Eleanor the "Fair Maid of Brittany", 5th Countess of Richmond (c. 1184 – 10 August 1241), also known as Damsel of Brittany or Pearl of Brittany for her peerless beauty, was the eldest daughter of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Constance, Duchess of Brittany. As the rightful heiress to vast lands including England, Anjou, and Aquitaine since 1203 and thus a potential threat to the throne of her uncle John of England and cousin Henry III of England, she was imprisoned from 1202 and thus became the longest imprisoned member of an English royal family,[citation needed] which also led to her succession failure to Duchy of Brittany. Like Empress Matilda and later Elizabeth of York, her claim to the English throne gained little (if any) support from barons, due to the incompletion of English succession law when female rights were somehow ignored. Some commented that her imprisonment was "the most unjustifiable act of King John". Her long imprisonment was mysterious. Though apparently innocent and never tried, sentenced[3] or locked in a cell,[4] and lived a relatively comfortable life according to some reports,[5] she was viewed as a "state prisoner", forbidden to marry and guarded closely even after her child-bearing years,[6] and finally ended up in prison.

Childhood
Eleanor became fatherless at the age of two and was brought up by her uncle Richard I and grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine.[7] However, it also meant that she was under Angevin custody, and thus even her mother, Constance, never considered her a potential heir to Brittany, which weakened her later claim to the duchy.[8] As her younger brother Arthurwas the heir presumptive to England, she was one of the most sought after princesses at that time.[4] In 1190, when Richard failed to marry his younger sister Joan to Saphadin, brother of Saracen leader Saladin, he proposed that Eleanor should be the bride instead, but the negotiation was also in vain, as Saphadin showed no interest in Christianity.[9][10] In 1193, she was engaged to Frederick son of Leopold V, Duke of Austria, as part of the conditions to release of Richard who had been taken prisoner by the Emperor. However, when she was still on the way there with Baldwin of Bethune the next year, the duke died, so the marriage never took place,[7] and under order of the Pope she returned, accompanied by her grandmother Queen Eleanor.[4][10] In summer 1195, a marriage between her and Louis son of Philip II of France was suggested for an alliance between Richard and Philip, but also failed. It is said that the Emperor opposed the marriage; and the failure was also a sign that Richard would replace Arthur with his only living brother, John. This soon led to a sudden deterioration between Richard and both Philip and Brittany.[4] Eleanor was also likely to have another marriage plan with Odo Duke of Burgundy, as in 1198 Philip ordered Odo not marry any female relatives of Richard without his permission.

Imprisonment

Capture
Upon the death of Richard I, a power struggle commenced between 12-year-old Arthur and King John of England. Between 1199 and 1200 Eleanor was likely to have appeared in England, probably already captured by John rather than at the Battle of Mirebeau along with Arthur and his knights. It was also said that Arthur had complained that John confined his sister before the battle, and when John declared his victory he never mentioned that he captured Eleanor.

Under John
Arthur disappeared mysteriously in 1203. However, as Eleanor was still a potential heiress to John, currently with no legitimate issue, at least preferable to later claimants to the throne such as Prince Louis of France, it was unlikely that John had already decided to confine his niece for life.[11]
On December 6 in the same year, John fled Normandy taking Eleanor as his captive. It was said that she was initially taken to North of England and then Bristol, guarded by 4 knights.[12] In spring 1204, Philip II of France demanded that Eleanor be released in order to marry his younger son. In this year it was certain that she was imprisoned at Corfe Castle, guarded by Stephen de Turnham, along with 25 French knights loyal to her. After an attempt to escape, 22 of them were recaptured and starved.[13] Eleanor lived in the Gloriet Tower added to Corfe at John's time, had meals in the Long Hall and was allowed to walk along the walls.[4] As well, she was allowed to have 3 maids, and was provided fabric for clothes and bedding, and pocket money as much as 5 mark per quarter.[14] She also got a saddle with gilded reins and scarlet ornaments from John, which implied that she might be a horsewoman, and that she could not always be confined in her room. John also sent her figs and almonds, so these might be of her favor. A shopping list for Eleanor in captivity was recorded and it suggested the aristocratic diet at that time.[15] Initially John organized local barons to visit Eleanor in order to prove her well-being.[6] In 1206, John entrusted her to Robert de Vieuxpont.[16] In 1208 the British bishops demanded the same as Philip II, when the death of Arthur became known to the public. In the same year, bishops of Nantes, Vannes and Cornouaille openly attempted to liberate Eleanor, only to be frustrated by John, and many of her supporters were punished.[7] Eleanor was forced to entrust Brittany and Richmond to John, who referred her as his "dearest niece" while communicating with Bretons.[11] As the eldest daughter of Constance, Eleanor should have been recognized as Duchess of Brittany after the death of her brother Arthur. But instead, the Breton barons (fearing King John's claims to rule Brittany in representation of Eleanor's rights or married her to a vassal loyal to England) made her younger half-sister Alix duchess instead. However, it was said Eleanor succeeded Arthur in Richmond and was thus styled 5th Countess of Richmond, and the Bretons, ignorant of her whereabouts, were always ready in case she was found.[4] In fact John permitted her to use the titles of Brittany and Richmond, and he even talked with Breton nobles about letting her go. He had Eleanor write a letter to Breton barons and churchmen, depicting herself in captivity, expressing her hope of being liberated, and asking them to arrive in England to negotiate with her release. This letter was the only surviving document by Eleanor.[11][6] In May, she was kept at Salisbury.
In 1209, William I of Scotland sent his daughters Margaret and Isobel to John as hostages, and they were also imprisoned at Corfe Castle along with Eleanor. In June 1213, John sent green robes, lambskin-trimmed cloaks, and summer slippers to the captive princesses. They were sometimes allowed to ride out under the strictest guard. For Eleanor herself, she got robes of dark green with capes of cambric and hats trimmed with miniver.[4]
In 1213, John took Eleanor to blackmail Pierre I of Brittany husband and co-ruler of Alix and tempted him with Richmond, but Pierre kept loyal to France, even after the capture of his elder brother Robert by John at Nantes.[17] In the same year John declared England as a papal fief, and Pope Innocent III thus claimed himself guardian of Eleanor. After reaching an agreement with John, the Pope would not accuse John of neither the death of Arthur nor the imprisonment of Eleanor. In February 1214, John campaigned in Aquitaine and Poitou with Eleanor, as well as his queen and Prince Richard,[11] against Alix, hoping to get Breton support and establish Eleanor as his puppet duchess, but only to be defeated at de La Roche-aux-Moines. In July, John withdrew to England, with the princess still in hand. In the same year John again talked with Breton nobles about the rights and freedom of Eleanor, but after this expedition John became convinced that he could get nothing from her claim, so he also recognized Alix as duchess of Brittany and never supported Eleanor even in name, and neither did later Henry III.
The tensions between John and barons finally began to spill over into war in 1215, and Prince Louis of France led an invasion to England and claimed English throne, as his consort Blanche was a maternal granddaughter of Henry II, whilst the Pope argued Eleanor had a better claim than his.[11]When the Magna Carta was issued that year, it was demanded that all hostages held by John including Scottish princesses and Welsh be released, however, it had nothing to do with Eleanor, a proof that the rights of the females was somehow overlooked. At least, it seemed that in spite of their resentment to John, even the rebel barons seldom recognized the claims of the captive princess.
John had considered to marry Eleanor to a loyal subordinate, but he never did; there were rumors that the princess was starved to death by orders of King John, but that was impossible as John predeceased her as long as 25 years.
For where Eleanor was held, there are different versions. Some suggest that she was confined at a single place without any transfer. Some say that she was shut up in a convent at Bristol till her death;[20][21][22] other sources say that she was imprisoned at a certain castle, some say Corfe Castle, and others say Bristol Castle, for all the 39 years.

Under Henry III
John died towards the end of the civil conflict in 1216; although according to the laws of primogeniture the claim of Eleanor was better, English barons allowed King John's young son, Henry, to succeed, leaving the 32-year-old princess, now beautiful and defiant,[4] still in prison and guarded by Peter de Maulay.
As her claim to England and Aquitaine was a threat to the reign of both John and the later Henry III, before his death John believed that Eleanor should never be released, which would be agreed by Henry III and his regents.[6] Thus, albeit never a rallying point for English discontent during the early part of Henry III's reign,[11] Eleanor was still put under semi-captivity,[9] or "under a gentle house arrest",[23] no matter how much ransom the Bretons would pay. Her survival was ensured according to the treaty between England and France. In 1219, her earldom of Richmond was given to Pierre I of Brittany after the recognition of William Marshal the regent of Henry, and it would never be returned even after Pierre renounced it in 1235. Henry III styled Eleanor, now with no title left, as "king's kinswoman",[7][11] or "our cousin".
In 1221, it was said that some people, maybe foreigners, planned to rescue Eleanor and deliver her to the King of France. In 1225, Peter de Maulay was accused of planning with the king of France to get a ship to spirit the princess away, and he subsequently fell out of favor. In fact the allegation might be false, only to discredit Peter and Peter des Roches, who also fell out of favor in spring 1234. No matter whether the plot occurred or not, Eleanor was soon moved away from the coast. From June 13, 1222, she was transferred between Gloucester (July 31, 1222 to July 20, 1223), Marlborough (August 20 to October 9, 1223 and January 1224) and Bristol (before Michaelmas 1224), finally settled at Bristol from June 1224 for a time.[11] Among them, Gloucester Castle temporarily moved all its original prisoners otherwhere to accommodate the princess.
From 1223 Henry III and his government took serious actions to keep Eleanor captive. They appointed and monitored her keepers, and frequently changed them. Such actions would be simulated by later Edward I. However, Eleanor lived and was treated as a royal princess with servants and medical assistants and proper diet, and it was recorded that she received generous gifts from the royal family such as game, fruit, nuts and wine. She also had proper but unshowy clothes. From 1225, she got an allowance.[9]Henry III himself once sent her 50 yards of linen cloth, three wimples, 50 pounds of almonds and raisins respectively and a basket of figs;[24] he offered her another saddle, a proof that she could still go horse-riding under strict guard; he once asked the mayor and bailiff to increase her household there.[25] The governor there exhibited her to the public annually, in case there might be rumors that the royal captive had been injured. The fact might suggest that English people were sympathetic to her.[26][27] Sometimes local mayor, bailiffs, responsible civilians and certain noblewomen were permitted to visit her to prove her safety. She once appeared in Woodstock, safe and sound towards Henry III in November 1237. In the same year she was again kept at Gloucester Castle under the custody of William Talbot, and the sheriff there named John Fitz Geoffrey paid for her expenses; when Fitz Geoffrey was given 100 shillings as payment, it was only for her expenses and maintenance rather than for the castle. She had a quarrel with the Talbots there.[5] On Easter or November 1238, she was transferred back to Bristol.[11]

Death and legacy
Finally the captive princess died testate as a nun in 1241 at Bristol Castle at the age of 57 and initially buried at St. James' Church, then reburied at Amesbury Abbey at her will, now lost, announced by Henry III.[28] She also donated her body there.[29] It was also said that she died at Corfe Castle.[30]Considering the association between Amesbury and the Plantagenets, Eleanor's final choice of burial place was probably a sign of submission and loyalty to her dynasty, but it was more likely her last protest about the fate of herself and her brother Arthur, as the abbey was for the Virgin and St Melor, a young Breton prince murdered by his wicked uncle who usurped his throne.[5]
The Chronicle of Lanercost claims that the remorseful Henry III had given a gold crown to Eleanor to legitimize himself and his descendants shortly before her death, and only three days later the crown was donated to young Prince Edward (the future Edward I of England) as a gift. Another version says that she only wore the crown for one day before returning it.[9]
Upon her death, the Annales Londonienses recorded the event, referring her to: "Alienora quondam comitis Britanniæ filia, in custodia diuturni carceris strictissime reservata" (in English: Eleanor, the daughter of the late Count of Brittany, long established in the custody of the strictest prison reserved), and approved that she was the rightful heir to England,[31] although some years after her death Henry III was still unwilling to admit that he was initially not the hereditary king of England.[32] The Annals of Tewkesbury record the death "IV Id Aug" in 1241 of "Alienora de Britannia consanguinea domini regis Henrici Angliæ" (in English: Eleanor of Brittany a blood relative of the lord King Henry of England).[28] The Chronicle of Lanercost recorded Eleanor as being a most beautiful and courageous woman, who was also determined and tactful.[citation needed] The limited sources about her character also agree with the assessment and proved that she never resigned to her fate,[4] even decades of confinement could not force her to relinquish her rights although depended on little hope.[33] The bailiffs there were commanded to provide tapers and alms for her obsequies.[34] In 1268, Henry III gave the manor of Melksham, Wiltshere, a place that Eleanor had been fond of, to Amesbury for the souls of Eleanor and Arthur.[7][11][29] Thus Eleanor became a benefactress to the abbey.
Eleanor sometimes appears in historical fiction. In Thomas Costain's novel Below the Salt, the author has Eleanor escape, marry a knight with land in Ireland, and raise a family there. In the Shadow of Midnight by Marsha Canham was also about the rescue of the princess and rightful heiress taken prisoner by King John. Both novels suggest that William the Marshal also wanted Eleanor to be liberated. Eleanor also appeared in the novels Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman, Sirocco Wind from the East by Virginia Ann Work, and as the heroine in The Shimmering Sky by Rik Denton.
English novelist and poet Menella Bute Smedley described Eleanor's mood towards her aging under weary imprisonment in her poem The Lament of Eleanor of Bretagne.