Born in 1122, Eleanor inherited the vast Duchy of Aquitaine, making her the most eligible noblewoman in Europe. At just 15, she married Louis VII of France, becoming queen. But she was no ornament—Eleanor insisted on joining the Second Crusade, riding in armor alongside her husband to the Holy Land. The campaign failed, the marriage soured, and they divorced. She then married Henry Plantagenet, soon to be King Henry II of England. She bore him eight children, including Richard the Lionheart and