Plantagenet Princesses

A look at the royal women of twelfth-century England—from the empowered to the imprisoned—and their roles in the ruling dynasty. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her second husband, Henry II, are commonly considered medieval figures, but their era was really the violent transition from the Dark Ages, when countries’ borders were defined with fire and sword. Henry grabbed the English throne thanks largely to Eleanor’s dowry, because she owned one third of France. But their less famous daughters also live