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Birth:          ABT 1222 Aix-en-Provence, France
Death:          25 Jun 1291 Amesbury, Wiltshire,  England
Burial:         11 Sep 1291 Monastery, Amesbury, Wiltshire, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Provence
Eleanor of Provence (c. 1223 – 24/25 June 1291[1]) was Queen consort of England, 
as the spouse of King Henry III of England, from 1236 until his death in 1272. She 
served as regent of England during the absence of her spouse in 1253.[2]

Although she was completely devoted to her husband, and staunchly defended him 
against the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, she was very much hated 
by the Londoners. This was because she had brought a large number of relatives with 
her to England in her retinue; these were known as "the Savoyards", and they were 
given influential positions in the government and realm. On one occasion, Eleanor's 
barge was attacked by angry citizens who pelted her with stones, mud, pieces of 
paving, rotten eggs and vegetables.

Eleanor was the mother of five children, including the future King Edward I of 
England. She also was renowned for her cleverness, skill at writing poetry, and as a 
leader of fashion.
Family[edit]

Born in Aix-en-Provence, she was the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count 
of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas 
I of Savoy and his second wife Margaret of Geneva. She was well educated as a 
child, and developed a strong love of reading. Her three sisters also married kings.[3] 
After her elder sister Margaret married Louis IX of France, their uncle William 
corresponded with Henry III of England to persuade him to marry Eleanor. Henry 
sought a dowry of up to twenty thousand silver marks to help offset the dowry he had 
just paid for his sister Isabella, but Eleanor's father was able to negotiate this down to 
no dowry, just a promise to leave her ten thousand when he died.

Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was renowned for her beauty. She 
was a dark-haired brunette with fine eyes.[4] Piers Langtoft speaks of her as "The 
erle's daughter, the fairest may of life".[5] On 22 June 1235, Eleanor was betrothed to 
King Henry III (1207–1272).[1] Eleanor was probably born in 1223; Matthew Paris 
describes her as being "jamque duodennem" (already twelve) when she arrived in the 
Kingdom of England for her marriage.

Marriage and issue[edit]

Eleanor was married to King Henry III of England on 14 January 1236.[6] She had 
never seen him prior to the wedding at Canterbury Cathedral and had never set foot in 
his kingdom.[7] Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. She was dressed 
in a shimmering golden gown that fitted tightly at the waist and flared out to wide 
pleats at her feet. The sleeves were long and lined with ermine.[8] After riding to 
London the same day where a procession of citizens greeted the bridal pair, Eleanor 
was crowned queen consort of England in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey which 
was followed by a magnificent banquet with the entire nobility in full attendance.[9]

Eleanor and Henry together had five children:
1.Edward I (1239–1307), married Eleanor of Castile (1241–1290) in 1254, by whom he 
had issue, including his heir Edward II. His second wife was Margaret of France, by 
whom he had issue.
2.Margaret (1240–1275), married King Alexander III of Scotland, by whom she had 
issue.
3.Beatrice (1242–1275), married John II, Duke of Brittany, by whom she had issue.
4.Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (1245–1296), married Aveline de Forz in 
1269, who died four years later without issue; married Blanche of Artois in 1276, by 
whom he had issue.
5.Katherine (25 November 1253 – 3 May 1257)

Four others are listed, but their existence is in doubt as there is no contemporary 
record of them. These are:
1.Richard (1247–1256)
2.John (1250–1256)
3.William (1251–1256)
4.Henry (1256–1257)

Eleanor seems to have been especially devoted to her eldest son, Edward; when he 
was deathly ill in 1246, she stayed with him at the abbey at Beaulieu in Hampshire for 
three weeks, long past the time allowed by monastic rules.[10] It was because of her 
influence that King Henry granted the duchy of Gascony to Edward in 1249.[citation 
needed] Her youngest child, Katherine, seems to have had a degenerative disease 
that rendered her deaf. When the little girl died at the age of three, both her royal 
parents suffered overwhelming grief.[11]

Unpopularity[edit]

Eleanor was a loyal and faithful consort to Henry, but she brought in her retinue a 
large number of uncles and cousins, "the Savoyards," and her influence with the King 
and her unpopularity with the English barons created friction during Henry's reign.[12] 
Her uncle William of Savoy became a close advisor of her husband, displacing and 
displeasing English barons.[13] Though Eleanor and Henry supported different 
factions at times, she was made regent of England when her husband left for Gascony 
in 1253. Eleanor was devoted to her husband's cause, stoutly contested Simon de 
Montfort, raising troops in France for Henry's cause. On 13 July 1263, she was sailing 
down the Thames when her barge was attacked by citizens of London.[14] Eleanor 
stoutly hated the Londoners who returned her hatred; in revenge for their dislike 
Eleanor had demanded from the city all the back payments due on the monetary 
tribute known as queen-gold, by which she received a tenth of all fines which came to 
the Crown. In addition to the queen-gold other such fines were levied on the citizens 
by the Queen on the thinnest of pretexts.[15] In fear for her life as she was pelted with 
stones, loose pieces of paving, dried mud, rotten eggs and vegetables, Eleanor was 
rescued by Thomas Fitzthomas, the Mayor of London, and took refuge at the bishop of 
London's home.

Later life[edit]

In 1272 Henry died, and her son Edward, who was 33 years old, became Edward I, 
King of England. She remained in England as queen dowager, and raised several of 
her grandchildren—Edward's son Henry and daughter Eleanor, and Beatrice's son John. 
When her grandson Henry died in her care in 1274, Eleanor went into mourning and 
gave orders for his heart to be buried at the priory at Guildford which she founded in 
his memory. In 1275 Eleanor's two remaining daughters died Margaret 26 February and 
Beatrice 24 March.

She retired to a convent; however, she remained in contact with her son, King 
Edward, and her sister, Queen Margaret of France.

Eleanor died on 24/25 June 1291 in Amesbury, eight miles north of Salisbury, England. 
She was buried on 11 September 1291 in the Abbey of St Mary and St Melor, 
Amesbury on 9 December. The exact site of her grave at the abbey is unknown 
making her the only English queen without a marked grave. Her heart was taken to 
London where it was buried at the Franciscan priory.[16]

Cultural legacy[edit]

Eleanor was renowned for her learning, cleverness, and skill at writing poetry,[7] as 
well as her beauty; she was also known as a leader of fashion, continually importing 
clothes from France.[5] She often wore parti-coloured cottes (a type of tunic), gold or 
silver girdles into which a dagger was casually thrust, she favoured red silk damask, 
and decorations of gilt quatrefoil, and to cover her dark hair she wore jaunty pillbox 
caps. Eleanor introduced a new type of wimple to England, which was high, "into 
which the head receded until the face seemed like a flower in an enveloping spathe".
[5]

She had developed a love for the songs of the troubadors as a child, and continued 
this interest. She bought many romantic and historical books, covering stories from 
ancient times to modern romances.

Eleanor is the protagonist of The Queen From Provence, a historical romance by 
British novelist Jean Plaidy which was published in 1979. Eleanor is a main character 
in the novel Four Sisters, All Queens by author Sherry Jones, as well as the novels 
The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot, and "My Fair Lady: A Story of Henry III's Lost 
Queen" by J.P.Reedman. She is also the subject of Norwegian Symphonic metal band 
Leave's Eyes in their song "Eleonore De Provence" from their album Symphonies of 
the Night.

Parents
BERENGER Raimund V (IV) (ABT 1195 - 19 Aug 1245)
DE SAVOY Beatrice (ABT 1198 - Dec 1266)

Siblings
DE PROVENCE Margaret (Marguerite) (1221 - 21 Dec 1295)
OF PROVENCE Eleonore (Leonor) (ABT 1222 - 25 Jun 1291)
DE PROVENCE (DE SAVOY) Beatrice (1234 - 23 Sep 1267)

Marriage To PLANTAGENET Henry III (1 Oct 1206 - 16 Nov 1272)
    m. 14 Jan 1236 Canterbury, England

Notes

Parents
PLANTAGENET John "Lackland" (24 Dec 1166 - 19 Oct 1216)
DE TAILLEFER OF ANGOULEME Isabella (1188 - 31 May 1246)

Children by PLANTAGENET Henry III 1 Oct 1206 - 16 Nov 1272
PLANTAGENET Edward I "Longshanks" (17 Jun 1239 - 7 Jul 1307)
PLANTAGENET Edmund "Crouchback" (16 Jan 1244 - 5 Jun 1296)

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