Editing Eleanor of Aquitaine (section)

== Appearance ==

Contemporary sources praise Eleanor's beauty. Even in an era when ladies of the nobility were excessively [[eulogise]]d and praised, their praise of her was undoubtedly sincere, though probably based on hearsay,{{sfn|Dobson|1912}} while in some cases, the reference is only implied. The medieval German songs known as ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' praise "England's Queen". [[Benoit de Sainte-Maure]] wrote of the "Queen of Beauty and largesse" in the ''[[Roman de Troie]]'',{{sfn|Sainte-More|1912}} while [[Philippe de Thaun]] wrote "God save Lady Eleanor, Queen, who is the arbiter of honour, wit and beauty".{{sfn|Weir|2012|p=125}} When she was young, she was described as ''perpulchra''—more than beautiful.{{sfn|Weir|2012|pp=17–18}} When she was around 30, [[Bernard de Ventadour]], a noted troubadour, called her "gracious, lovely, the embodiment of charm", extolling her "lovely eyes and noble countenance" and declaring that she was "one meet to crown the state of any king".{{sfn|Weir|2012|p=98}}{{sfn|Elvins|2006}} William of Newburgh emphasised the charms of her person, and even in her old age Richard of Devizes described her as beautiful, while [[Matthew Paris]], writing in the 13th{{nbsp}}century, recalled her "admirable beauty", a common practice at the time, and "a woman of wonderful appearance, more beautiful than moral".{{sfn|Boyd|2011|pp=25-27}} Richard of Devizes was similarly exuberant, but not all were in agreement. William of Tyre dismissed her as "''uxorem quae una erat de fatuis mulieribus''".{{efn|A wife who was of the foolish women}} Another chronicler describes her as ''avenante, vaillante, courtoise''.{{efn| [[Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal]]{{sfn|Meyer|2023|loc=(cited in {{harvnb|Kelly|1978|p=10)|loc=[https://archive.org/details/lhistoiredeguill03meyeuoft/page/28/mode/2up?view=theater p. 28]}}}}}}{{sfn|Dobson|1912}}
{{multiple image | header =Depictions of Eleanor of Aquitaine | align = center | direction =  | total_width=800 | float = 
| image1=Eleanor and Henry.jpg|caption1=12th century capital carving ascribed to Eleanor and Henry{{efn|Langon Chapel, Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum, wrongly attributed to Eleanor and Henry for a long time, but actually a common feature of [[Romanesque architecture|romanesque]] architectural carving{{sfn|Metropolitan Museum|2024}}}}|alt1=Carved heads thought for a long time to represent Eleanor and Henry, but now thought to be anonymous figures |width1={{#expr: (1 *3961  /3519) round 0}}
| image2=Baie Droite Portail Royal Cathédrale Notre Dame - Chartres (FR28) - 2021-03-14 - 2.jpg|caption2=[[Jamb statue]]s [[Chartres Cathedral]]<br> ascribed to Henry II and Eleanor{{efn|Couple to right, on left of right door on Royal Portal}}|alt2=Carved statues of king and queen at Chartres Cathedral thought to represent Eleanor and Henry, but now thought to be Old Testament figures |width2={{#expr: (1 *3024  /4032) round 0}}
| image3 =Donor portrait - A noble lady kneeling - Psalter of Eleanor of Aquitaine (ca. 1185) - KB 76 F 13, folium 028v (cropped).jpg | caption3 =12th-century donor portrait<br>[[Psalter]], [[Royal Library of the Netherlands]]{{sfn|Cockerill|2019|pp=339–340}} |alt3=Twelfth century donor portrait of Eleanor in her later years| width3={{#expr: (1 *3000  /4273) round 0}}
| image4=Eleanor-of-Aquitaine-Poitiers-Cathedral-Window.jpg|caption4=Stained glass window, Poitiers Cathedral, said to represent Eleanor{{sfn|Weir|2021|pp=26,94,95}}|alt4=Stained glass window at Poitiers Cathedral allegedly portraying Eleanor in a crucifixion scene|width4={{#expr: (1 *850 /368) round 0}} 
| image5=Chasse royale, fresque de la chapelle Sainte-Radegonde.JPG|caption5=[[Mural]], [[Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]], Chinon. The figure on left of central group had been alleged to be Eleanor{{sfn| Kleinmann |Garcia |Cloulas |Kenaan-Kedar |1999}}{{sfn|Weir|2012|pp=305–308}}{{sfn|Cockerill|2019|pp=308–309}} |alt5=Mural from a chapel at Chinon, said to represent Eleanor on horseback|width5={{#expr: (1 *1500/820) round 0}} 
| image6=Codexmanesse63r.png|caption6=Queen from 14th c. [[Codex Manesse]]{{efn|The Codex Manesse queen has frequently and erroneously been attributed as Eleanor}} |alt6=Figure of a standing queen, often wrongly used to illustrate articles about Eleanor|width6={{#expr: (1 *343/833) round 0}} 
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No one left a detailed description of Eleanor. For instance, the colour of her hair and eyes are unknown. Such details were of little interest to contemporary chroniclers, with portraiture of the time making no attempt at realism, while descriptions were largely rhetorical.{{sfn|Weir|2012|pp=95, 116}}{{sfn|Turner|2009|p=10}}{{sfn|Evans|2014|p=150}} Despite this, many biographers have attempted to describe her, and [[Elizabeth Chadwick]] dismisses all these as fantasy or based on misinformation.{{efn|For example, [[Marion Meade]] bases her description on a letter from Bernard of Clairvaux. Yet the actual letter refers only to queens in general "The ornaments of a queen" and makes no mention of Eleanor.{{sfn|Evans|2014|p=149}}}}{{sfn|Chadwick|2013a}}{{sfn|Evans|2014|p=149}} The effigy on her tomb (almost certainly not a true portrait) shows a tall and large-boned woman with brown skin.{{sfn|Dobson|1912}} Her seal of {{circa|1152}} shows a woman with a slender figure, but these were impersonal images intended to convey authority.{{sfn|Weir|2012|p=343}}{{sfn|Evans|2014|pp=150–151}}