Eleanor of Aquitaine
the Syrian branches of the dynasty and sought control
over the Palestinian territories. Neglecting their own
country, they considered it only as a launching platform
for expansion of their power and resources. At the
same time, the crusaders once again took interest in
Egypt, hoping to restore their kingdom in Jerusalem.
The crusades of the 13th century were directed toward
the Nile Delta and the conquest of Damietta, located at
the eastern mouth of the Nile. Such attacks led only to
temporary conquests, but they forced the sultans to
depend on MAMLUKsoldiers. The Mamluks soon rose
from servile positions to high commands, becoming a
permanent military force. In 1252 and after the failure
of the Crusade of King LOUISIX, the Mamluks took
power.
The Mamluks were primarily interested in wars
against the Syrian Ayyubids and the crusaders whom they
repeatedly defeated, destroying the remnants of their
kingdom in 1291. They defeated the MONGOLSat the Bat-
tle of AYN-JALUTin 1260 and ruled Palestine and Syria as
far as the Taurus Mountains in ANATOLIA. In internal
affairs, they left the civil government to local officials,
who were expected to provide taxes and tributes. Egypt
began a decline reinforced between 1347 and 1350 by the
Black Death. With other diseases, it ravaged the country
and decimated the urban population. The Ottomans took
control of Egypt in 1517.
Further reading: Roger S. Bagnall, Egypt in Late
Antiquity (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
1993); K. A. C. Creswell, The Muslim Architecture of
Egypt,2 vols. (1952–1959; reprint, New York: Hacker Art
Books, 1979); Hugh Kennedy, ed., The Historiography of
Islamic Egypt, c. 950–1800(Leiden: Brill, 2001); Carl F.
Petry, The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1, Islamic
Egypt, 640–1517 (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1998); Thelma K. Thomas, Textiles from Medieval
Egypt, A.D. 300–1300(Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of
Natural History, 1990).
Einhard (Eginhard, Ainhardus, Heinhardus) (ca. 770–
840)biographer of Charlemagne
Einhard was born at Maingau in the Main valley of GER-
MANYabout 770. When he was about age 10, his noble
parents sent him as a pupil to the Abbey of FULDA. The
abbot there taught him and utilized his talents as a scribe.
About 796, he was sent to the CAROLINGIANcourt and
admitted into the palace school. There he completed his
education, taught by ALCUIN, among others.
When Alcuin retired to the abbey Saint-Martin at
Tours, he recommended Einhard to CHARLEMAGNE. The
emperor made him “director of royal buildings” and dis-
patched him on diplomatic missions. In the reign of
LOUISI THEPIOUS, he was among the royal entourage and
oversaw the education of Lothair (795–855), Louis’s
eldest son.
Einhard founded the abbeys of Seligenstadt and
Steinbach in Franconia. He returned there in about 830.
His wife, Imma (d. 836), became an abbess. The emperor
appointed him lay abbot of several monasteries, Saint-
Pierre on Mount Blandin, Saint-Bavon near GHENT, Saint-
Servais at Maastricht, Saint-Wandrille, and Saint-Cloud.
He died at Seligenstadt on March 14, 840. Einhard was
famous mainly as the author of his life of Charlemagne,
written about 826, in which he sought to imitate Sueto-
nius’s Life of Augustus.He based it mainly on his memo-
ries, those of his contemporaries, and the Royal Annals.
See alsoCAROLINGIAN FAMILY AND DYNASTY;CAROLIN-
GIANRENAISSANCE.
Further reading:Einhard and Notker the Stammerer,
Two Lives of Charlemagne,trans. Lewis Thorpe (Balti-
more: Penguin Books, 1969); Paul Edward Dutton, ed.
and trans., Charlemagne’s Courtier: The Complete Einhard
(Peterborough, Canada: Broadview Press, 1998); Eleanor
Shipley Duckett, Carolingian Portraits: A Study in the
Ninth Century(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
1962), 58–91.Eleanor of Aquitaine (Alia-Anor, Aliénor, Eleanor of
Guyenne)(ca. 1122–1204)duchess of Aquitaine, queen of
France, later the queen of England
Born in about 1122 in either Bordeaux or nearby Belin,
Eleanor was perhaps the only child of William X, duke of
AQUITAINE(1099–1137), and Aénor of Châtellerault (d.
1130). William died on pilgrimage on April 9, 1137. The
marriage of his heiress was of great political importance
because Aquitaine was one of the largest fiefs of FRANCE.
Probably in accord with her father’s wish, Eleanor mar-
ried Louis (ca. 1120–80), the future King Louis VII and
the son of King Louis VI, who had hitherto been a monk,
on July 25, 1137. They were installed as rulers of
Aquitaine at Poitiers on August 8 and crowned king and
queen of France at Bourges on Christmas. The young
king seems to have been fond of his beautiful wife, but
Eleanor is said to have complained that she had married a
monk and not a king. They did produce two daughters.
In June 1147 Louis and Eleanor set out on a crusade,
arriving at ANTIOCHin March 1148. There they quarreled
and raised questions about the validity of their marriage.
However, she and Louis returned home together. On
March 21, 1152, their marriage was annulled on grounds
of consanguinity.
Less than two months later, Eleanor married Henry
Plantagenet, duke of NORMANDY, count of ANJOU, and
soon to be HENRYII of England. They were crowned at
Westminster on December 19, 1154. Henry was 11 years
younger than his wife. They produced eight children.
Their marriage was a political match: he wanted her lands
and she needed a protector. Her son RICHARDI LIONHEART
was regarded from an early age as heir to Aquitaine. In
1168 she took him to live there and maintained a court