Chapter XII.
The Eagle of Aquitaine.
"After the dissolution of the French Royal Couple after the crusade, Eleanor searched a husband worthy of her, an it came in form of a German Prince."
Theobald of Frisia, medieval chronist.
After the dissolution of the marriage, Eleanor passed two years single until she founded an appropriate husband, the Duke of Swabia, Frederick Von Hohenstaufen.
This displeased King Louis inmensely, but it was nothing to do, unless a friendly assassination attempt, that failed miserably.
Their first son was born in 1150 and was called Frederick like his father, while he grew he demonstrated a severe resilience and physical strength.
The two spouses were happy together and helped each other to govern their respective lands, making an almost invincible duo.
In 1156 Eleanor gave birth to two girls, one was called Eleanor and the other one Mathilda, Mathilda married with the Sicilian king, William II, the next year she also give birth, this time to a boy, Richard.
Eleanor died in 1167 after giving birth to her seventh child, Johan, who died some months later, both deaths devastated her family and even the Kaiser, who with the years fell in love with her, their son Frederick became the most powerful men in France after the king.
This decease, although sad, was convenient in a political way: His son possessed land in France and was far more popular than the king, not to mention the amount of support he can receive from the Empire and the political determination of Barbarossa to unify what was the Carolingian Empire by denying the legitimacy of the Capets and claiming to be descendent of Charlemagne himself, but the appropriate time will come.
Going down to the Mediterranean Sea, the matrimony between Mathilda Von Hohenstaufen and William was not the happiest one, but at least it wasn’t a complete misery, they had healthy offsprings, three in number, William, Sybilla and Eleanor, William II died in 1190 and William III reign was marvelous, but that is another story.
When Barbarossa finally died in 1199 of incontinence, his reign saw finally the consolidation of imperial power over the nobility, the instauration of a hereditary succession system and the reduction of power and independence for every noble and region in the empire.
If he realized what happened decades later after his death because of his marriage with Eleanor...