This is among the most comprehensive of timelines describing the life and events surrounding Eleanor of Aquitaine. Note that years did not always start on the first of January in the medieval period. Scribes observed different local traditions. For that reason, although the day and month of an event may be precise, I sometimes suggest one year or the next. For example, Eleanor gave birth to John on 24 December at King's Manor House, Oxford. However, the year is variously recorded as 1166 or 1167. Similarly, Joanna was born at Angers in October of either 1164 or 1165.

Numbers thus [21] refer to the appropriate chapter in POWER OF A WOMAN.

1099 -- Crusaders capture Jerusalem
1099 -- Eleanor's father, Guilhem X, born
1099 -- Robert d'Arbrissel establishes Fontevrault
1100 -- Aug -- King William Rufus killed. Henry I claims English throne
1100 -- Henry's Charter of Liberties binds future kings to the law
1103 c. -- Eleanor's mother, Anor (Aenor), born
1115 -- Bernard (later Saint) founds abbey at Clairvaux
1118 -- Templars' Order founded, at Jerusalem
1120 -- Nov 26 -- King Henry I's only male heir, Wm. Atheling, lost at sea
1121 -- Eleanor's parents, Guilhem X and Anor, marry
1121 -- The Church makes Abelard burn his book, at Soissons
1122 c. -- 1/. ELEANOR BORN at Belin, near Bordeaux (local tradition) [1]
1122 or 23 -- 2/. ELEANOR BORN at Nieul
1127 -- Eleanor's grandfather, Guilhem "the Troubadour" dies
1127 -- Geoffrey of Anjou marries Empress Matilda of Saxony
1129 -- Philip, son of Louis VI, crowned as future king of France
1130 c. -- Eleanor's mother and brother, Guilhem Aigret (8), die [1]
1131 -- A fall kills Philip, the crowned heir to France [1]
1133 -- March 5 -- The future Henry II born, at Le Mans
1135 -- Dec 1 -- King Henry I of England dies, at Rouen
1135 -- Henry I's death starts 19 year war for crown of England

1137 -- Gd Friday -- Eleanor's father, Guilhem X, dies, at Compostela [1]

June -- Abbé Suger leads King Louis VI's embassy to Eleanor [1]
July 25 -- Eleanor marries King Louis' son, Louis, in Bordeaux [1]
Aug 1 -- King Louis VI dies on the "kalends of August" in Paris [1]
Aug 8 -- Louis VII and Eleanor assume titles, at Poitiers [1]
Aug -- Eleanor enters Paris as Louis VII's queen [2]
autumn -- Louis VII quells rebels in Poitou [2]
Dec 25 -- Louis VII crowned, at Bourges

1140 -- Bernard of Clairvaux condemns Abelard, at Sens [2]
1141/43 -- Trouble at Bourges. Louis sacks Champagne, burns Vitry [3]
1143 -- King Fulk of Jerusalem's death spurs Muslim advances

1144 -- June 11 -- Abbé Suger consecrates renovated Abbey of St. Denis [3]

Dec 24 -- Edessa falls to Muslims. Christians killed, enslaved

1145-Eleanor's first living child by Louis, Marie, born [3]

News reaches Paris of Muslim victories in Holy Land [4]
Dec 25 -- Louis announces intention to take the cross, at Bourges [4]

1146 -- end Lent -- Bernard of Clairvaux calls for Crusade, at Vezelay [4]

Dec 25 -- Emperor Conrad accepts Crusade, at Speyer [4]

1147 -- May 12 -- Louis and Eleanor march out of Paris [4]

June 11 -- French and Angevin armies march on Crusade, from Metz [4]
Oct 4 -- Louis and Eleanor enter Constantinople [4]
Oct -- Armies waste time while leaders tarry in Constantinople [5]
mid-Oct -- French and Angevin armies cross into Asia Minor [5]
mid-Oct -- Turkish cavalry routs Conrad's German army [5]
Dec 25 -- Storms destroy French and Angevin stores, men, horses [5]

1148 -- Jan -- Laodiceans refuse supplies to Frankish army [5]

Jan -- Turkish cavalry ambushes Franks. Recriminations [5]
late winter -- Leaders abandon infantry, take ship from Antalya [5]
March 19 -- Bulk of army reaches Antioch after two weeks at sea [6]
spring -- Arguments on strategy strain relations with Raymond [6]
spring -- Rift between Louis and Eleanor. Army leaves Antioch [6]
spring -- Jerusalem welcomes Frankish army [7]
June 24 -- Grand council, at Acre, decides to attack Damascus [7]
July 24 -- Damascenes repulse "three kings' attack" [7]
From Aug -- Louis VII and Eleanor tarry in Palestine [7]
Abbot Suger's many letters to Louis urge his return to Paris [7]

1149 -- post-Easter -- Louis and Eleanor take separate ships from Palestine [8]

late July -- Both come ashore separately in Roger of Sicily's lands [8]
Oct 9, 10 -- Pope Eugenius refuses Eleanor's divorce plea, at Tusculum [9]
Nov 11 -- Abbot Suger escorts Louis and Eleanor to Paris [9]

1149/50 -- mid-winter -- Eleanor's second daughter, Alix, born [11]

1151 -- Jan 13 -- Abbé Suger dies [11]

Aug -- Count Geoffrey of Anjou and his son Henry visit Paris [11]
Sept 7 -- Count Geoffrey (Plantagenet) dies, at Chateau du Loir [11]
autumn -- Louis and Eleanor tour the south to divorce their affairs [11]

1152 -- March 21 -- Louis VII and Eleanor divorce, at Beaugency [11]

late Mar -- Eleanor eludes two attempts to seize her for ransom [11]
late Mar -- Eleanor sets up her court at Poitiers [12]
spring -- Negotiations between Eleanor and Henry of Anjou [12]
May 18 -- Eleanor marries the future Henry II, at Poitiers [12]
spring -- Henry beats back punitive raids by Louis and allies [12]
summer -- Eleanor and Henry tour her lands [12]

1153 -- Jan -- Henry leaves for England. Eleanor based in Angers [13]

summer -- King Stephen's heir to England, Eustace, dies [13]
Aug 17 -- Guillaume, Eleanor's first child by Henry, born at Le Mans [13]
Aug 20 -- Bernard of Clairvaux (soon to be Saint Bernard) dies [13]
Dec -- Negotiations for peace in England succeed [13]

1154 -- Jan 13 -- Stephen accepts Henry as his heir [13]

April -- Henry returns from England after negotiating for throne [13]
Oct 25 -- King Stephen dies, at Dover [14]
Nov -- Storms prevent Henry and Eleanor crossing Channel [14]
Dec -- Henry II and Eleanor crowned, at Westminster [14]

1155 -- early -- Thomas à Becket named as Henry's chancellor [15]

Feb 28 -- Henry The Young King born at Bermondsey [15]

1156 -- April -- Guillaume (2) dies, at Wallingford Castle [15]

June -- Matilda born, at London [15]

1157 -- Sep 8 or 13 -- Richard the Lionheart born, Beaumont Palace, Oxford [15]

1158 -- post-haying -- Becket's diplomacy-by-splendor mission to Paris [16]

at harvest -- Henry and Louis affiance Marguerite to Young Henry [16]
Sept 23 -- Geoffrey Prince of England born [16]

1159 -- summer -- Henry II's expensive, foiled, attempt to take Toulouse [17]

1160 c. -- Philip of England born to Eleanor. Dies in infancy [17]

Oct 4 -- Queen Constance gives Louis a daughter, and dies [17]
Oct -- Eleanor summoned to bring Young Henry to Normandy [17]
Oct -- Louis marries Adele of Champagne, strengthening ties [17]
Nov 5 -- Strategic marriage of Young Henry (5) to Marguerite (2) [17]
Nov -- Henry seizes the Vexin, Marguerite's dowry [17]

1161 -- April 18 -- Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury dies [18]

1162 -- post-Easter -- Henry appoints Becket to See of Canterbury, at Falaise [18]

post-Easter -- Becket to England, taking Young Henry, Marguerite [18]
Oct 13 -- Eleanor of England born, at Domfront, Normandy [18]

1163 -- Jan 25 -- Henry, Eleanor return to England after long absence [18]

July 1 -- Welsh and Scots rulers do homage to Henry, Young Henry [18]
Oct -- Becket objects to Henry forcing common law on Church [19]

1164 -- Jan -- Second argument over common law, at Clarendon [19]

Oct 12 -- Henry tries, and fines, Becket, at Northampton [20]
Oct -- Becket flees, via Sandwich, to Louis and the pope [20]
Dec 26 -- Henry exiles four hundred of Becket's kin from England [21]

1165 -- summer -- Henry, at war in Wales, meets "Fair Rosamond" Clifford [22]

Aug 22 -- Philip, the future Philip II Augustus, born, at Paris [21]
Oct -- (or 1164) Joanna born, at Angers [23]

1165/66 -- winter -- Henry divides time between law-making and Rosamond

1166 -- Easter -- Pope Alexander names Becket papal legal for England [24]

Pentecost -- Becket excommunicates Henry's officers, at Vezelay [24]
Dec 24 -- (or 1167) John born, at King's Manor House, Oxford

1167 -- Henry's mother, the Empress Matilda, dies

Young Matilda betrothed to Henry the Lion of Saxony
Eleanor decides to separate from Henry [23]
Eleanor leaves England, establishes Court of Ladies at Poitiers [26]

1168 -- Feb 1 -- Young Matilda marries Henry the Lion of Saxony

1169 -- Jan 6 -- Henry II and sons meet Louis VII at Montmirail [25]

April -- Eleanor proclaims Richard duke of Aquitaine [26]
Young Eleanor betrothed to Alfonso, heir to Castille

1170 -- Jan -- The pope demands Henry give Becket the kiss of peace [25]

March -- Henry crosses to England to evade papal deadline [25]
May 29 -- Becket's agent stops mass at St. Paul's, and in York [25]
June 14 -- Young Henry crowned, in Westminster Abbey [25]
July 20 -- Henry and Becket attempt reconciliation, at Freteval [25]
Dec 1 -- Becket returns to England, lands at Sandwich [25]
Dec 29 -- Four knights murder Becket in Canterbury Cathedral [25]

1171 -- Aug 8 -- Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, dies

Oct -- Henry takes ship to Ireland, returns to England in spring

1172 -- spring -- Henry brings Young Henry, Marguerite to Normandy

spring -- Papal legates meet Henry in Avranches [27]
spring -- Thomas Becket canonized
Aug 27 -- Young Henry crowned again, with Marguerite, Winchester
autumn -- Henry's penance for Becket's death, at Avranches [27]

1173-Peter of Blois joins Henry's service

1173 -- spring -- Rift between Henry II and sons, abetted by Eleanor [27]

March 24 -- Young Henry flees his father, finds refuge in Paris [27]
late Mar -- Richard and Geoffrey also flee to Paris [27]
autumn -- Henry and three sons attempt reconciliation, at Gisors

1174 -- spring -- Henry ransacks Eleanor's allies, and court, at Poitiers [28]

June -- Henry exiles royal women, including Eleanor, to England [28]
summer -- Henry's penance for Becket's death, at Canterbury [28]
July -- Louis, Young Henry and Philip of Flanders besiege Rouen [28]
Aug 11 -- Henry II beats off the allies' attack on Rouen [28]

1175 -- Oct -- Eleanor refuses Henry's demand for a divorce [28]

1176-Rosamond Clifford dies, buried in Godstow Abbey [28]

Feb 13 -- Joanna marries William II of Sicily, at St. Egidius, Palermo

1177-The curia denies Henry's plea to divorce Eleanor [30]

Richard shows cruelty against rebels, in Limousin [30]
Sept 22 -- Eleanor of England "Leonor" marries Alfonso, at Burgos

1179-Henry compels Eleanor to cede lands to Richard

May -- Richard wars rebellious vassals, razes Taillebourg [30]
summer -- King Louis visits Becket's shrine, at Canterbury [31]
Nov 1 -- Philip Augustus crowned on All Saints Day, at Reims [31]

1180 c. -- Alfonso VIII founds Las Huelgas de Burgos for Leonor

c. -- Joanna's child by William, Boemond, dies in infancy
Feb -- King Philip assumes his father's regal powers [31]
March -- Philip levies heavy taxes on Jews to replenish treasury
April 28 -- King Philip's first marriage, to Isabelle of Hainault
May 29 -- Philip and Isabelle crowned, in St. Denis
Sept 18 -- King Louis VII dies, at the abbey of Saint-Port [31]

1182 -- summer -- Henry II and Richard crush rebels in Aquitaine

autumn -- Henry the Lion, Matilda and family exiled. Flee to Rouen

1183 -- spring -- Strife between Henry II and two sons, at Limoges [33]

June 11 -- Henry The Young King dies, at Martel [33]
Dec -- Henry II and King Philip confer, at Gisors [34]

1186-Henry the Lion and Matilda return to Saxony

summer -- Henry, Eleanor and sons confer, at Windsor [34]
Aug 18 -- Geoffrey dies, at Paris [34]

1187 -- Sept 17 -- Saladin's forces capture Jerusalem

'87/8-Blanca "Blanche" born, to Leonor, in Valencia

1188 -- Jan 21, 22 -- Henry and Philip make peace, take the cross, at Gisors [35]

Jan 22 -- Archbishop of Tyre warns kings of Muslim victories [35]
Feb -- Henry prepares English and Welsh barons for Crusade [35]
Mar 27 -- Barbarossa and German barons take the cross, at Mainz
summer -- Armed for Crusade, crusaders fight each other [35]
Aug 16 -- French soldiers fell the parlay tree, the elm of Gisors [35]
Aug 16 -- The kings learn that Saladin has taken Jerusalem [35]

1189-Henry II names Henry de Sully abbot of Glastonbury

to end Lent -- Henry lies ill in his native city, Le Mans [36]
June 28 -- Matilda dies, at Brunswick
July -- King Philip and Richard dictate terms to the dying Henry
July 6 -- Henry II dies, at Chinon [36]
July -- Richard confirms father's gift, a bride for Wm. Marshall [36]
July -- Eleanor freed, assumes the regency of England [37]
July 20 -- Richard invested as duke of Normandy
Sept 3 -- King Richard crowned [37]
Nov 11 -- William II of Sicily dies, leaving Joanna a widow
Dec 11 -- King Richard takes the cross [38]

1190-Glastonbury monks find "Arthur's" grave

Peter of Blois serves as Eleanor's secretary until 1195
June 10 -- Emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowns on Crusade
July 4 -- Richard, Philip agree Crusade strategy, leave Vezelay
Aug 7 -- Richard sails, ahead of army, from Marseilles [38]
Sept. 24 -- Richard lands at Messina, Sicily, ahead of troops [38]
autumn -- Philip joins Richard at Messina [38]
'90/1 -- winter -- Richard rescues sister Joanna & property from Tancred [38]

1191 -- Feb 2 -- Richard and Philip quarrel, over Joanna and Alix [38]

March 30 -- Philip sails from Messina, bound for Acre [38]
March 30 -- Eleanor brings Richard's bride, Berengaria, to Messina [38]
April 10 -- Richard's army sails from Messina, bound for Acre
Easter Day -- Eleanor reaches Rome, lobbies Pope Celestine III [38]
May 12 -- Richard marries Berengaria, at Limassol, Cyprus [39]
early June -- Richard's fleet reaches Acre [39]
July 12, 13 -- Acre falls to Christian forces after two-year siege [39]
July 28 -- King Philip leaves Acre [39]
Aug 20 -- Richard executes two thousand prisoners of war [39]
Sep -- Richard offers Joanna to Saladin's brother. She refuses [39]
Sep 2 -- Leaders agree to Treaty of Haifa [39]

1192 -- Aug 1 -- Richard, with a small force, relieves Jaffa [39]

Aug 9 -- Christians and Muslims reach a "three-year truce" [39]
Oct 9 -- Richard leaves Palestine [40]
Dec 20 -- Leopold captures Richard, near Vienna [40]
Dec -- Richard described as "emperor's enemy" [40]

1193 -- March 23 -- Duke Leopold relinquishes captive to Hohenstaufen [40]

April -- Richard described as emperor's "dearest" [40]
'92/4-Eleanor works to collect Richard's ransom [40]

1193 -- Easter -- Richard refutes Hohenstaufen's charges, at Speyer [40]

Aug 14, 15 -- King Philip marries, repudiates Ingeborg of Denmark [40]
Dec -- Eleanor escorts Richard's ransom to Mainz [40]

1194 -- Feb 3 -- Eleanor appears before Hohenstaufen with ransom [40]

Feb 3 -- Richard is released [40]
Mar 13 -- Richard and Eleanor land in England, at Sandwich [41]
spring -- Richard retakes English towns, including Nottingham [41]
Richard's only, brief, visit to Sherwood Forest [41]

1195 c. -- Death of Alix, Eleanor's second daughter by Louis [41]

Henry the Lion of Saxony, Matilda's widower, dies [41]

1196 -- Oct -- Joanna marries again; Count Raymond VI of Toulouse [41]
1196 -- June 11 -- King Philip's bigamous marriage to Agnes of Meranie [41]
1198 -- March 11 -- Death of Marie, Eleanor's firstborn [41]
1198 -- July 10 -- Aachen opens its gates to Otto's troops
1198 -- July 12 -- Eleanor's grandson Otto crowned emperor, in Cologne

1199 -- Jan 13 -- Innocent III imposes a truce on Richard and Philip

April 6 -- Richard dies, at Chalus [42]
April 25 -- John becomes duke of Normandy [42]
May 27 -- John crowned king of England, at Westminster [42]
Aug-Sept -- Joanna escapes rebellious troops. Reaches Rouen [42]
Sep 4 -- Joanna delivers a son at Rouen. Both die. [42]
Sep -- John escorts Joanna's bier to Fontevrault [42]

1200 -- New Year -- Eleanor travels "after Christmas" to Castile [43]

mid-Jan -- Eleanor reaches court of Alfonso and Leonor, Burgos [43]
Feb -- Eleanor selects Blanca/Blanche to marry French heir [43]
Easter -- Eleanor reaches Bordeaux with Blanche [43]
Mercadier stabbed and killed, at Bordeaux [43]
May 23 -- Blanche marries future Louis VIII, at Pont Audemer [43]
Aug 26 -- John marries Isabella, fiancée of Hughes le Brun [44]
Oct 8 -- Isabella crowned, at Westminster [44]
Dec 1 -- Bishop (later Saint) Hugh of Lincoln dies, at London [44]
Dec -- John attends Bishop Hugh's funeral, at Lincoln [44]

1201 -- summer -- John and Isabella return to Normandy [44]

July -- Amicable relations between Kings John and Philip [44]
July -- Philip takes back Ingeborg; Agnes dies of shock [44]

1202 -- April -- Philip summons John to Paris. John does not attend [44]

spring -- Philip, Arthur and Lusignans attack Normandy [44]
July -- Eleanor flees Fontevrault for greater safety in Poitiers [44]
July 30 -- Arthur of Brittany besieges Eleanor, at Mirebeau [44]
Aug 1 -- John's force breaks the siege, captures Arthur [44]
autumn -- John's alienated allies capture Angers [44]

1203 -- Gd Fri Eve -- Probable death of Arthur in John's custody [44]

Angevin fortunes continue to decline [44]

1204 -- March 31 -- ELEANOR DIES, at Poitiers or Fontevrault [45]

"The many bends along the highroad of my life conceal the vistas between this fleeting moment of pure being and ancient recollections coursing like deerhounds through my head. In a life of fourscore years and more, who can look so far back? The very richness of experience crowds and clouds the brains."

Eleanor, "Power of a Woman", chapter 1

"How fortunate I was in my husbands: the monk, and the young bull in spring. Whether they would or not, they placed me on a promontory against which tides of time have crashed and fallen back. They left me worn, these men and their tides, but they did not level me."