Eleanor of Provence

Eleanor of Provence was the daughter of Ramon Berenguer V, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. She married Henry III of England in 1236 and was crowned queen that same year. Her marriage tied the English monarchy closely to Provençal and Savoyard networks, and members of her extended family became influential at Henry’s court.

Eleanor was more politically active than the stereotype of a passive medieval consort suggests. She acted as regent, promoted her family’s interests and defended the position of Henry and their children during the increasingly bitter conflict between the crown and the baronial opposition led by Simon de Montfort. Hostility toward her foreign relatives and her own political role also contributed to contemporary criticism of the queen.

In Carol McGrath’s The Silken Rose, Eleanor is one of the principal historical figures, with the novel following her arrival in England, marriage to Henry III and development as a queen during the tensions that culminate in the baronial crisis.