PART TWO OF TWO
As mentioned on the first page, my objective was to see and take pictures of the tomb of Eleanor of Aquitaine, which is supposed to have been modeled from her actual likeness later in life. In this second part, I reach my objective.
The first page was spent walking the abbey grounds, pleasant enough, and waiting for permission to enter the abbey itself.
After a full circle, it is apparently time to try to gain entry since the hardware seems to have all been carried outside waiting trucks to pick it up. So, I start back, toward the abbey entrance:
Visitors can now enter the abbey, and so I do just that:
At the far end lie four tombs, two of which are of particular interest to me, Eleanor and Henry II: according to Thomas Cahill's account in his "Mysteries of the Middle Ages" (reviewed on this web site), these two were the first monarchs to actually choose each other for marriage. Eleanor was wed to Louis of France but divorced that overly religious person on grounds they were too closely related, third cousins. Then she wed Henry, also a third cousin! Needless to say there were bitter feelings, even hostilities, as most of what we now see as French came under Henry and Eleanor, and a little territory to the east was all that was left to Louis.
The other two are Isabelle of Angouleme, daughter in law to Henry and Eleanor since she was John of Lackland's third wife and the mother of Henry III, future king of England. John was the son of Henry and Eleanor. Beside her is Richard the Lionheart, also Eleanor and Henry's son, and Eleanor's favorite who dies as a result of wounds sustained in a skirmish after surviving a crusade. These were violent times.
Here is another look at Henry and Eleanor:
Henry wanted to be buried by his wife, how sweet. So, since she was intent on spending her last years at Fontevraud Abbey, she had him buried here so she could be laid next to him. How romantic?
Quite amazing actually since their marriage was not a happy or peaceful one for very long. Once sons were born and Eleanor conspired with Richard, especially, against her husband, he threw her in jail for 16 years, 10 of which she served in pretty close, but comfortable, confinement. But then Henry found he needed her out of jail to pacify the populace of both his French and English dominions, but especially their jointly held French lands. She and Henry traveled their French holdings together, showing they were back together, and it worked.
Eleanor wanted to spend the last years of her life living as a holy woman, and did so, giving gifts of land and other wealth to everyone that had been good to her and her children through her very long life.
Cahill described Eleanor with much admiration for setting in motion a new kind of woman, now commonplace, one who takes her life into her own hands and acts with authority and with fairness and even generosity in dealing with others, no matter what their rank in society. I like this woman!
Go back to first Fontevraud page 
Visit St Malo and Mont Saint Michel (this same trip) 
Go to page giving French destinations 
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