to him; and also that that bequest had been publicly ratified by the assent of the people at his coronation.* This war, which was carried on with great bitterness on each side, soon came to a termination. Young Arthur, anxious to display his prowess as the leader of an army, and to prove his right to those chivalric honours which Philip had just conferred on him, led his forces into Poictou; but he most unchivalrously chose, as his first point of attack, the illdefended castle of Mirabeau; where, fearing no danger-for on the death of Richard she had renewed to Philip her homage for Guienne-his venerable grandmother Elinor resided. Arthur and his barons attacked it successfully; they soon forced the gates; and his aged grandmother was compelled to retire to the keep but, undismayed at the hostile array, with her accustomed spirit she refused to capitulate; and found means, unperceived by the surrounding forces, to send an instant summons to John. many days passed, he arrived with a numerous and well-appointed army of English and Brabanters. The besiegers were totally vanquished, and all either slain or taken prisoners. Among the latter was the hapless young Arthur, who is believed soon after to have perished by the hand, or by the orders, of his perfidious uncle, John.

Ere

From this period Elinor disappears from the page of history. She finally retired to her favourite retreat, the abbey of Fontevraud; where, after a residence of about a year and a half, she laid down the burthen of a life singularly chequered with vicissi* See Archbishop Hubert's speech ou that occasion,

tude, and which had extended to the verge of fourscore years. Her death, according to the obituary preserved at Fontevraud until the French Revolution, took place on the 24th of March, 1204 ;* and her remains were deposited in the great, or Nun's church, near those of her second husband, and of her son and daughter; where, until within forty years, her effigy might be seen, wimpled, crowned, and enveloped in the folds of her royal mantle, exhibiting a countenance retaining unquestionable remains of her former beauty, and singularly distinguished by its dignified and intellectual expression.

Few illustrious women have been more unfortunate in their after-fame than this fair heiress of Aquitaine, who successively wore the crown of France and of England, and who numbered among her progeny three crowned kings of England, and two consorts of continental monarchs. Yet her beauty, her unquestioned talents, and her misfortunes, have all been forgotten; and she is handed down by popular tradition, only as the vindictive fury who tracked to her closely-concealed retreat that beautiful rival, to whom she proffered the murderous alternative of the poison cup or dagger. This idle story is now rejected by all who have any claim to historical know

* The Chronicle of Mailros, a nearly contemporary authority, places her death in 1204; and an entry in the Patent Rolls confirms it. The same obituary at Fontevraud, records her 'benefactions to it. These were, 100 livres per annum towards the nuns' dresses; 100 ditto for her anniversary, and those of her children; and 50 ditto for various purposes. She also surrounded the abbey with a wall; and presented to the church a gold cross, adorned with jewels, a large gold chalice, and several vessels of gold and silver. From the meanness of the pecuniary bequests, it would seem that she died poor. No account of any gift by her to any English convent can be found, except a chantry in the castle of Tickhill.

ledge; still the three other apparently better founded charges remain to cast a dark shadow on the memory of Elinor. The first-that of her improper conduct in the Holy Land-has been proved, in the foregoing pages, to rest upon the most apocryphal authority, and consequently to be unworthy of credit. The second-her inciting her sons to rebellion against their father-must be viewed in connexion with all the preceding circumstances; and then harsh will be the verdict that condemns the injured and insulted wife for quitting a husband, from whom she received injuries instead of protection; or a mother for taking part with her sons against the tyranny and injustice of their father. If it be true that Elinor of Aquitaine. neither possessed the uncomplaining meekness of the first Maude, or the strong conjugal attachment of the second; still, be it remembered, that Beauclerc paid every respect to his excellent, though unloved, queen; while Stephen's strong attachment to Maude of Boulogne is evident in every page of their history. But Plantagenet repaid Elinor's unbounded confidence, that yielded up without stipulation her princely dower, with neglect and infidelity; and ere age had impressed a wrinkle on her brow, the fair daughter of Aquitaine learned the bitter truth, that her wealth alone had won him. What right had the haughty, and overbearing, and selfish Plantagenet to expect domestic happiness? In the third charge-that of supporting the claims of her son king John, against those of her grandson Arthur, we must remember, that, in so doing, she

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believed herself fulfilling the last wish of her beloved son Richard. That she took any active part, no chronicle informs us; and that, if besieged by a grandson, she should send to her son for aid, is certainly only natural. With the subsequent fate of Arthur, she could have no concern, since she retired to Fontevraud. In viewing the character of Elinor, it would be unjust, as unphilosophical, to overlook the many difficulties and irritating circumstances by which she was surrounded. The absence of temptation, often affords a claim to high moral worth; and freedom from causes of irritation, as frequently gives a title to forbearance and selfdenial.

But if the defects of this illustrious woman have been stamped so deeply on the page of history, to her better qualities no modern historian has done justice. Her general talents are proved by her assumption of the office of regent, both under Plantagenet and Richard; for Plantagenet would not confide authority to one whom he deemed incompetent; nor would the English barons have so quietly awaited the arrival of Coeur de Lion, had not the supreme power been placed, at this important crisis, in hands well qualified to wield it. As the conductress of important missions, the talents of Elinor seem to have been acknowledged by universal consent. To her was committed the charge of selecting a bride for Cœur de Lion; to her was entrusted the mission to the pope, on behalf of Geoffrey; to her was consigned the ransom of her captive son, and the difficult charge of negotiating with the em

peror;-even when bowed down by the weight of almost four-score years, to her, alone, was the embassy assigned that was to arrange the marriage of Blanche of Castile, with the heir of the French crown. As a mother, the respectful and devoted attachment of all her children is sufficient eulogy; while the complete silence of every monkish historian, to the contrary, proves that among her servants and dependants her conduct must have been exemplary.

As the patroness of literature, the name of Elinor of Aquitaine deserves a high station; in her court, the poets of the langue d'oc, and of the langue d'oil, sung in friendly rivalship together; and beneath the sunshine of her smile, chivalric romance burst forth. Nor should the philosopher refuse his praise to that important act of her English regency, which, reversing the sanguinary provisions of the Forestlaws, summoned every outlaw, from the Trent to the Severn, to repossess his forfeited rights, on the easy terms of taking the oath of allegiance to the new king.

Among the most illustrious women of the twelfth century, Elinor of Aquitaine, by her talents, even more than by the proud prerogatives of her birth and station, must be placed; and if, in point of moral pre-eminence, a somewhat lower rank be awarded her, sound wisdom no less than Christian feeling will assign, as the cause, those unhappy incidents which embittered her domestic life, and cast a shadow over prospects, which seemed too fair for mortality.