Eleanor of Castile
(1241-1290), Queen of Edward I and Countess of PonthieuSitter in 2 portraits
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of King Edward I. She was the daughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile and his wife, Joan of Ponthieu. In 1254 Eleanor was married to Lord Edward, son of England's King Henry III. In honour of the event, her half brother, Alfonso X of Castile, transferred to Edward his claims to Gascony. When Henry III's baronial opponents seized power in England in 1264, Eleanor was sent for safety to France; she returned in October 1265, after Edward had crushed the rebels. Eleanor accompanied Edward on a crusade from 1270 to 1273. Upon her death, Edward erected the famous Eleanor Crosses, several of which still stand, at each place where her coffin rested on its way to London. >
by Elkington & Co, cast by Domenico Brucciani, after William Torel
electrotype, 1873, based on a work of 1291-1293
NPG 345
'The Kings and Queens of England: From the Conquest to Queen Victoria'
by Henry Hering
albumen carte-de-visite photomontage, 1862
NPG Ax131392
Related People
- King Edward I (husband)
- King Edward II (son)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine (mother)
- Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (grandfather)
- King Henry II (father)
- King Richard I ('the Lionheart') (brother)
- Matilda, Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria (sister)
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