Eleanor of Aquitaine - The Young Life

In The Young Life Mark Richard Beaulieu has revealed the rich world of young Eleanor of Aquitaine (Alienor d'Aquitaine 1124-1204), who would twice become a queen – to Louis as Queen of France, and to Henry as Queen of England. This historical fiction weaves the never told story of Alienor, a girl who doesn’t know she can change the world; yet as a woman she will, in a fundamental way. Freshly told stories of exploration, romance, and hard truth about striving young men and women fill this first volume of an epic series bound to delight readers of every age. 


The unusually prosperous Aquitaine is surrounded by envious lords. Wealth affords what is nonexistent in medieval Europe – children are allowed to play, receive education, and experience toleration for faith, art, and science. At the unique Fontevrault Abbey, started by Alienor’s family, men and women live in balance. At the abbey-school girls alongside boys learn the medieval skills of invention, poetic song, falconing, bird messaging, ‘dictonic’ speech, and rational thought. Encouraged to have curious minds, her young friends become attracted to what authorities will oppose: Alienor’s pursuit of a personal code centered on love – not what many commonly understand as love, but her idea and practice of it. She astounds convention. How she comes to terms with the many forces of her age becomes her code, leading her to become one of the most powerful and enigmatic women of the middle ages. 


Living in the shadow of a favored younger brother, Alienor adventures into the backwoods and rivers with new friends. She makes the terrible discovery that a friend’s innocent father is thrown into a dungeon for a secret court of inquisition. It is the beginning of her story, and the Aquitaine, indeed the world, will never be the same. 


In development fourteen years and based on the latest scholarly research, this story significantly update earlier accounts, and answers how did Eleanor of Aquitaine become herself? She and her young friends come across challenges that many a young person faces and resolves them in original ways – leading to the creation of the Eleanor Code. 


Mark Richard Beaulieu is an accomplished author, collected painter, award-winning photographer, and innovative software technologist. He trained as a studio artist and holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California at Davis, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. 


December 9 2019 edition.