WHAT WOULD ELEANOR OF AQUITANE WEAR?
Hello Textbook people, I’m glad to be back, work has been crazy lately but hey, it pays my bills. Here we have Eleanor of Aquitane, basically the most bitchin’ badass woman of medieval times. Eleanor was a highly educated, strong willed and fiercely political. When she was 15, she became Queen of France and traveled to fight in the second crusade. Yup, she fought in the crusades, good for her. After the crusade, she divorced her husband and married King Henry of England and had a rather unhappy marriage. Eight kids later, the couple was estranged and Eleanor sort of ran her own show and set up a salon called “The Court of Love” where the brightest minds of the age discussed love, marriage and duty. One of her sons chose to rebel against her husband and her support found her in prison for 16 years but she was set free after Henry died. She’s also widely acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful women ever. Badass.
1. Queen of France
Coat by Celine, dress by Marc Jacobs, boots by Prada
2. I’m in the crusades, yo!
Cape by Jean Paul Gaultier, dress by Alexander McQueen, boots by Dries Van Noten
3. Oh great, I’m in prison
Coat by Vera Wang, dress by Prabal Gurung, shoes by Lanvin
if you were alive in the middle ages, chances are, you were un-educated and illiterate. you’re hard pressed to find anybody quite so smart and clever as eleanor of aquitane. as far as medieval women go, she was miles ahead of the rest. her father did his best to get her the best education possible and made sure that when he was gone, she wasn’t only taken care of but wasn’t taken advantage of…good man. at fifteen, eleanor married louis vii and was crowned queen of france. aside from her political duties, eleanor also fought in the second crusade, oh yah she went there. badass. shortly after returning to france she divorced her husband and married king henry of england, the couple bore 8 children. the marriage wasn’t exactly happy but served it’s political purpose. estranged from henry, eleanor set up the fabled court of love in aquitane where scholars of all kinds and leading women discussed matters of love, marriage and duty. later in life, she served 16 years in prison for supporting her sons in a rebellion against her husband but was set free upon henry’s death. see? she was really really badass. eleanor is also acknowledged as one of the most beautiful women in history. lucky her.
1: eleanor of aquitane: dress by tsumori chisato, shoes by proenza schouler, cuff by jean paul gualtier
2: queen of france and/or england: alexander mcqueen
3: crusade bound: dress by elie saab, crazy war armor by jean paul gaultier
thanks to fairphantom for this suggestion, keep the requests coming!
