Eleanor, Countess of Leicester

## Eleanor of England

Countess Consort of Leicester

Eleanor de Montfort

Mary de Montfort

Richard de Montfort

Peter de Montfort

Catherine de Montfort

Phillipa de Montfort

**Eleanor of England** (C. 1159 - 1203) was the eldest child of John I of England and his first wife Marie of Provence, Eleanor was born during the reign of her uncle Richard the Lionheart who was being held hostage by Eleanor's great-grand-mother Constance, Queen of Sicily, after the murder of Richard the Lionheart, Eleanor's father became King of England, Eleanor became a Princess. When she was 15, she was betrothed to Henry de Montfort, 4th Earl of Leicester, she was married to him when she was 17. She outlived her husband by 3 years and died in 1203 during the reign of her father. Eleanor was known for her beauty, but mostly known for being the mother of Simon de Montfort.

## Early Life

### Childhood

Eleanor of England was born the eldest child of Prince John of England and his first wife Marie of Provence. Eleanor from birth was known as Eleanor of Chester as her parents were the Earl and Countess of Chester. She was born during the reign and imprisonment of Richard the Lionheart and Berengaria of Navarre (Who were here uncle and aunt). Eleanor was raised by her uncle Geoffrey II, Count of Provence in Provence, so Eleanor mostly spoke French, Eleanor had 2 younger siblings, Henry and Joan. 5 years after her birth, her uncle Richard was murdered, and her parents were named king and Queen of England. Eleanor's name was changed from Eleanor of Chester to Eleanor of England, when Eleanor was 10, her mother died of illness and Eleanor inherited her necklace, her father remarried Isabella I, Countess of Auvergne whom Eleanor nicknamed "Madame Skamelar" which was a common insult in France, Eleanor moved with her younger brother and sister to Normandy, to avoid living with there step-mother. Eleanor was described as the most beautiful child John had, and the most beautiful woman in the world by the French ambassador to English.

### Education

John felt Eleanor did not need a proper education, and only spent money on teachers for Eleanor to teach her womanly skills, like house-hold duties, knitting, dance, conversation, music and song, chess, and archery. Eleanor was often seen as useless person, but an important bride, so Eleanor was sent from Normandy to London to began learning more about marriage by teachers.

### First Betrothals

Eleanor was a possible bride for the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Orléans was very much in-love with the beautiful princess, but John found the Duke of Orléans to be a snobby Intellectual who only cared about himself, John certainly did not wan't to be connected to the Duke of Orléans or a snobby Intellectual. Eleanor then was considered a possible bride for the King of Norway and Sweden, but John felt Norway was a backwards country compared to countries like England, France, Castile, Aragon, the Holy Roman Empire, and Scotland. At the end John allowed Eleanor to return to Normandy after the betrothals came to nothing.

### Marriage

In 1176, John made friends with one of his courtiers Henry de Montfort, 4th Earl of Leicester, who happened to be unmarried, Henry was 23, and Eleanor 17 years old met at Windsor Castle, Henry de Montfort fell-in-love with Eleanor, but Eleanor was uninterested in him, but nevertheless they were married in Westminister Palace, Eleanor moved into Leicester, were Henry's sister Lady Anne de Montfort and Lady Cecily de Montfort lived. Eleanor hated her sister-in-laws, and told her husband she would love him if he kicked the de Montfort sisters out of Leicester Castle, which Henry begging for Eleanor's affection agreed, and kicked them-out and swiftly imprisoned them in Leicester Tower. Eleanor bore Henry a son, Simon de Montfort, whom she loved dearly. In 1180 she visited her parents on campain to Jerusalem in France. Soon, she gave birth to her second child Margaret de Montfort. Eleanor later allowed the de Montfort sisters to return after warned by her powerful younger brother Henry, but she constantly fought with them, which caused Eleanor to constantly try to murder the de Montfort sisters.

## Life in Leicester

Eleanor hated living in Leicester because of her sister-in-laws, Eleanor successfully murdered her sister-in-law's son Phillip of Mortemoncy, which infuriated Lady Cecily who attempted to poison Eleanor, but luckily Eleanor was not thirsty as she had drunken water a few hours earlier. Eleanor gave birth to Mary de Montfort, Eleanor de Montfort and then then Richard de Montfort. She gave birth to 3 more children in Leicester, which included Peter, Catherine and Phillipa. Eleanor had a large house-hold as she was often busy, Eleanor soon had a secret affair with the Earl of Albany which she wrote in her secret journel. She possibly bore him a child named "Annabelle of Albany" but the mother of Annabelle was most likely Alix de Rouvere.

## Dowager Countess and Death

Eleanor's husband died on crusade, and Eleanor was left widowed, she married married her daughters to local Earls and remained in Leicester Castle, and finally kicked her sister-in-laws out with her brother's approval, her son wen't on crusade while Eleanor took care of his children, she died while her son was on crusade, she was buried in Westminister Abbey, in the de Montfort chapel, where most members of the de Montfort family are buried.