Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine (1122-1204), has long been recognized as an important political and cultural force in the Middle Ages. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate specifically how her patronage of troubadour poetry extolling women brought civilizing changes to France and England, and merged chivalry and romantic love. The poetry was influenced by a renewed enthusiasm for worship of the Virgin Mary and by the lyric quality of Hispano-Arabic poetry. Based on romance, it differed from epic poetry which was centered on adventures and deeds.
Eleanor’s coveted inheritance of Aquitaine, now southwestern France, augmented the small kingdom of France when she married King Louis VII. Her subsequent marriage to King Henry II of England created the Angevin empire, extending from the Pyrenees to Scotland. As Queen, Eleanor was able to instill in the courts of both kingdoms of northern Europe the refinements of her native Aquitaine. For these specific contributions, she merits greater praise.
","abstract_html":"<p>Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine (1122-1204), has long been recognized as an important political and cultural force in the Middle Ages. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate specifically how her patronage of troubadour poetry extolling women brought civilizing changes to France and England, and merged chivalry and romantic love. The poetry was influenced by a renewed enthusiasm for worship of the Virgin Mary and by the lyric quality of Hispano-Arabic poetry. Based on romance, it differed from epic poetry which was centered on adventures and deeds.</p> <p>Eleanor’s coveted inheritance of Aquitaine, now southwestern France, augmented the small kingdom of France when she married King Louis VII. Her subsequent marriage to King Henry II of England created the Angevin empire, extending from the Pyrenees to Scotland. As Queen, Eleanor was able to instill in the courts of both kingdoms of northern Europe the refinements of her native Aquitaine. For these specific contributions, she merits greater praise.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Erckson, Katherine"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Leslie Ross, PhD","Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2007-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:59Z","subjects":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/260","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Leslie Ross, PhD","Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Erckson, Katherine"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/260"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine (1122-1204), has long been recognized as an important political and cultural force in the Middle Ages. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate specifically how her patronage of troubadour poetry extolling women brought civilizing changes to France and England, and merged chivalry and romantic love. The poetry was influenced by a renewed enthusiasm for worship of the Virgin Mary and by the lyric quality of Hispano-Arabic poetry. Based on romance, it differed from epic poetry which was centered on adventures and deeds.
Eleanor’s coveted inheritance of Aquitaine, now southwestern France, augmented the small kingdom of France when she married King Louis VII. Her subsequent marriage to King Henry II of England created the Angevin empire, extending from the Pyrenees to Scotland. As Queen, Eleanor was able to instill in the courts of both kingdoms of northern Europe the refinements of her native Aquitaine. For these specific contributions, she merits greater praise.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Chivalry and Romantic Love in the Courts of Eleanor of Aquitane"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Leslie Ross, PhD","Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Erckson, Katherine"],"dc:description.abstract":["Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine (1122-1204), has long been recognized as an important political and cultural force in the Middle Ages. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate specifically how her patronage of troubadour poetry extolling women brought civilizing changes to France and England, and merged chivalry and romantic love. The poetry was influenced by a renewed enthusiasm for worship of the Virgin Mary and by the lyric quality of Hispano-Arabic poetry. Based on romance, it differed from epic poetry which was centered on adventures and deeds.
Eleanor’s coveted inheritance of Aquitaine, now southwestern France, augmented the small kingdom of France when she married King Louis VII. Her subsequent marriage to King Henry II of England created the Angevin empire, extending from the Pyrenees to Scotland. As Queen, Eleanor was able to instill in the courts of both kingdoms of northern Europe the refinements of her native Aquitaine. For these specific contributions, she merits greater praise.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/260"],"dc:subject":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["Chivalry and Romantic Love in the Courts of Eleanor of Aquitane"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:59Z"}