Describe Eleanor of Aquitaine’s accomplishments and discuss their significance

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1) In the Second Crusade, Eleanor of Aquitaine accompanied her husband, King Louis VII, into battle in the Middle East, along with 300 other ladies, all dressed in armor and carrying lances. Her intent was to help the sick and wounded. The women, most of whom eventually returned safely to Europe, were widely chided by contemporary commentators, but their actions underscore the changing role of women in medieval society.
2) Eleanor was, by all accounts, fiercely independent, so much so that, in March 1152, Louis had his marriage to her annulled because he suspected her of adultery. Eleanor then married Henry of Anjou, soon to be King Henry II of England, with whom she had eight children, including the future English kings Richard the Lionheart and John. Henry was unfaithful to her and treated her abusively, so she finally abandoned England for France in 1170. From Poitiers, she encouraged sons Richard, John, and Geoffrey to rebel against their father, while at the same time establishing that city as the center of a secular culture that celebrated the art of courtly love. During this time, the great oral poems of the first millennium—poems like Beowulf and Song of Roland—were first written down, and more than 2,600 poems were composed by the troubadour poets of Eleanor’s day, some with accompanying music