Eleanor of Provence - Reference

Queen consort of Henry III of England (1236–72), the daughter of Raymond Berengar IV, Count of Provence. In the Barons' War of 1264 she raised an army of mercenaries in France to support her husband, but her invasion fleet was wrecked. After the accession of her son, Edward I, in 1272 she retired to a convent.

1223 – 26 June 1291) was Queen Consort of King Henry III of England.

Born in Aix-en-Provence, she was the daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198-1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1206-1266), the daughter of Tomasso, Count of Savoy and his second wife Marguerite of Geneva.

Eleanor was married to Henry III, King of England (1207-1272) on January 14, 1236. Eleanor and Henry had five children:

Edward I (1239-1307) Margaret of England (born 1240), married King Alexander III of Scotland Beatrice of England (1242 - 1275), married John II, Duke of Brittany Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (1245-1296) Katharine (born 1253-May 3, 1257)

Eleanor seems to have been especially devoted to her eldest son, Edward;

She was a confident consort to Henry, but she brought in her retinue a large number of cousins, "the Savoyards," and her influence with the King and her unpopularity with the English barons created friction during Henry's reign. Eleanor was devoted to her husband's cause, stoutly contested Simon de Montfort, raising troops in France for Henry's cause.

In 1272 Henry died, and her son Edward, 33 years old, became Edward I, King of England. She stayed on in England as Dowager Queen, and raised several of her grandchildren -- Edward's son Henry and daughter Eleanor, and Beatrice's son John. When her grandson Henry died in her care in 1274, Eleanor mourned him and his heart was buried at the priory at Guildford she founded in his memory.

Eleanor died in 1291 in Amesbury, England.

Preceded by: Isabella of Angoulême

Queen Consort of England 14 January 1236 - 16 November 1272

Succeeded by: Eleanor of Castile

Reference

Margaret Howell, Eleanor of Provence: Queenship in Thirteenth-century England, 1997