A central element of the myth of [Eleanor of Aquitaine] is that of her exceptionalism. Historians and Eleanor biographers have tended to take literally Richard of Devizesâs conventional panegyric of her as âan incomparable womanâ. She is assumed to be a woman out of her time. [âŚ] Amazement at Eleanorâs power and independence is born from a presentism that assumes generally that the Middle Ages were a backward age, and specifically that medieval women were all downtrodden and marginalized. Eleanorâs career can, from such a perspective, only be explained by assuming that she was an exception who rose by sheer force of personality above the restrictions placed upon twelfth-century women.
â Michael R. Evans, Inventing Eleanor: The Medieval and Post-Medieval Image of Eleanor of Aquitaine
The idea of Eleanorâs exceptionalism rests on an assumption that women of her age were powerless. On the contrary, in Western Europe before the twelfth century there were âno really effective barriers to the capacity of women to exercise power; they appear as military leaders, judges, castellans, controllers of propertyâ. [âŚ] In an important article published in 1992, Jane Martindale sought to locate Eleanor in context, stripping away much of the conjecture that had grown up around her, and returning to primary sources, including her charters. Martindale also demonstrated how Eleanor was not out of the ordinary for a twelfth-century queen either in the extent of her power or in the criticisms levelled against her.
If we look at Eleanorâs predecessors as Anglo-Norman queens of England, we find many examples of women wielding political power. Matilda of Flanders (wife of William the Conqueror) acted as regent in Normandy during his frequent absences in England following the Conquest, and [the first wife of Henry I, Matilda of Scotland, played some role in governing England during her husband's absences], while during the civil war of Stephenâs reign Matilda of Boulogne led the fight for a time on behalf of her royal husband, who had been captured by the forces of the empress. And if we wish to seek a rebel woman, we need look no further than Juliana, illegitimate daughter of Henry I, who attempted to assassinate him with a crossbow, or Adèle of Champagne, the third wife of Louis VII, who â[a]t the moment when Henry II held Eleanor of Aquitaine in jail for her revolt ⌠led a revolt with her brothers against her son, Philip II'.
Eleanor is, therefore, less the exception than the rule â albeit an extreme example of that rule. This can be illustrated by comparing her with a twelfth century woman who has attracted less literary and historical attention. Adela of Blois died in 1137, the year of Eleanorâs marriage to Louis VII. [âŚ] The chronicle and charter evidence reveals Adela to have âlegitimately exercised the powers of comital lordshipâ in the domains of Blois-Champagne, both in consort with her husband and alone during his absence on crusade and after his death. [âŚ] There was, however, nothing atypical about the nature of Adelaâs power. In the words of her biographer Kimberley LoPrete, âwhile the extent of Adelaâs powers and the political impact of her actions were exceptional for a woman of her day (and indeed for most men), the sources of her powers and the activities she engaged in were not fundamentally different from those of other women of lordly rankâ. These words could equally apply to Eleanor; the extent of her power, as heiress to the richest lordship in France, wife of two kings and mother of two or three more, was remarkable, but the nature of her power was not exceptional. Other noble or royal women governed, arranged marriages and alliances, and were patrons of the church. Eleanor represents one end of a continuum, not an isolated outlier.
