Saint Eleanor of Provence

Eleanor of Provence (c. 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a Provençal noblewoman who became Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served as regent of England during the absence of her spouse in France in 1253. Although Eleanor was completely devoted to her husband and staunchly defended him against the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, she was very unpopular among the Londoners. This was because she had brought many relatives with her to England in her retinue; these were known as "the Savoyards" (her mother was from Savoy), and, as Londoners saw it, these foreigners were given influential positions in the government and realm to lord over them. On one occasion, Eleanor's barge was attacked by angry Londoners who pelted her with stones, mud, pieces of paving, rotten eggs and vegetables. Eleanor had five children, including the future King Edward I of England. She also was renowned for her cleverness, skill at writing poetry, and as a leader of fashion. Born in the city of Aix-en-Provence in southern France, she was the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer V, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the second of four daughters of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva. Two sons were born before the daughters, but they died very young. Eleanor was probably born latest in 1223; Matthew Paris describes her as being "jamque duodennem" (already twelve) when she arrived in the Kingdom of England for her marriage. She was well educated as a child and developed a strong love of reading, partly due to the influence of her tutor Romée de Villeneuve. Her three sisters also married kings. Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was renowned for her beauty. She was a dark-haired brunette with fine eyes. Piers Langtoft speaks of her as "The erle's daughter, the fairest may of life".