'Now I have reached my fi fteenth year. One day I will be Duchess of Aquitaine and Gascony, Countess of Poitou. My lands will be vast, wealthy and well-governed. I will be infl uential and so they say beautiful. Do my father's renowned troubadours not sing my praises?'

The most powerful heiress in Western Europe Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, was not content to sit idly while patriarchs attempted to control her destiny. Ambitious as any conqueror, she used manipulation and seduction to ensnare Louis VII, King of France, as her husband, but his devotion to the church and weakness of will hindered Eleanor's aspiration.

Undeterred, Eleanor relentlessly pursues power, taking forbidden lovers, going on Crusade and surviving hardships. Eleanor also dares to fi nd a more compatible husband before severing her marriage to King Louis VII a man fated to rule beside her but unable to tame a woman gloriously determined to remain a queen defiant.