Zooming into 2026
A class will run on a Monday afternoon at 3.00pm (London time) for 1 ½ hours. Please be in the waiting room at least five minutes before the class starts so that you are ready to be admitted into the virtual class room.
The presentation will be recorded and can be viewed for a limited time after the live session (subject to the technology.)
Eleanor of Castile – an unexpected love story.
13 April: A princess of Castile – family, education and the marriage market
Born around 1241 in Burgos, Spain, Eleanor of Castile was the daughter of King Ferdinand III and Joan, Countess of Ponthieu. The second of five children, she was raised in a highly cultured, literate court where she received an extensive education. Before marrying Edward, she was initially linked to a potential marriage with Theobald II of Navarre, a plan championed by her brother Alfonso X. In 1253 this plan came to nothing when Theobald’s mother, acting as her son’s regent, made an alliance with Aragon.
20 April: English politics, Prince Edward and marriage – a princess in a strange land.
Eleanor married Prince Edward of England on November 1, 1254, at age 13 years, to seal a political treaty regarding Gascony. The pair were related through their descent from Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor became pregnant very soon after the wedding. In all Eleanor gave birth to between 14 and 16 children. The difficulties and dangers of childbirth and child mortality were no respecters of rank. The politics of the marriage, English control of Gascony and what we know of Eleanor at this time as well as the way she was perceived by the English.
27 April: The 2nd Barons War and a queen in waiting
Loyal to her husband, Eleanor held Windsor Castle on behalf of the Crown, raised funds, arranged for troops to come from France and plotted to free him after his capture at the Battle of Lewis in 1264. After Simon de Montfort and the barons came to power she found herself confined to Westminster Palace before she was able to depart for France where she continued to plot on her husband’s behalf. It was from this period that there are more records of Eleanor’s life and we are able to see her taking a more active role. Throughout her life as Edward’s queen she balanced her duties as his wife with her domestic role as wife and mother.
4 May: Bank Holiday Monday
11 May: The Crusade and the return of King Edward I to England
Edward and Eleanor left England in 1270 to join Edward’s uncle Louis IX of France on the Eighth Crusade. They travelled via Sicily and Palestine. A look at the situation that enabled them to leave England at this time, the rationale behind the Crusade, travel and Eleanor’s life at this time.
18 May: Queen Consort, family and political influence
The couple made a leisurely journey home reaching England at the beginning of August 1274. Exploration of the stability of the throne which enabled Edward I to know his throne was secure. As well as gaining preferment for her family and countrymen, Eleanor acquired a vast property portfolio, including Leeds Castle, as part of Edward I’s strategy to reduce the power of the barons and because his wife was something of a businesswoman. It meant that she was not always popular although her administration ensured that that future queens of England would be financially independent. We shall explore Eleanor’s growing power base.
It was partly her business arrangements which caused a breakdown between the Crown and the country’s Jewish population who acted as moneylenders for Eleanor. In 1290 the Jewish population of England were expelled. There will be an exploration of the Jewish population in England at this time in specific towns including Lincoln and Colchester.
25 May: Whit Week
1 June: Wales and Gascony
Eleanor remained at her husband’s side throughout her life including when he was on military campaign. This week we will look at Eleanor’s life during Edward’s campaigns and also at her cultural influence on religion and as a patron of the arts. Eleanor suffered from increasingly poor health including tertian fever. We will consider some of the treatments as well as Eleanor’s household.
8 June Eleanor’s final year, her death and remembrance of a queen
Eleanor realised that she was nearing the end of her life when she returned to England. She set about arranging for the marriages of her daughters and putting her property portfolio in order. She was 49 years old when she died in 1290 and had given birth to between 14 and 16 children from the age of 13 years onwards. Edward I famously ordered the building of the Eleanor Crosses to mark the spots where her coffin rested on its journey from Harby to London. Who was Eleanor? A look at the positive and negative histories of Edward I’s queen in the years/centuries that followed.