Chi ha sposato Enrico II d'Inghilterra?

Enrico II Plantageneto (Le Mans, 5 marzo 1133 – Chinon, 6 luglio 1189) è stato duca di Normandia dal 1150, conte d'Angiò e del Maine dal 1151, duca consorte del ducato d'Aquitania, e del ducato di Guascogna dal 1152, e infine re d'Inghilterra dal 19 dicembre 1154 fino alla morte; come regnante inglese ebbe anche autorità su alcune regioni in Galles, Scozia e Irlanda orientale.

Fu il primo re della dinastia plantageneta (o angioina) ed ebbe diversi soprannomi. Era figlio di Goffredo il Bello o Plantageneto, conte di Angiò e del Maine e futuro duca di Normandia, e dell'erede al trono d'Inghilterra e al ducato di Normandia, Matilde d'Inghilterra. In seguito al discusso regno di Stefano il regno di Enrico vide un efficiente rafforzamento e su di lui si è consolidato il positivo giudizio degli storici. "Uomo fiero, energico, instancabile, Enrico fu un intellettuale che seppe utilizzare la cultura europea del suo tempo e le dottrine giuridiche nate nelle Università italiane per dare al suo regno un sistema giudiziario e amministrativo molto avanzato ai suoi giorni e che costituì la base per le riforme costituzionali d'avanguardia che seguirono dopo la sua morte nel 1189". Proprio lui, "di nascita e di lingua francese", è "da considerare uno dei più grandi re inglesi".

Eleanor of Aquitaine (French: Aliénor d'Aquitaine or Éléonore d'Aquitaine; Occitan: Alienòr d'Aquitània [aljeˈnɔɾ dakiˈtanjɔ]; Latin: Helienordis, Alienorde or Alianor; c. 1124 – 1 April 1204) was duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As the reigning duchess of Aquitaine, she ruled jointly with her husbands and two of her sons, Kings Richard I and John of England. As the heiress of the House of Poitiers, which controlled much of southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.

The eldest child of Duke William X of Aquitaine and Aénor de Châtellerault, Eleanor became duchess upon her father's death in 1137. Later that year, she married Louis, son of King Louis VI of France. Shortly afterwards, Eleanor's father-in-law died and her husband became king, making her queen consort. Louis VII and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix. During the Second Crusade, Eleanor accompanied Louis to the Holy Land. Pope Eugene III rejected an initial request in 1149 for an annulment of the marriage on grounds of consanguinity. In 1152, after fifteen years of marriage, Eleanor had not borne a male heir, and the annulment was granted. Their daughters were declared legitimate, custody was awarded to Louis, and Eleanor's lands were restored to her.

In the same year, Eleanor married Henry, the duke of Normandy. In 1154, Henry and Eleanor became king and queen of England. The couple had five sons and three daughters, but they eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned Eleanor for supporting the 1173 revolt against him by their sons Young Henry, Richard and Geoffrey. She was not released until 1189, when Henry II died and Richard I ascended the throne. As queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent during Richard's long absences from England and France. On Richard's death in 1199, she successfully campaigned for his younger brother John to succeed him. After continuing turmoil between the French and English kings and the successive loss of the lands she and Henry II had once ruled over, she died in 1204 and was buried in Fontevraud Abbey in France.