Eleanor of Aquitaine & King Louis VII

What Happened

Eleanor of Aquitaine was the wealthiest and most powerful woman in medieval Europe when she married the young King Louis VII of France in 1137. She brought with her the vast Duchy of Aquitaine, encompassing much of southwestern France -- roughly a quarter of the entire kingdom. The marriage was a political alliance, but Eleanor was no passive participant. She accompanied Louis on the Second Crusade and was rumored to have had an affair with her uncle, Raymond of Antioch.

The marriage produced only two daughters, and the lack of a male heir became the official justification for its dissolution. On March 21, 1152, at a synod held at the royal castle of Beaugency, four archbishops -- with papal approval from Pope Eugene III -- granted an annulment on grounds of consanguinity (the couple were third cousins once removed). The consanguinity claim was a legal fiction; the real issue was political incompatibility and the failure to produce a male heir.

Under feudal law, Eleanor regained sole possession of Aquitaine upon the annulment. Just eight weeks later, on May 18, 1152, she married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. This transferred control of Aquitaine from the French to the English crown, fundamentally altering the balance of power in medieval Europe for centuries.

The annulment remains the most consequential divorce in Western history. Louis lost roughly half his kingdom's territory and gained England as a permanent rival. The resulting Anglo-French conflict persisted for over 300 years, culminating in the Hundred Years' War. For Eleanor, the divorce was an act of liberation that enabled her to become one of the most powerful rulers in European history.

Legal Breakdown: Property rights and land as marital assets

What This Means for Your Divorce