Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany

Eleanor of Brittany
Alyenore la Brette in a 13th-century genealogy (British Library)
Born	c. 1182–4
Died	(1241-08-10)10 August 1241 (aged c. 57–59) Bristol Castle (or Corfe Castle, Dorset)
Burial	Amesbury Abbey, Wiltshire
House	Plantagenet
Father	Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Mother	Constance, Duchess of Brittany

Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany^[a] (c. 1184 – 10 August 1241), also known as Damsel of Brittany, Pearl of Brittany, or Beauty of Brittany, was the eldest daughter of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Her father, Geoffrey, was the fourth son of Henry II, King of England.

After the presumed death in 1203 of her imprisoned younger brother, Arthur, Eleanor was heiress to vast lands including England, Anjou, Aquitaine, and Brittany, realms where the Salic Law barring the accession of females did not apply. Her uncle John, King of England, was the fifth son of Henry II, and Eleanor inherited Arthur's claim to the throne as the child of John's elder brother Geoffrey. Thus she posed a potential threat to John, and following his death in 1216, equally to her cousin, King Henry III; thus, having been put in prison in 1202, she was never released. As a prisoner she was also unable to press her claim to the Duchy of Brittany as her brother's heiress.

Like Empress Matilda and Elizabeth of York, Eleanor's claim to the English throne gained little support from the barons, due to the expectation that the monarch should be male, despite legal provision for a female monarch. Some historians have commented that her imprisonment was "the most unjustifiable act of King John".^[1]

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