Primary and Secondary sources on Eleanor of Aquitaine

by cold1nfern0

So I have an assessment for my History class which requires me to research a significant individual out of a small list that was allowed to be researched. I picked Eleanor of Aquitaine as my significant individual. But, so far I haven't been able to find too much on Eleanor. Well I found one interesting primary source which is the effigy of her, but I came to a realization that this source is not very meaningful, compared to something like a letter would be. I need to 2 primary sources and 2 secondary sources on her. This topic isn't the most relevant topic at the moment so I'm not expecting too many responds, but any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Miles_Sine_Castrum

For primary sources, the Fordham Internet Medieval Sourcebook for medieval sources translated into English. It's got hundreds of different sources on many topics, including those related directly to the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, accessible either by browsing or using the search function.

You don't specify whether this assignment is for a college or high-school/secondary level history class, which will have an impact on the kinds of secondary sources you'll have access too. If you're in university, just head to the library, find the medieval history section and have a browse - it shouldn't take you too long to find something on Eleanor. Or else use your library's online catalogue. If you're relying on a public or high-school library, there's much less chance of finding something useful just by browsing, so a Google Books search is probably the most helpful thing. Even if many of the books there won't have the full text online, you can use it to find books you can order from you library's inter-library loan service or from Amazon (if you feel like spending money!).

Good choice by the way - Eleanor is a fascinating historical personage, and will lead you into the awesome medieval Anglo-Norman and Capetian kingdoms. Enjoy and good luck in your assignment!

hillsonghoods

Hi - we as mods have approved this thread, because while this is a homework question, it is asking for clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself, which is fine according to our rules. This policy is further explained in this Rules Roundtable thread and this META Thread.

As a result, we'd also like to remind potential answerers to follow our rules on homework - please make sure that your answers focus appropriately on clarifications and detailing the resources that OP could be using.

Additionally, while users may be able to help you out with specifics relating to your question, we also have plenty of information on /r/AskHistorians on how to find and understand good sources in general. For instance, please check out our six-part series, "Finding and Understanding Sources", which has a wealth of information that may be useful for finding and understanding information for your essay.

butteredberengaria

very, very late but if you're a university student, see if your school is subscribed to databases like EBSCO or jstor (they probably are!) and use them to find a TON of secondary research. and secondary articles are great resources for primary sources, because everything is cited in the bibliography.