BIOGRAPHY
Eleanor was born in the castle at Domfront, Normandy, on 13 October 1162, the sixth child, second daughter of Henry II, king of England, and Eleanor de Poitou, duchesse d'Aquitaine. She was baptised by Henri de Marcy, then Cistercian abbot of Hautecombe, who later became an important figure in the fight against the late twelfth-century movements of Catharism and Waldensianism and took a leading part at the Third Lateran Council. Her godfather was the chronicler Robert de Torigny, who had a special interest in her and recorded her life as best he could. She received her first name as a namesake of her mother.

When she was 14 years old, in September 1177, Eleanor was married to Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, son of Sancho III, king of Castile, and Blanca de Navarre. The marriage was arranged to secure the Pyrennean border, with Gascony offered as her dowry. Of their ten children, four daughters would have progeny.

Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughters, her namesake Eleanor best inherited her mother's political influence. She was almost as powerful as her husband, who specified in his will that she was to rule alongside their son in the event of his death. It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berenguela to Alfonso IX, king of León, in the interest of peace.

When Alfonso died, Eleanor was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter Berenguela instead performed these honours. Eleanor then became ill and died at Burgos on 31 October 1214, only twenty-eight days after her husband, and was buried at the abbey of Las Huelgas in Burgos.