On March 11, 1152, Eleanor and Louis met at the royal castle of Beaugency to dissolve the marriage under the eyes of Archbishop Hugh Sense, Primate of France, and on March 21 annulment was granted based on consanguinity within the fourth degree (they were indeed third cousins, descended from Robert II of France). Louis received custody of the daughters, and Eleanor’s lands were restored to her.
Eleanor’s marriage on May 18, 1152, to Henry count of Anjou and duke of Normandy has puzzled historians because it happened within six weeks of the annulment of her marriage to Louis on grounds of consanguinity and because of the fact that Eleanor was more closely related to Henry than to Louis: they were half third cousins (both related to Ermengarde of Anjou and descendents of Robert II of Normandy). This was a marriage that must have been plotted many months, possibly years, before.
In August 1151, Geoffrey Plantagenet count of Anjou and duke of Normandy visited the court of King Louis with his 17-year-old son, Henry, in order to pay homage to Louis for the fief of Normandy and to gain help in the civil war that was being fought between Empress Matilda and the noble-born usurper, Stephen of England. By all accounts, Geoffrey and his son were impressive: handsome, athletic, energetic, and decisive, aspects that must have reminded Eleanor of her own kin. She must have known the annulment was coming and been thinking about what she would do with herself and her lands afterward. She would have to marry. . . but to whom? Geoffrey was still married to Empress Matilda, rightful heir to the throne of England and duchy of Normandy. His son, though, would make a delightful husband— especially because his French domains united with Eleanor’s would create a power base greater than Louis’s—an advantage for both of them in the match. Eleanor was 29 years old, and by the time of the marriage, Henry was 18, and the chroniclers say that she was beautiful. She was vastly wealthy, well traveled and educated, and in her sexual prime. And so after the annulment, she went home to Poitiers (two opportunistic suitors tried to abduct her on the journey) and canceled every treaty she had made with Louis. Eleanor’s marriage to Henry ignored feudal law because the participants failed to seek the consent of their suzerain, Louis. Louis responded by invading Normandy with the help of the usurping King Stephen of England, but Henry was an able military commander and counterattacked Louis’s territories, generally making life miserable for the monkish king. Eleanor toured her own territories, asserting her authority and receiving homage. Her seal at the time shows her great titles: “Eleanor, by the grace of God, duchess of Aquitaine and Normandy, countess of Anjou, Poitou, and Maine.” In August 1152, she and Henry spent four months together, and by January 1153 Eleanor was pregnant. When King Stephen of England lost his sons to an illness, he wisely met with Henry and, in order to end the civil war, agreed to adopt him as his heir. In the peace treaty, Stephen was to rule for the rest of his life, and Henry would inherit the kingdom after his death. Indeed, in October 1154, King Stephen died at the age of 58, and on December 19 Henry and Eleanor were crowned king and queen of England.
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