I think she is fascinating because she was the richest woman of her time, and ruled over a principality larger than the lands of the King of France. She was Duchess of Aquitaine and Gascony and was overlord over much of southern and central France, all the way down to the Pyrenees.
She was married to the Dauphin Louis, who was to inherit the title of King of France, at that time a pretty empty honour since the King of Frane was the weakest of all French princes, ruling over a tiny principality stretching from Paris to Orleans and the surroundings, and bullied by his much more powerful subjects (Aquitaine, Blois, Champagne, Brittany, Anjou, Normandy).
During her marriage, she had an affair with Geoffrey "Plantagenet", Count of Anjou and Maine, who was married to the insufferable Empress Matilda. For those of you who don't know, her future husband Henry was the eldest of Geoffrey and Matilda's three sons
Her marriage to Henry was a big scandal and huge risk at the time - not only because it happened so soon after the end of her first marriage, but because of her prior affair with his father and the secrecy of it, neither of them requested the King of France's permission which was necessary since he was their overlord.
If I'm not mistaken, there had previously been negotiations for a betrothal and future marriage between Henry and one of her daughters, but it had not been permitted because of the fact that they were related in the forbidden degrees (at the time, the Roman Catholic church did not allow marriages up to the fourth degree). Her marriage to Louis was also annulled on the premise that they were related in the forbidden degrees. So she had alot of cheek to marry Henry, and also she majorly paid Louis back for years of unhappy marriage by marrying his most powerful vassal and chief enemy.
And to show how they really did like to keep things in the family, just before her marriage to Henry, when she was riding south for the marriage, one of his brothers (can't remember which one) apparently tried to ambush her, desiring to abduct and rape/marry her, which was something that every heiress ran the risk of back in those days. My memory is shady, but I think that Theobald, Count of Champagne, who later married one of her daughters, also tried to abduct and marry her.
To add insult to injury, she got pregnant soon after her marriage and gave Henry a whole bunch of sons
Having only given Louis two daughters in many years of marriage (which was terrible, since he had married her to get his hands on her huge inheritance ,but with no sons, her inheritance would pass to her daughters and thus outside of the French royal house).
Her eldest son, Henry, had a special distinction for being the only British royal heir to be crowned King during his father's lifetime, to ensure succession, etc. It was a French custom and I believe she was the one responsible for introducing it to England. Unfortunately Henry "the Young King" was a complete pain in the ass; he married Louis' daughter (by another wife) and generally annoyed both of his parents until he died.
Two of her other sons, Richard and John, became Kings of England. Another son, Geoffrey, ruled the semi-independent principality of Brittany in France. Her daughter Eleonor became Queen of Castille and was meant to become Duchess of Gascony in her own right (yes, all of Gascony was promised as her dowry but it was never paid).
I only wish that John had married Alice de Maurienne, the heiress of Savoy and Piemont. Her father, Count Humbert, had no sons, only daughters; Alice was sent to King Henry's court to be raised and in time marry John "Lackland" (who had no inheritance), with the intention that John should eventually inheriy Savoy and Piemonte and thus extend the Angevin Empire across the Alps. Unfortunately, she died before the marriage could take place; if I'm not mistaken there were rumours that his father had taken her as a mistress also.
Imagine that...if John had gone off to rule Savoy and Piemonte, then King Richard would either have had to make his bastard son, Philip of Cognac, his heir, or recognise his nephew, Arthur, Duke of Brittany, as the heir to the throne. A dynasty called Cognac would have been interesting. But my real desire would be for an even greater Angevin empire than the historical one, encompassing all of England, parts of Ireland, Normandy, Anjou-Maine, Brittany, Aquitaine and Gascony. Without a doubt the feisty and ambitious young Arthur would have made one hell of a King, crushed the French and established the Angevin dynasty (and thus, England) as the leading power in western Europe during the Middle Ages, especially with his uncle ruling rather sizeable lands of Savoy and Piemonte, poised perfectly to make a two-pronged attack into the French royal demesne. And also controlling important passage from Italy and central/eastern Europe into south France (the Angevin Empire).
*sighs*
A woman with a very strong personnality, in times where women were not really considered...
