Was Cleopatra Black?

While I was researching my chapter on Cleopatra for Scandalous Women, the question of whether or not she was black came up. For centuries Cleopatra was seen as an exotic femme fatale but with the rise of interest in African-American history and the black power movement over the years, there has been a rush to claim Cleopatra as a sister. I used to argue about this with my brother constantly when I was in high school and studying ancient history. He insisted that Cleopatra had to be black because she was the Pharoah of Egypt and Egypt was in Africa. I, of course, explained to him all about Alexander the Great and how after his death, his empire was divided amongst his generals, and Ptolemy ended up with Egypt. We went around like this for days before I just gave up arguing with him. Now of course, with the announcement that Angelina Jolie might be playing the role in a film adapted from Stacey Schiff's biography, the question comes up again (the fact that Angelina Jolie is much more beautiful than the real Cleopatra never seems to come up).

Unfortunately it is impossible to prove one way or another. Her father Ptolemy XII was at least half Macedonian Greek, his mother’s origins are unknown. There was a  high degree of inbreeding amongst the Ptolemies, they were notoriously xenophobic, preferring to speak Greek and to keep Greek customs. According to the chart on Wikipedia, she only had four great-grandparents and six (out of a possible 16) great-great-grandparents. I would say that means that Cleopatra was probably at least 50% Greek Macedonian. Still at some point, they needed to inject from fresh blood into the dynasty. Cleopatra’s mother is also unknown. So it is possible that she was at least part African. Although she learned Egyptian, becoming the first Ptolomeic Pharaoh to do so, Cleopatra identified herself as being Greek, even as she took on the trappings of Egyptian culture. Certainly the coins that were minted during her lifetime show a woman who looked more Greek than she did Egyptian.

A 2009 BBC documentary, Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer, looked at the reconstruction of a skull which could p ossibly from a sister of Cleopatra (Cleopatra had asked Mark Antony to have one of her remaining siblings, who was a threat to her throne, murdered) to show features which have similarities to both Semitic and Bantu skulls. Their conclusion was that Cleopatra could have had black African ancestry -- but it's not really conclusive. Another problem is that we think of as race means something different entirely from what it might have meant in Cleopatra's day. Are contemporary Eygptians black or are they Arab, or a melange of different races? Yes, they are African but if someone's parents were originally from Egypt does that make one African-American?

Still the question is still raised. Why does it matter? Well, Cleopatra was a powerful woman who ruled Egypt by herself for over 20 years before her death.  Books, plays, films, operas and poetry have been written about her. She has moved from being a historical figure into an iconic figure. Who wouldn't want to claim her as one of their own. Claiming Cleopatra as black, gives young black girls an example of a sister who was doing it for herself so to speak. No matter what race she was, she is mythic figure that continues to enthrall countless biographers and filmmakers to this day.

Unfotunately unless we find Cleopatra's grave or a time machine to send archeologists and historians back in time, we will never know for sure what Cleopatra's racial make-up is.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen and Rebel, Part II

Eleanor and Henry proceeded to produce 7 more children over the next 14 years, four boys and three girls, Henry (the young King), Richard, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joanna, Matilda, and the last John in 1166, a remarkable feat during the Middle Ages when infant mortality was extremely high. Unfortunately, their first son William died at the age of 3 from an unknown illness.

Although Eleanor loved her children, Richard especially, she was a woman who loved power and wanted to exercise her intelligence doing more than just hanging around the nursery or supervising her ladies in waiting. Henry, however, wasn't about to share his power with a co-ruler. Although he allowed Eleanor to act as regent during his absences from court, but it was little more than her signing her name to the authority of his ministers, who had the real power.

Henry meanwhile, was also busy, in between ruling his vast kingdom, with other women. At first this didn't bother Eleanor over much, but she soon began to resent it, and his interference in her reign over Aquitaine, which she returned to in 1168. Eventually the two grew apart, the 12 year age difference increasing as the years went by. Although Henry had been discreet with his mistresses at first, that all changed when he fell in love with Rosamond Clifford, the daughter of one of his knights, Walter Clifford. Very little is known about Rosamond except that she was beautiful and Henry loved her above all women. Rumors circulated that Henry would annul his marriage to Eleanor and marry Rosamond, an act that Henry wasn't about to do. Annuling his marriage to Eleanor would mean that Aquitaine and Poitou would no longer be under his control. And Eleanor would once again be bait for his many enemies, seeking to control her vast inheritance. After Rosamond's death in 1176, another rumor spread that Eleanor had either had her murdered or poisoned her directly, despite the fact that Eleanor had been imprisoned at the time. Henry later became involved with Richard's betrothed, Alais, a princess of France and daughter of Eleanor's ex-husband. Needless to say, Richard never married Alais.

Henry allowed Eleanor to return to her court in Poitiers in an attempt to control the unruly barons in Aquitaine. For five years, Eleanor had a certain measure of autonomy from Henry's dominance. It was in Poitiers that Eleanor started to hold the "Courts of Love' where troubadours and poets flocked and the idea of courtly love was practiced, a code comprising 31 articles or The Rules of the 12th Century. The romantic legend of King Arthur took shape at this time, capturing the imaginations of the poets. It was around this time that the idea of the round table, and the love affair betweenGuinevere and Lancelot joined with the earlier versions of the story, through the writings of Chretien de Troyes, who served at the court of Eleanor's daughter, Marie Countess of Champagne. Chrétien also has the distinction of being the first writer to mention the Holy Grail (Perceval).

She even established a tribunal of women where men could come to ask questions. How cool is that? Eleanor of Aquitaine as a medieval Dr. Phil. In Poitiers, Eleanor was also reunited with her two daughters by Louis VII, Marie of Champagne and Alix of Blois. While Henry was the ruler of Aquitaine, Eleanor made sure that her lords knew that their loyalty was to her and not to the King.

The you know what hit the fan in 1173. Their eldest son Henry had been crowned King of England, but was anxious for a little power as were Henry's other two sons Richard and Geoffrey. Although Geoffrey had been made Duke of Brittany through marriage, but Henry didn't allow him to rule, nor did he allow Richard, any who was heir to Aquitaine and Poitou, any influence in the duchy. The sons chafed under their father's iron fist and revolted with their mother's support.

Henry was enraged that his sons would dare to rebel against him and that Eleanor would lend her support. The plan failed and all three sons fled to France. Eleanor was not so lucky, she was caught trying to flee dressed like a man. She was sent back to England and imprisoned for the next 15 years in various royal residences around the country. Very little is known about Eleanor's life during this time. On brief occasions, she was let out of her prison, mainly for Christmas celebrations at the court (The Lion in Winter is set during one such holiday), and to see Richard installed as Duke of Aquitaine after Eleanor renounced her title. Occasionally she was allowed to have family members as visitors, but Henry never let her forget that she was his prisoner.

Meanwhile his sons continued to rebel against him, hooking up with Louis VII's son, Philip Augustus, who proved to be a more formidable enemy than his father. However, the young King Henry died of dysentery in 1183, awaiting his father's forgiveness. Although Henry didn't come in person, he did send his son a sapphire ring as a token of reconciliation. Then Geoffrey took a fatal fall in 1186, leaving his son Arthur who was born 7 months after his death. That left Richard and John as Henry's only heirs. Eventually even John also known as John Lackland for his lack of inherited titles and land, Henry's favorite son joined in. Henry didn't know what his favorite son had done until he lay on his deathbed after a terrible defeat.

Henry died in 1189 and Eleanor was finally free to rule England through Richard. After his coronation, Richard obliged her by taking off on the Third Crusade, to rescue the beseiged city of Jerusalem from Saladin. Eleanor was completey against it, as far as she was concerned, Richard's job was to continue the Plantagenet dynasty by marrying and siring an heir, not to mention the business of affairs of state. She did manage to get him married to Berengaria of Navarre, who although Queen of England, never set foot in the kingdom. The getting of an heir was another story.

Richard was gone for 5 years, in fact during his reign, he spent only 10 months in England, leaving Eleanor plenty of room to rule as administator of the realm, while simultaneously keeping John's greedy fingers off the throne in his brother's absence (apparently Disney's depiction of him in Robin Hood is not far off the mark). In the meantime, Richard managed to get himself captured on his way back from Crusade by the Duke of Austria who held him for ransom.

Not only did Eleanor manage to raise the money to ransom Richard, but she went all the way to Austria to bring back, this while in her seventies. On this return, she even effected a reconciliation between the two brothers. Richard died in 1199 after ten years on the throne, without an heir. This was before the days when the line of succession was clearly demarcated. So there were two heirs, Geoffrey's son Arthur and John. Eleanor threw her weight behind John's claim. Arthur's mother Constance was just as formidable a woman as Eleanor, and she knew that she would have no power if Arthur were King.

Arthur had the power and weight of the French King behind him, but Eleanor managed to help John hold Aquitaine and Poitou against him. John eventually managed to capture him and his sister Eleanor. Arthur died mysteriously while imprisoned which didn't help John's cause. Luckily for him he had his mother to advise and guide him as she had done for Richard. In a savy move, she had her granddaughter Blanche of Castile betrothed to Philip's son, uniting the Plantagents and the Capets. And she personally escorted her granddaughter from Castile, at the age of 80, to her bridegroom.

Eventually Eleanor retired in 1202 to Fontrevault Abbey where she spent her remaining two years of life, match-making for her relatives, seeking advantageous matches for them. She died at the age of 82, a remarkable age in a remarkable life, outliving most of her children, apart from John and her daughter Eleanor. She is buried beside her husband at the Abbey.

In the years following her death, historians judged her harshly for her youthful indiscretions and willful personality, ignoring her later years. But current historians are kinder to Eleanor, emphasizing her political wisdom and her role in the development of Courtly Love.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen and Rebel- Part I

I confess that I have been fascinated with the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine ever since I saw the movie The Lion in Winter in high school. Who was this woman who taunted Henry II, who got under his skin? It was more than just Katherine Hepburn's portrayal, although she was fabulous. I immediately wanted to know more about this woman. Apparently I'm not the only one who is fascinated with her. Countless books have been written over the centuries. Google her name and you'll find thousands of articles as well.

Why this fascination with a long ago Queen? Well, she was the most powerful woman in Medieval Europe, wife to two Kings and the mother of two Kings, founding a dynasty that would rule England for the next 330 years. In her lifetime, she was the subject of scandalous rumors, that she rode bare-breasted on crusade, that she slept with her uncle, murdered her husband's mistress. She was a warrior who helped her sons revolt against their father, and served as regent while Richard the Lionheart went on crusade. She died at the relatively advanced age of 82, in an age when the average life span was probably about 40.

Eleanor was born Alienor of Aquitaine around 1122. Her grandfather William IX was a musician, poet, acknowledged as the first troubadour. He was also no stranger to love or to scandal. After divorcing his first wife, he married a widow who gave him two sons, William (Eleanor's father) and Raymond (who became Prince of Antioch). When his second wife bored him, she was sent to a nunnery where she lived until her death. Instead of remarrying, William decided to abduct a married woman (shades of Uther Pendragon) named Dangereuse (what an absolutely delicious name) who became his mistress.

In time, William decided that Dangereuse's daughter Aenor should marry his son William against his son's wishes. They were married in 1121, with Alienor (Eleanor) following nine months later. Two more children followed, Petronella and William Aigret. Both Eleanor's mother and William Aigret died young, leaving Eleanor the sole heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine.

At the this time, France was not the size that it is now. The duchy of Aquitaine while swearing fealty to the French King, was 1/3 the size of modern France. It was a prize, and whoever married Eleanor would be incredibly powerful. Eleanor and her father were incredibly close. Like his father before him, William X was a patron of the troubadours and storytellers who flocked to the court. Proud of having such a beautiful, lively and intelligent daughter, William made sure that she was highly educated. She traveled with him throughout the duchy, preparing for her role as Duchess.

When she was just15, her life changed forever with the death of her beloved father from food poisoning while they were on pilgrimage. In order to protect Eleanor from being kidnapped for her inheritance after he was gone, on his deathbed, William dictated a will making her a ward of Louis the Fat, King of France. Coveting the duchy of Aquitaine, Louis married Eleanor off to his son, the future Louis VII on August 1, 1137. There was only one tiny catch. Aquitaine would remain independent of France for the moment, but if the union was blessed by a son, he would be both King of France and Duke of Aquitaine.

Like another mis-matched King and Queen, Marie-Antoinette and Louis XIV, Eleanor and her new husband had absolutely nothing in common. While Eleanor was willful and high-spirited, Louis was quiet and pious, regarded by some as a saint (in fact, he was later made a saint after his death). No one, however, would ever mistake Eleanor for being a saint. Before Eleanor could adjust to being a wife, she became a Queen when her new father-in-law died a few days after the wedding.

Never one to sit around doing needlework, Eleanor threw herself enthusiastically into her new role as Queen of France. She got off on the wrong foot immediately with the French court. Even Louis' own mother thought her flighty and a bad influence. Her conduct was constantly criticized by church elders, but it didn't matter to Louis, who was madly in love with his new wife. He consulted her often on matters of state much to the chagrin of his ministers. Eleanor also frequently visited Aquitaine, where she was much loved by her people.

The only fly in the ointment was their lack of a child. Bernard of Clairvaux (who was also a thorn in Abelard's side) insisted that Eleanor was childless because she was wicked. Eventually, Eleanor gave birth to a daughter, Marie in 1145, eight years after her marriage at the relatively advanced age of 23. However, having a child didn't make Eleanor settle down. When Louis decided to go on the Second Crusade, Eleanor announced that she was joining him. Along with a company of 300 women (you can imagine how much luggage they brought). Louis advisors were completely against it until Eleanor also offered the services of a 1000men from Aquitaine.

Eleanor insisted on leading the soldiers from Aquitaine herself. However, the rumor that she and her women dressed as Amazons with one breast bare has been disputed by historians. She did however, launch her crusade from Vezelay, the rumored location of Mary Magadelene's burial. The crusade itself was a disaster. Louis didn't have the first clue on how to lead an army. By the time they reached Asia Minor, things went from merely bad to worse. A group of French soldiers lead by Geoffrey de Rancon, a vassal of Eleanor, were slaughtered by the Turks when they ignored the King's orders to make camp for the night. Eleanor was blamed, since Geoffrey was her vassal, it was assumed that she had given the order to continue to the next plateau. Her reputation was sullied and went down hill even further with the rumors of an affair with her uncle, Raymond who had married Constance of Antioch. Although Raymond had a reputation for being a faithful husband, he paid special attention to his beautiful, flirtatious niece.

Louis and Eleanor had been growing apart, and the Crusade just emphasized how incompatible they were. When Raymond pleaded for Louis's help in defending Antioch, Eleanor took his side. When Louis refused to assist Raymond, Eleanor declared that she wanted a divorce. Louis, who adored his wife, was angry and hurt. When Eleanor refused to accompany him to Jerusalem, insisting on staying in Antioch with her uncle, Louis had her brought out by force. She never saw her uncle again. In 1149 he was killed in a battle against the Muslims. His severed head was sent to the caliph in Baghdad.After a disasterous trip to Jerusalem, Louis and Eleanor returned to Europe by seperate ships. They were both persumed lost for months until Eleanor ended up in Sicily and Louis in Calabria. They reunited in Rome, when the Pope Eugenius III maneuvered events so that the estranged couple ended up sharing a bed. Their daughter Alix was born 9 months later, but it was too late to save the marriage.

Although Louis adored his wife, he was willing to let Eleanor go. He had the future of the throne to think about. After 15 years of marriage, they had only 2 daughters and no sons. Eleanor, of course, countered that it wasn't her fault, in order to have an heir, he had to sleep with her. On March 11, 1152, the marriage was dissolved, on the grounds of consaguinity. This was ludicrous since the close relationship between the two (they were third cousins) had been known before they got married. Their two daughters were declared legitimate and the King was given custody. Eleanor's lands of Aquitaine and Poitou were returned to her.

But Eleanor was not to be alone for long. Two months later, she married the Henry , Count of Anjou and Normandy, son of Matilda, and grandson of Henry I of England, shocking everyone. Not only was Henry, at 18, 11 years younger than Eleanor, but it had been rumored that Eleanor had slept with his father prior to her relationshiop with Henry. According to contemporary chronicler, Gerald of Wales, "Count Geoffrey of Anjou when he was seneschal of France took advantage of Queen Eleanor; for which reason he often warned his son Henry, telling him above all not to touch her, they say, both because she was his lord's wife, and because he had known her himself." But, ignoring his father's advice, Henry "presumed to sleep adulterously with the said queen of France, taking her from his own lord and marrying her himself. How could anything fortunate, I ask, emerge from these copulations?"

Whether or not she slept with his father, Eleanor and Henry were well-matched. They shared similar backgrounds, both were highly intelligent and strong-willed. His physical courage and keen political mind meshed well with her ambition for power. And they were powerfully attacted to one another. They had met while Eleanor was still married to Louis, when Henry had arrived at the French court to conduct peace talks between Anjou and France. Some historians believe that Eleanor and Henry made plans then to marry once her divorce went through. Ironically, they were just as related as Eleanor and Louis were. And his father warned him against marrying Eleanor. His warnings fell on deaf ears.

War broke out between Henry and Louis when the news of the marriage hit Paris. Louis was outraged by his ex-wife's conduct. As his vassal, she could not marry without his permission. Henry won the war quickly, leaving Louis to scurry home to lick his wounded pride. To add insult to injury, Eleanor and Henry also had a son, William, a year after their wedding.

Two years after their marriage, Henry of Anjou was King of England and Eleanor was now Queen of a kingdom that stretched from the Pyrnees to the Cheviots.


Stay tuned tomorrow for more on Eleanor of Aquitaine.