Queen: Eleanor of Provence, Queen of England, 1223-1291

Foreign-born queens throughout history were in a difficult spot.  They had to be loyal to their husband and his country while still advancing the interests of their home countries.  They also had to make themselves likeable to their new subjects, who were often suspicious of them because of their foreign origin.  Some queens didn't fair so well and Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III was one.

Eleanor, 1223-1291, was born in Aix-en-Provence, the daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and his wife Beatrice of Savoy.  Her family had ties to the royal family of Barcelona, which was an independent city ruled by a count at that time, as well as to the Savoyard dynasty.  This relationship placed Eleanor in that group of southern kingdoms and duchies, which included Spain and Aquitaine, which were known for their wealth and culture.  Eleanor herself was well educated, liked to read and write poetry.  She would later be known as a fashionable and learned woman.  She was also well-known for her beauty, a point which helped her family induce Henry III to accept her with no dowry, a rare thing in those days.  In June, 1235, when she was 12 years old, Eleanor was engaged to Henry.

Eleanor first laid eyes on her husband when she married him at Canterbury Cathedral on January 14, 1223.  She was crowned Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey the next day.  In that era, Eleanor was old enough to begin the duties of a wife.  She and Henry would have five surviving children.  The future Edward I, Margaret, who later became Queen of Scotland, Beatrice, who later married the Duke of Brittany, Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, and Katherine, who died when she was about 3.  There were also four little boys who died as babies or soon after birth, Richard, John, William and Henry.  They were a close family.  When Edward became ill to the point of death, the monks at Beaulieu Abbey allowed Margaret to stay with her son.  When little Katherine died, both her parents were grief-stricken. 

Eleanor stood by Henry during some difficult times, but the English people did not like her.  The reasons was that, when she came to England, she trailed a significant number of relatives and others in her retinue, who all seemed to think they were entitled to positions at court, money and other perks.  This greedy pack, called the Savoyards collectively, incited the anger of Henry's barons and word spread.  The people of London didn't like Eleanor either, one time pelting her barge with garbage as it floated down the Thames.  And the feeling was mutual.  Eleanor demanded her full right of monetary tribute, known as Queen's Gold, and wasn't about to let anyone tell her how to spend it.  When Henry was away tending to wars or other issues on the Continent, Eleanor functioned as regent in his absence, particularly in 1235.  When Simon de Montfort rebelled against the King in 1263-64, Eleanor helped raised troops in Europe to fight on Henry's side. 

In 1272, Henry died and her son Edward I, who was away with Edmund on the Ninth Crusade at the time, became King of England.  Eleanor raised three of her grandchildren, Edward's son Henry and daughter Eleanor, and Beatrice's son John.  When little Henry died in her care in 1274, Eleanor was plunged into grief and paid for his heart to be embalmed and placed at Guildford Priory in London.  Her two surviving daughters, Margaret and Beatrice also died young, further adding to her sorrow.  She retired into a convent in Amesbury and died in 1291.  She was buried at the Abbey of St. Mary and St. Melor, Amesbury.  The exact gravesite was later lost, which made Eleanor the only English queen whose grave cannot be identified.