"In light of the charters, Eleanor's role and power in Aquitaine differ from historians' traditional descriptions. During her first marriage, her carefully affirmed and maintained legitimacy served as a basic tool for Louis VII's power and authority, but her official activity was limited. During the early years of her second marriage and especially in 1168-73, she enjoyed a recognized authority over her inheritance and exercised a more substantial if still partial power. Thanks to the patrimonial concept restored to deal with the challenges of the Plantagenet domains, she drew closer to, but never reached, the center of the decision-making process. This led her into the revolt of 1173-74 and forced her retreat into silence and the long years of political inactivity. Even if her status as a married woman did not restrict her official role in her inherited duchy, it imposed upon her certain constraints that varied according to the political atmosphere: Louis VII and Henry II associated her with power in different ways and assigned her different functions. Only in widowhood could she express herself fully through a greatly intensified charter production and attain at last the heart of power."
Marie Hivergneaux, "Queen Eleanor and Aquitaine, 1137-1189", Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady
