法王路易七世（1137∼1152）和英王亨利二世（1152∼1204）的王后，是12世紀歐洲最有權勢的女人。她繼承了亞奎丹公爵領地，與法國王儲（即後來的路易七世）結婚。她美麗、任性和意志堅強，1147∼1149年隨路易進行第二次十字軍東征，她的行徑令路易心生不滿。雖然與路易生了兩個女兒，他們還是在1152年離婚，之後她嫁給亨利，不久亨利即位，封號為亨利二世。這次婚姻使英格蘭、諾曼第和法國西部納入亨利的統治範圍。她為亨利生了五子三女，其中包括英王理查一世和約翰，三個女兒都嫁給其他的歐洲王室。她在普瓦捷的宮廷成為一個文化中心，遊吟詩人（troubadour）的詩盛行一時。1173年她可能支持諸子反對父王但事跡敗露而被捕、囚禁，一直到亨利過世（1189）。理查一世在位時她又活躍於政壇，在他率領十字軍東征期間執掌朝政，並從奧地利公爵手中贖回理查。1199年理查死後，約翰繼位，她為約翰擋住了法國的威脅，拯救了安茹（Anjou）和亞奎丹，後來隱退到一所修道院。
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Queen consort of Louis VII of France (1137-52) and Henry II of England (1152-1204), the most powerful woman of 12th-century Europe. She inherited the duchy of Aquitaine and married the heir to the French throne. Beautiful, capricious, and strong-willed, she accompanied Louis on the Second Crusade (1147-49), and her conduct aroused his jealousy. The marriage was annulled (1152) despite the existence of their two daughters, and she married Henry Plantagenet, soon to be Henry II; the marriage united England, Normandy, and western France under his rule. She bore Henry five sons, including Richard I the Lionheart and John Lackland, and three daughters who married into other royal houses. Her court at Poitiers became a center of culture, fostering the poetry of the troubadours. She may have spurred her sons to revolt against Henry (1173); when the rebellion failed she was captured and confined until his death (1189). She was active in government during the reign of Richard I, ruling during his crusade to the Holy Land and ransoming him from Austria. After Richard died (1199) and John became king, she saved Anjou and Aquitaine for John against French threats, then retired to a monastery.
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