[October 19] John, king of England

Surnamed: "Lackland" (sanz Terre)
Parents: Henry II, king of England, and Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine
Born: 24 December 1166
House: Plantagenet
Spouse(s): (1) Isabel, daughter of William, earl of Gloucester, and Hawise de Beaumont, then (2) Isabella, daughter of Aymer, count of Angoulême, and Alice of Courtenay
Predecessor: Richard I

Reign: 1199 – 1216
Brief: No other English monarch is less understood than King John. Demonized by romantic sagas such as Robin Hood, and praised as the establisher of the Magna Carta, few of the stories of John's life are entirely true. His rise to power came at the cost of his agnatic senior, Arthur, duke of Brittany, the son of John's elder brother, Geoffrey. When Richard I died, Arthur was to become king, but John seized the throne. In 1202, the king of France declared all John's French possessions to either be forfeit or Arthur's. While Arthur himself was captured in 1203 and died under mysterious circumstances, Normandy was completely lost to the French. By 1204, only Aquitaine remained as an English possession on the continent.

For the next decade, John campaigned and rallied support for his war to retake Normandy. In 1209, John was excommunicated for heavy interference in church lands within England and only reconciled in 1213. The fame of John's reign derives from the First Barons' War that was a direct result of the French wars. At a meeting near Windsor Castle in 1215, King John signed a peace agreement that gave the barons large independent powers from the king. It became the Magna Carta, "Great Charter," but it did not last for long. John contacted the pope who excommunicated the entire baronial assembly, and the Barons' War continued for another year. The king of Scots, Alexander II, and Llywelyn the Great of Wales both joined the barons in the rebellion, but the barons were still losing, so they invited Prince Louis, the French heir, to England and offered him the throne. Louis quickly conquered much of the south while John was in the north, but then began to lose the support of the barons. When John finally died of dysentery in October of 1216, the war only lasted another year. Louis abandoned his claim to the throne at the 1217 Treaty of Lambeth and the Magna Carta was reissued for the reign of the child Henry III.

Date of Death: 19 October 1216
Successor: Henry III

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Urban III, pope of Rome (1187)
• Francesco I, grand duke of Tuscany (1587)
• Louis, king of Portugal (1889)

[July 6] William I, duke of Aquitaine

Surnamed: "The Pious"

Parents: Bernard II, count of Auvergne, and Ermengard
Date of Birth: 22 March 875
Royal House: Auvergne
Spouse: Engelberga, daughter of Boso, king of Lower Burgundy, and Ermengard
Predecessor: Ebalus
Reign: 893 – 918
Summary: A usurping ruler of Aqutaine who claimed the throne as regent for his relative, Ebalus Manzer. Ebalus was still young when he ascended the throne and his illegitimacy made it difficult for him to succeed. William was commissioned by Ebalus to protect him and assert his claims. In 902, William conquered Poitiers for Ebalus while he took Aqutaine for himself. 


Through this acquisition, he was one of the most powerful lords in France and the greater Frankish Empire. In 910, he founded the abbey of Cluny, which would become a major political and religious center in Aquitaine. After its competition, he deeded it to the Benedictine Order under the control of the pope. This contrasted him with many other abbeys and monasteries which were privately owned with the appointments being linked to the local overlord. William, however, did have a say over the abbey's first abbot, Berno of Baume. William claimed power from the Roman Emperor during his reign, minting coins in his own name and circulating them throughout Aquitaine. He died childless and was succeeded by his nephew, William II, who was the son of his sister Adelinda. After the death of William II and Acfred, his brother, Ebalus regained the throne of Aquitaine. The lands remained in his family's lands thereafter.
Date of Death: 6 July 918
Successor: William II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Berengar II, king of Italy (966)
• Henry II, king of England (1189)
• Eudes III, duke of Burgundy (1218)
• Alexander II, king of Scotland (1249)
• Edward IV, king of England (1553)
• Peter III, tsar of Russia (1762)

[April 1] Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine

Parents: William X, duke of Aquitaine, and Aenor de Châtellerault

Date of Birth: circa 1122

House: Poitiers

Predecessor: William X

Spouse: Louis VII, king of the Franks, then Henry II, king of England

Reign: 1137 – 1204

Summary: Few monarchs are remembered with such fondness as Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and England. The duchy she inherited at the age of fifteen was the largest in France and was incredibly wealthy. Eleanor was the eldest child of Duke William X of Aquitaine and she had the best education available for a young duchess. She spoke and read Latin fluently and was well versed in music and the classics. She was trained to ride horses, hawk, and hunt just as any prince. She became an intelligent woman and was very strong willed, talents she would need ruling a duchy. In 1130, her brother died and she became the heir presumptive, her two other brothers being declared illegitimate. William X died on Good Friday 1137. Eleanor became a young regnant duchess and the most eligible heiress in Christendom.

Almost as soon as she was made duchess, King Louis VI of France offered his son to her. In July 1137, Prince Louis of France and Eleanor were wedded and a week later, Louis became King Louis VII as his father died on 1 August. Eleanor was now queen consort of France. Eleanor did not like her young husband much despite Louis using everything in his ability to woo the young duchess. War soon broke out in France and Louis was at the head of it due to intrigues he set in motion regarding the County of Champagne and the Archbishopric of Bourges. The war ended in 1144 but Louis was deeply disturbed from the deaths he caused and sought a crusade to the Holy Land as a means of escape. Eleanor insisted on coming along and tradition states that Eleanor led a contingent of women dressed as Amazons to the battle. Eleanor and Louis fought over strategy and blamed each other for defeats during their time in the Holy Land. Eleanor's uncle, Raymond of Poitiers, was the prince of Antioch and Louis viewed much of her strategy as strengthening the Poitiers lands in the Middle East. Yet Louis failed utterly in his campaign goals and the surviving army limped home. By the time of their return in France, Louis and Eleanor were clearly estranged. They mutually sought an annulment which was granted in 1152 and Eleanor was allowed to retain her lands in Aquitaine, though Louis received custody of their two daughters.

Eleanor already knew who her next husband had to be: Henry, duke of Normandy, count of Anjou, and heir to England. She married him only two months after her annulment. He became king of England in 1154. In her second marriage, she ceased caring about the infidelities of her husband. Henry had multiple bastard children and Eleanor raised them alongside their eight legitimate children. In Aquitaine, Henry attempted to assert his authority, but the locals would not accept any but the duchess's decrees. By 1166, Henry and Eleanor were estranged as well. Eleanor finally moved her personal possessions to England in 1167 but by that Christmas, Henry and Eleanor were living separated from one another. She moved back to Poitiers in 1168. Eleanor established the fabled "Court of Love" in Poitiers, developing the cult of chivalry to entirely new levels, focusing on the ballads of King Arthur and other chivalric tales. Whether this ever truly existed is unknown. In 1173, Eleanor's eldest son, Henry, came to Poitiers and recruited two younger brothers in a rebellion against their father, Henry II of England. Eleanor was implicated in the plot and was captured in 1174. She was imprisoned for sixteen years at various castles in England. In 1183, Prince Henry died of dysentery in another rebellion against his father. Eleanor was temporarily released later that year to go to Normandy and assert her claim to her lands. She was still under constant guard until 1189, when Henry died. Richard I immediately released his mother upon hearing of his father's death. Eleanor began ruling England in Richard's name while he was away in Germany and the Holy Land. Eleanor later personally travelled to Germany to ransom the release of her son. In 1199, Eleanor acted as a bride shopper in Castile, choosing a wife for King Philip II of France's son Louis. On her return trip, she became ill and passed off her escort duties to another. When war broke out in 1201 between France and England, Eleanor declared for England and attempted to stop her grandson, Arthur, from taking control of Poitiers. John came to her rescue and captured Arthur. Eleanor, quite old, retired to a nunnery. She died in 1204 and was buried beside Henry II and Richard I. At the time of her death, she had outlived all her ten children except King John of England and Queen Eleanor of Castile.

Date of Death: 1 April 1204

Successor: John

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Shanzong, emperor of Song (1085)
• Amalric II, king of Jerusalem (1205)
• Charles I, emperor of Austria (1922)
• George II, king of Greece (1947)

[January 30] William V, duke of Aquitaine

The Conventum between William V and Hugh IV of Lusignan
as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1080

Surname: The Great (le Grand)

Parents: William IV, duke of Aquitaine, and Emma of Blois

Date of Birth: 969

Royal House: Poitiers (Ramnulfids)

Spouse: Adalemonde of Limoges, then Sancha of Gascony, then Agnes of Burugndy

Reign: 990 – 1030

Predecessor: William IV

Summary: William the Great was a well-loved duke of Aquitaine. He was a well-educated man who ruled a prosperous realm. He made Aquitaine, which at the time consisted of nearly a third of all modern-day France, the center of French culture. Unfortunately, he was a poor military leader. That is partially because he was constantly under attack by the Vikings, who raided his coast with impunity. He also had to contend with lesser French lords such as Boso, count of la Marche, and Fulk, count of Anjou, who both were constantly trying to take land away from his borders. 

His greatness comes from his cultural and religious works. He sought peace even while constantly defending his borders. He supported the Peace and Truce of God movements that attempted to limit feudal warfare between and within states. He was the founder of two abbeys. After a large fire in his capital at Poitiers, he rebuilt the city's cathedral and many of its religious structures. WIlliam was pious and went on a pilgrimage to Rome. In exchange, he received many guests from other lands including Emperor Henry II, Alfonso V of León, and Canute the Great, in addition to his own nominal lord, Robert II of France. In 1024, William was even asked by the prominent Italian lord Ulric Manfred of Turin to take the Iron Crown of Lombardy and become King of Italy. But William did not want to upset the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II who claimed that title by right, and so declined the throne for himself and his heirs. William died peacefully in his own lands in 1030, his titles passing to his eldest son. Three other sons would also later rule Aquitaine.

Date of Death: 30 January 1030

Successor: William VI

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Takakura, emperor of Japan (1181)
• Louis II, duke of Flanders (1384)
• Charles I, king of England (1649)
• Peter II, tsar of Russia (1730)
• Komei, emperor of Japan (1867)