europe. His rich ports of Bourdeaux and Saintonge supplied him with commercial wealth; his maritime power was immense; his court was the focus of learning and luxury; and it must be owned, that at the accession of the fair Eleanora, this court had become not a little licentious.

Louis and his bride obtained immediate possession of Poitou, Gascony, Biscay, and a large territory extending beyond the Pyrenees.

They repaired afterwards to Poictiers, where Louis was solemnly crowned duke of Guienne. Scarcely was this ceremony concluded, when Eleanora and her husband were summoned to the death-bed of Louis VI., that admirable king and lawgiver of France. His dying words were,

"Remember, royalty is a public trust, for the exercise of which a rigorous account will be exacted by Him who has the sole disposal of crowns and sceptres."

So spoke the great legislator of France, to the youthful pair whose wedlock had united the north and south of France. On the conscientious mind of Louis VII. the words of his dying father were strongly impressed, but it was late in life before his thoughtless partner profited by them.

Eleanora was very beautiful; she had been reared in all the accomplishments of the south; she was a fine musician, and composed and