On 18 May 1152, the nineteen-year-old future Henry II of England ⓘ married Eleanor of Aquitaine ⓘ at Poitiers, probably in the cathedral of Saint-Pierre ⓘ. The union transformed the political map of western Europe.

Only weeks earlier Eleanor’s marriage to Louis VII of France ⓘ had been annulled. As duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was the most eligible heiress in France, and vulnerable to abduction and coercive remarriage. Contemporary sources report attempts to intercept her journey south, including by Louis of Blois and by Geoffrey of Anjou, Henry’s younger brother. Eleanor successfully reached Poitiers and sent word to Henry in Normandy; the marriage followed swiftly, at the cathedral of St Pierre.1

The consequences were immense. Through Eleanor, Henry acquired control of Aquitaine, joining it to his Angevin inheritance in Normandy and Anjou. When he became king of England in 1154, the resulting dominion stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees, later termed the “Angevin Empire.”

Between 1153 and 1166 Eleanor bore eight children, seven of whom survived to adulthood and contracted dynastic marriages. Among them were:

• Henry the Young King

• Richard (later Richard I of England ⓘ)

• Geoffrey, duke of Brittany

• John (later John of England ⓘ)

The marriage was politically formidable but personally turbulent. In 1173 the Young King rebelled against his father with the encouragement of Louis VII. Geoffrey and Richard joined what became known as the Rebellion of 1173–1174. After its suppression, Henry II confined Eleanor for approximately sixteen years, restricting her political freedom though not entirely removing her from ceremonial life.

The marriage of 1152 thus marked both the foundation of Angevin power and the beginning of one of the most dramatic royal partnerships of the twelfth century.

• 1. The stained glass is from the late 12th century and depicts Eleanor and Henry as donors of the Cathedral's East window.