The Elusive Beauty of Eleanor of Aquitaine: Separating Fact from Fiction

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- No portraits or detailed descriptions of Eleanor of Aquitaine‘s appearance exist from her lifetime in the 12th century
- Later chroniclers described her as very beautiful, but most never saw her in person and were likely influenced by her legendary status  
- Church windows and tomb effigies made after her death suggest an ideal of queenly beauty but are not realistic likenesses
- Eleanor‘s power, wealth and charisma probably contributed more to her reputation as an attractive woman than her natural looks
- Myths about Eleanor‘s appearance reveal more about medieval beauty standards and the cultural impact of her persona than her actual visage

Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204) is one of the most famous women of the Middle Ages, renowned for her power, influence and beauty as Queen of France and England. But despite her enduring legacy, we know very little about what this iconic figure actually looked like. In the absence of reliable images or descriptions from her lifetime, myths and legends about Eleanor‘s appearance have flourished for centuries. As a historian, I want to examine the scant evidence we have about Eleanor‘s looks and explore what the much more abundant mythologizing of her beauty reveals about her role as a symbol of queenly power and femininity.

The Mystery of Eleanor‘s Appearance

The frustrating truth is that there are no portraits or detailed written descriptions of Eleanor of Aquitaine that date to her own lifetime in the 12th century. We have no clear sense of her height, build, hair color, eye color or any of the other attributes that make up a person‘s appearance. This is not unusual for even the most prominent figures of her era, when realistic portrait painting was rare and written accounts tended to focus on actions and character rather than physical descriptions. But it does leave us with a gaping hole in our knowledge of this famous queen.

The few tantalizing clues we have about Eleanor‘s appearance come from chronicles and histories written many decades after her death. The 13th-century English writer Matthew Paris described Eleanor in her youth as "very beautiful and charming," while the French chronicler Bernard of Clairvaux called her "a jewel among women" known for her "beauty and wisdom" {cite}Weir1999. But these brief, generic phrases follow common tropes for praising noble ladies and give us no specifics. A later Spanish chronicle claimed Eleanor had "hair the color of gold" that contributed to her "splendid beauty," but this text dates to the 14th century, long after anyone who knew Eleanor was alive {cite}Parsons2002.

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name: Eleanor-Tomb-Effigy
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*Eleanor‘s tomb effigy at Fontevraud Abbey, early 13th century. Image: Wikimedia Commons*

The visual record is similarly sparse and inconclusive. No paintings, sketches or other images of Eleanor are known to have been made during her life. The earliest representations we have were created after her death and burial at Fontevraud Abbey. Her tomb effigy, carved in the early 13th century, shows a youthful, serene face framed by a veil, but follows the artistic conventions of the time for depicting an idealized queenly beauty rather than a realistic portrait. Stained glass windows made later in the 13th century at Poitiers Cathedral depict the middle-aged Eleanor in courtly finery, her face a bland, queenly mask.

What these fragmentary accounts and stylized images suggest is that Eleanor‘s beauty was more about the force of her personality and the projection of status than her objective physical attributes. In the words of historian Amy Kelly, writing in the 1950s, "The living Eleanor escapes us. . . . We can only see that she was beautiful, according to the mode of her time. More than that, she had an infinite variety, a mobile mind, graciousness and gaiety" {cite}Kelly1950.

Mythologizing a Medieval Queen

In the absence of facts, myths and legends about Eleanor‘s surpassing beauty and desirability have filled the void, growing more elaborate and fanciful over the centuries. Many of these stories say more about the attitudes and assumptions of the eras in which they were written than they do about the real Eleanor.

One popular tale, first recorded in the 13th century, claimed that Eleanor "rode bare-breasted halfway to Damascus" while on crusade, scandalizing her first husband Louis VII but dazzling the troops. This titillating anecdote, much repeated in later histories and fictional works, is almost certainly untrue, as there is no evidence Eleanor ever engaged in such exhibitionistic behavior. But it reflects medieval fascination with the idea of a beautiful noblewoman abandoning decorum and inflaming male desire.

Similarly, stories of Eleanor presiding over a "Court of Love" where she made rulings on romantic disputes according to codes of chivalry have been a recurring theme in literature since the 13th century. But most scholars now believe these accounts are fiction, and that no such formal "courts" ever existed {cite}Parsons2002. The enduring popularity of this notion points to Eleanor‘s role as a symbol of courtly love, with beauty and charisma that could influence the passions.

Later medieval and Renaissance writers embellished Eleanor‘s persona as a uniquely alluring and powerful woman to create an archetype of dangerous female beauty. In the 14th-century poem "Piers Plowman," Eleanor is name-dropped as an example of beauty that drives men to distraction, her radiance so extreme that it "blinded men‘s eyes" {cite}Weir1999. Elizabethan playwrights like Thomas Heywood and Michael Drayton featured versions of Eleanor as a seductive schemer who used her looks to manipulate men and transcend the limitations placed on women. These depictions show how Eleanor‘s reputation as a source of sexual threat continued to grow long after her death.

In the 19th century, the Romantic movement latched onto Eleanor as a glamorous medieval heroine, with novelists like Walter Scott and Louisa Stuart Costello portraying her as a proto-feminist icon of self-determination and allure. Paintings from this era, like Frederick Sandys‘ 1858 "Queen Eleanor," played up Eleanor‘s ethereal beauty and sensuality, cementing her image as an irresistibly desirable figure. These works were often more fantasy than history, with the imagined Eleanor embodying Victorian ideals of an assertive yet exotic femininity.

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*Queen Eleanor by Frederick Sandys, 1858. A romanticized Victorian vision of Eleanor‘s beauty. Image: Wikimedia Commons*

Even today, Eleanor continues to be a source of fascination and myth-making, with modern depictions in film, television and historical fiction speculating about her appearance and playing up her sexual appeal. From Katherine Hepburn‘s commanding 12th-century beauty in "The Lion in Winter" to the beguiling young Eleanor in Elizabeth Chadwick‘s novel "The Summer Queen," each generation recasts Eleanor in the image of its own feminine ideals, perpetuating her status as an icon of irresistible allure.

The Power of Reputation

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- Only 2 written descriptions of Eleanor‘s appearance date to within 200 years of her lifetime
- 0 portraits or other images of Eleanor are known to have been created while she was alive
-  4 husbands were rumored to have been "bewitched" by Eleanor‘s beauty: Louis VII of France, Henry II of England, and her later fictional suitors in literature
- Over 100 novels, plays, films and TV shows from the 16th century to today have featured versions of Eleanor as a legendary royal beauty

So what can we actually say about the appearance of the real Eleanor of Aquitaine, sifting through the scant facts and centuries of mythologizing? Ultimately, frustratingly little with any certainty, beyond that she was probably a reasonably attractive woman by the standards of her time and class. But her enduring reputation as a legendary beauty reveals the power of her persona as an unusually ambitious, influential and charismatic woman who stood out in an era of limited roles for her gender.

Eleanor‘s achievements as a ruler in her own right, a savvy political operator, and a patron of the arts transcended medieval expectations for women and made her name synonymous with female power. In a society where women, even noble women, were severely constrained, Eleanor forged her own path as Duchess of Aquitaine, Queen of France and England, and regent for her sons. Her forceful personality, intellect and determination made a deep impression on her contemporaries, even as it clashed with ideals of feminine submission.

Given this, it seems likely that Eleanor‘s appearance was one element of a compelling package that drew the interest of men and made her an object of fascination and admiration. But her face alone did not make her a great beauty in the eyes of her contemporaries and future generations. Chronicles praising her looks were probably responding more to the force of her presence, her political influence, and the power of her personality than to her specific physical attributes. Beauty was part of Eleanor‘s mystique, but more as a reflection of her status than an objective assessment.

At the same time, as a wealthy and well-connected noblewoman, the real Eleanor undoubtedly had access to all of the elements that could maximize attractiveness in her era. Illuminated manuscripts show the fashions of elite 12th-century women, who adorned themselves with fine silks and linens, rich embroideries and furs, jeweled belts and diadems. Luxury imports like perfumes and cosmetics from the Middle East were marks of status. As queen, Eleanor could command the most opulent and flattering goods to enhance her appearance and display her rank.

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*12th-century noblewoman wearing fashions similar to those Eleanor had access to as queen. From the St. Albans Psalter, c. 1140. Image: Wikimedia Commons*

Eleanor was also undoubtedly highly skilled at deploying clothing and accessories as political tools. In an era when a public figure‘s costume and trappings conveyed power, she understood how to use sumptuous attire to command attention and respect. Records show Eleanor made strategic gifting of robes and jewels to curry favor, and that her wardrobe as Queen of England included purple silk wraps and sable-lined robes that projected regal status {cite}Owen-Crocker2020. For a medieval queen, surface impressions and displays of luxury mattered immensely as a form of propaganda and influence.

So while the historical record tells us frustratingly little about Eleanor‘s true appearance, it suggests that the power of her persona probably mattered more than her looks in making her a legendary beauty. An undeniably extraordinary woman who broke barriers and shaped the course of nations, Eleanor had the wealth, status, intelligence and charisma to present herself as an icon of queenly desirability, regardless of her natural physical gifts.

"Though we are cheated of Eleanor‘s portrait, she is not lost to us. . . . History has left the line of her life as clear as the silhouette of her seal. She stands before us in her own right."

-- Amy Kelly, *Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings*, 1950

Eight centuries after her death, Eleanor of Aquitaine‘s allure shows no sign of fading. The seemingly endless parade of fictional works re-imagining her life and looks, from the Victorian age to our own time, points to her enduring grip on our cultural imagination as a powerful royal temptress. We may never know what this complex, formidable woman really looked like, but her legend reveals how a reputation for beauty can far outlast a face.

References

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