The Ritual Master Hello everyone, and welcome back to this year’s Mediaeval Advent Calendar. Today I’m inviting you to Aliénor’s favourite place of residence, the ruling capital of the Dukes of Aquitaine : Poitiers. Located in the heart of modern day France, halfway between Paris and Bordeaux, Poitiers was a fortified city during the Middle Ages, and after her marriage to Henry II, the main residence of the reigning Dukes of Aquitaine.
In the center of the old town we find the Palace of the Counts of Poitou and Dukes of Aquitaine, still standing since the beginning of the 12th century. Built on the ruins of a Roman wall, the old Palace of the 9th century burned down in 1018. It was rebuilt by the Dukes, with William IX The Troubadour adding the oldest part we see today : the Maubergeon tower, home of his mistress. Hang on tight, this is a story only the Middle Ages could provide.
So you remember William IX was Aliénor’s paternal grandfather. He was briefly married to Ermengarde of Anjou, before marrying Philippa of Toulouse in 1094, mother of his three legitimate children. However, in 1114, he takes a married woman as a mistress, Amauberge de l’Isle Bouchard, called Dangerosa in Occitan, the dangerous one, and installs her quarters in the tower who took her name as he had transformed it in his poems, Maubergeon. Who was this dangerous woman, capable of seducing all men ? None other than Aliénor’s maternal grandmother. Yes, from her legal marriage to Aymeric I of Châtellerault was born Aénor, future wife of William X and mother of Aliénor. This only ignited rumours of hot blood in the family and was certainly the reason everyone was quick to assume Aliénor had many more lovers besides her husbands.
On the other side of the Palace we find the steps leading to the Great Hall. Between 1199 and 1204, the great hall (sometimes referred to by its Latin name, aula) was built on Aliénor’s orders, replacing an older one. Without a particular name at the time, this hall (50 × 16.85 metres) was one of the largest of the period in Europe, along with Westminster Hall in London, which is related to it. The hall has no ceiling, and you can see the chestnut frame, built in 1862 by shipwrights from La Rochelle. The walls of the hall are decorated with blind arches supported by thin columns, with a different layout depending on the wall. Grimacing heads and characters adorn the bases of the columns. This type of ornament is common in Gothic art called “Plantagenet” Angevin, or “Western Gothic”. It can be found in Poitiers Cathedral, which we’ll visit in a few days. The hall was further remodelled in the late 14th century when three Flamboyant Gothic fireplaces were added, one of the first pieces of this spectacular late mediaeval style.
The hall served many purposes during Aliénor’s reign, it was a courtroom, a reception hall, a typical multifunctional place to keep everything in sight. You can imagine the space full of people for the Christmas feast, long tables filled with roasts and goblets of hypocras, dogs under the tables chewing bones, minstrels performing for the Queen and she, front and center, loving her beautiful south, full of merriment and poetry.
We’ll come back to Poitiers in a few days. Until then, merry Advent !
