1122-1204

French noblewoman and later queen who traveled to the Holy Land during the Second Crusade (1147-1149). Not only was she the best-known European woman to participate in a crusade—though not, of course, as a combatant—Eleanor also had the distinction of serving first as queen of France, and later of England. She married Louis VII of France and later divorced him to marry Henry of Anjou, who in 1154 became Henry II of England. Among their sons were Richard I (the Lion-Heart; 1157-1199) and King John of England (1167-1216).