When you pick up The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick, you aren’t just grabbing another piece of historical fiction to kill time on a flight. You’re stepping into the messy, loud, and incredibly high-stakes world of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Honestly, it’s a bit of a miracle that we’re still talking about a woman who lived in the 12th century with such intensity. But Eleanor was different. She was a Duchess in her own right, a Queen of France, and later, a Queen of England. She lived through crusades, kidnappings, and more family drama than a modern prestige TV show could handle in ten seasons.
Chadwick’s book is the first in a trilogy, and it tackles the early years. Most people think they know Eleanor. They think of the "Lion in Winter" version—the older, cynical woman locked in a tower by her husband. But The Summer Queen gives us the girl. It gives us the teenager who suddenly finds herself inheriting a massive chunk of what is now modern-day France and being shipped off to marry a man who was basically meant to be a monk.
What Most People Get Wrong About Eleanor’s Early Life
There is this persistent myth that Eleanor of Aquitaine was just a flighty, scandalous teenager who didn't care about politics. People love to focus on the gossip. Was she having an affair with her uncle in Antioch? Did she really ride to the Crusades topless like an Amazon?
Historians like Alison Weir and Ralph Turner have spent decades debunking the "Black Legend" of Eleanor. Chadwick leans into the reality: Eleanor was a politician. She was raised in the Troubadour culture of the South, which was lightyears ahead of the North in terms of art and women's rights. When she married Louis VII of France, she didn't just bring her dowry; she brought a culture shock.
Imagine being thirteen or fourteen. Your father dies. You are the most eligible bachelorette in Europe. Within weeks, you are married to a guy who is terrified of his own shadow and obsessed with his soul. That’s the core of The Summer Queen. It isn't just about romance. It’s about survival in a world that viewed a woman's womb as a political tool and nothing more.
The French Court: A Marriage Made in... Well, Not Heaven
The dynamic between Eleanor and Louis VII is the engine that drives the first half of the book. Louis was never supposed to be King. His older brother died in a freak accident involving a pig in the streets of Paris—yes, a pig—and suddenly, the pious younger brother was thrust onto the throne.
He was obsessed with Eleanor. But he also didn't know what to do with her.
Louis was a man of the Church. Eleanor was a woman of the court. She wanted music, poetry, and influence. He wanted penance and heirs. The tragedy of their marriage, which Chadwick captures so well, is that they actually tried. In the beginning, there was genuine affection. But the pressure of the French court and the influence of advisors like Abbot Suger made it impossible. Suger saw Eleanor as a distraction, a "temptress" who was leading the King away from his spiritual duties.
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The Crusade That Changed Everything
If you want to understand why The Summer Queen matters to historical fiction fans, you have to look at the Second Crusade. This is where the book shifts from a court drama to an epic.
Eleanor didn't just stay home and knit. She took the cross. She gathered her own vassals from Aquitaine and went to the Holy Land. This was unheard of. It was also a logistical nightmare. While the book portrays the grandeur, the reality was grit, dust, and failure. The Second Crusade was a disaster for the West, and Eleanor took much of the blame.
Why? Because she dared to have an opinion on military strategy.
When they reached Antioch, her uncle Raymond was the Prince. He was handsome, charismatic, and a brilliant strategist. He and Eleanor spoke the same language—literally and culturally. They spent nights talking about how to take back Edessa. Louis got jealous. The rumors started. This is the "Antioch Incident" that eventually led to the annulment of their marriage.
- She wanted to stay and fight with Raymond.
- Louis forced her to leave in the middle of the night.
- The relationship never recovered.
It’s a pivotal moment in history. If they had stayed, the map of the Middle East might look different today. If they hadn't fought, the Plantagenet empire might never have existed.
Why Elizabeth Chadwick is the "Gold Standard"
Historians are often wary of novelists. They worry about "The Tudors" effect—where history is sacrificed for a sexier plot. But Chadwick is different. She is known for her obsessive research. She actually visits the sites. she walks the halls of the castles (or what’s left of them) to get the "feel" of the stone.
In The Summer Queen, this shows up in the sensory details. It’s the smell of the damp rushes on the floor. It’s the weight of the wool and silk. It’s the way the light hits the stained glass in the newly built Abbey of Saint-Denis.
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She avoids the "Strong Female Character" trope where the woman acts like a 21st-century feminist in a corset. Eleanor is powerful, but she works within the constraints of her time. She uses her inheritance, her beauty, and her legal rights as a Duchess to maneuver. She isn't a modern woman dropped into the past; she is a medieval woman who knows exactly how to play the game.
The Henry II Factor
You can't talk about Eleanor without talking about Henry. As the book winds down, we see the transition. The marriage to Louis is failing. They've had two daughters, but no sons. The French crown is desperate.
And then comes Henry FitzEmpress.
He was nearly a decade younger than her. He was red-headed, freckled, and possessed a temper that could level a city. He was the Duke of Normandy and the Count of Anjou. Most importantly, he was the future King of England.
The chemistry between them in The Summer Queen isn't just romantic—it’s a power surge. They both wanted the same thing: an empire. Within eight weeks of her annulment from Louis being finalized, Eleanor married Henry. It was a scandal that rocked Europe. It basically started a "cold war" between England and France that would last for centuries.
The Reality of Medieval Power
We often romanticize the Middle Ages. We think of knights and chivalry. But the world of The Summer Queen is brutal. This was a time when your "worth" was measured by the land you held and the sons you could produce.
Eleanor’s struggle was the struggle for agency.
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She wasn't just fighting men; she was fighting a legal system designed to erase her. When she married Henry, she wasn't just looking for a younger lover. She was looking for a partner who would respect her lands. She was tired of being a "consort" who had to beg for permission to visit her own cities.
Key Locations to Know
- Poitiers: The heart of Eleanor's power and her favorite place on earth.
- Paris: A muddy, growing city that she mostly hated.
- Antioch: The site of her greatest scandal and her most significant political awakening.
- Aquitaine: The massive territory (roughly a third of France) that made her the most powerful woman in Europe.
How to Get the Most Out of Reading The Summer Queen
If you’re diving into this book, or if you’ve just finished it and want to know "what next," don't just stop at the fiction. The history is just as wild.
First, look at the primary sources—or at least what the chroniclers wrote. Writers like William of Tyre and John of Salisbury were not fans of Eleanor. They wrote about her with a mix of fascination and horror. When you read the book, keep in mind that the "villainous" version of Eleanor was written by men who were terrified of a woman with an army.
Second, check out the sequels. The Winter Crown and The Autumn Throne finish the story. You get to see Eleanor as the mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John (yes, the Robin Hood guy). Her life doesn't get any less chaotic as she gets older.
Honestly, the best way to approach this is to see it as a character study. It's about a person who refused to be small. In a world that told her to be quiet and pray, she chose to lead and rule.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
- Visit the Fontevraud Abbey: If you ever find yourself in the Loire Valley, go there. Eleanor is buried there, alongside Henry II and Richard the Lionheart. Their effigies are still there, and Eleanor is uniquely depicted holding a book—a sign of her literacy and intellect.
- Compare the Portrayals: Watch The Lion in Winter (the 1968 version with Katharine Hepburn). Then read Chadwick. You’ll see how the "older" Eleanor was shaped by the "younger" one you meet in The Summer Queen.
- Follow the Money: If you want to understand the politics, look at the maps of Aquitaine. Understanding the geography is the "cheat code" to understanding why every King in Europe wanted to marry her.
Eleanor of Aquitaine didn't just live history; she made it. She was the grandmother of Europe, with her descendants sitting on almost every throne. The Summer Queen is just the beginning of that story. It’s a messy, beautiful, and factual look at a woman who simply refused to be forgotten.
The next step for any reader is to look into the actual letters and charters Eleanor signed. They reveal a woman deeply involved in the administration of her lands, proving that she was far more than just a figurehead or a "Queen of the Troubadours." Her legacy is written in the stone of the cathedrals she funded and the laws she helped shape.