A slim young girl with leaves in her tangled hair came boldly into the room without asking permission. "No, no." The girl waved away Archbishop Geoffrey's proffered list of names as if they were a tray of honey cakes. "I have had an excellent idea, my lord archbishop." "If it's about the May Day pageant," said Geoffrey du Lauroux, "I fear it would not be wise for you to go out into the town at this time, my dear—" ""No."" Somehow the girl stood a few inches taller, and the reverend archbishop stopped in mid-sentence. Instead of being turned politely around and told to go finish her needlework, she was commanding them all. "No man in my realm is strong enough to hold Aquitaine without the agreement of my other vassals," Eleanor pronounced. "And if I marry outside Aquitaine—if we ally with Normandy or Toulouse, or even Geoffrey of Anjou—Louis of France will perceive the joining of our lands as a threat and may make war on us.... "Then," said Eleanor with a dazzling smile that suggested, somehow, how dull must be anybody who failed to appreciate her conclusion, "there is but one marriage possible, is there not? The king of France has a son...." —from "Duchess of Aquitaine"
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
A slim young girl with leaves in her tangled hair came boldly into the room without asking permission. "No, no." The girl waved away Archbishop Geoffrey's proffered list of names as if they were a tray of honey cakes. "I have had an excellent idea, my lord archbishop." "If it's about the May Day pageant," said Geoffrey du Lauroux, "I fear it would not be wise for you to go out into the town at this time, my dear—" ""No."" Somehow the girl stood a few inches taller, and the reverend archbishop stopped in mid-sentence. Instead of being turned politely around and told to go finish her needlework, she was commanding them all. "No man in my realm is strong enough to hold Aquitaine without the agreement of my other vassals," Eleanor pronounced. "And if I marry outside Aquitaine—if we ally with Normandy or Toulouse, or even Geoffrey of Anjou—Louis of France will perceive the joining of our lands as a threat and may make war on us.... "Then," said Eleanor with a dazzling smile that suggested, somehow, how dull must be anybody who failed to appreciate her conclusion, "there is but one marriage possible, is there not? The king of France has a son...." —from "Duchess of Aquitaine"
Description
Beautiful and brilliant, Eleanor is the daughter of the duke of Aquitaine, whose glittering court is the twelfth-century birthplace of courtly love. For all of the duke's boasts that Eleanor has the brains of a man and the soul of a warrior, everyone knows that a girl of fifteen cannot possibly hold the richest dukedom in France. Everyone, that is, except her dying father, who insists on leaving Eleanor his most valuable provinces—and making her prey to the first baron who rides in to kidnap her. Eleanor, though, is not content to sit idly by and let herself become a victim, and devises a plan to marry the heir to the throne of France. While her alliance to Louis VII may be a dazzling one, her husband is a cautious man whose wit and courage do not always match Eleanor's own, and she ultimately finds herself seeking an even greater match with Henry II of England. Sweeping from the courts of Paris to the perils of the Crusades, "Duchess of Aquitaine" gloriously illuminates the life of one of the most powerful, resourceful, and fascinating women in all of history.
Critic Reviews
“"What a ripping way to learn a history lesson." --- Kirkus Reviews ”
"What a ripping way to learn a history lesson." --Kirkus Reviews
"This book is as rich in detail as the finest tapestry, as sumptuous as a fur rug and dazzling in its portrait of a remarkable woman." --Romantic Times
"Vivid descriptions of life in the Holy Land and of the Byzantine Court match vivid characterizations." --Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Margaret Ball is author of such popular fantasy novels as "The Shadow Gate" and in the science fiction field has collaborated with "New York Times" best-selling author Anne McCaffrey on the national best sellers "PartnerShip" (Baen), recently reprinted in the Baen MegaBook "Brain Ships", and "Acorna: The Unicorn Girl" and "AcornaAs Quest" (both Harper Prism/Eos). She has also written historical novels and romances under her own name, as well as pseudonyms (for example, Catherine Lyndell). Ball has degrees in mathematics and linguistics, and was a Fulbright Scholar, spending two years in Africa
Back Cover
A slim young girl with leaves in her tangled hair came boldly into the room without asking permission. "No, no." The girl waved away Archbishop Geoffrey's proffered list of names as if they were a tray of honey cakes. "I have had an excellent idea, my lord archbishop." "If it's about the May Day pageant," said Geoffrey du Lauroux, "I fear it would not be wise for you to go out into the town at this time, my dear--" ""No."" Somehow the girl stood a few inches taller, and the reverend archbishop stopped in mid-sentence. Instead of being turned politely around and told to go finish her needlework, she was commanding them all. "No man in my realm is strong enough to hold Aquitaine without the agreement of my other vassals," Eleanor pronounced. "And if I marry outside Aquitaine--if we ally with Normandy or Toulouse, or even Geoffrey of Anjou--Louis of France will perceive the joining of our lands as a threat and may make war on us.... "Then," said Eleanor with a dazzling smile that suggested, somehow, how dull must be anybody who failed to appreciate her conclusion, "there is but one marriage possible, is there not? The king of France has a son...." ---from "Duchess of Aquitaine"
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