Richard I, King of England (08Sep1157 – 06Apr1199) was King of England and ruler of the Angevin Empire from 06Jul1189, until his death in 1199.
He was known as Richard the Lionheart, or Cœur de Lion, even before his accession because of his reputation as a military leader.

At 16, Richard had his own command, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father, Henry II.
Richard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, gaining victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin.

He spoke very little English - his first language was Occitan and spent very little time (6 months over a period of 10 years) in his Kingdom, preferring to use it as a source of revenue to support his continental armies.

In March 1199, Richard was in the Limousin suppressing a revolt by Viscount Aimar V of Limoges. He besieged the lightly armed castle of Chalus-Chabrol. When Richard was walking around the castle perimeter, without wearing his chain mail, while investigating the progress of sappers on the castle walls, a man who was standing on the walls aimed his crossbow at the king and an arrow struck him in the left shoulder near the neck... The wound became infected, then gangrenous and he died in the arms of his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Eleanor of Aquitaine (French: Aliénor/Éléonore; 1122 or 1124 – 01Apr1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
She became Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right while she was still a child, then later Queen consort of France (1137–1152) and of England (1154–1189).
Eleanor married King Louis VII of France. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon after, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment in consideration of her failure to bear a son after fifteen years of marriage.

As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to Henry, Duke of Normandy, who became King Henry II of England in 1154 and were married 18May1152.
Over the next 13 years, she bore Henry eight children: five sons, three of whom would become kings; and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting her son Henry's revolt against her husband, and she was not released until 1189 when Henry died (on 6 July), and their son ascended the English throne as Richard I.

Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade where he was captured and held prisoner. Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son John.
She died in 1204 and her tomb effigy she is depicted reading a book, a mark of her great culture, the ability to read being exceptional for a layman and even more for a woman in an age when the church discouraged all learning!

Jean Plaidy has written about her in several novels. 'Courts of Love' is written from a first person perspective in Plaidy's Queens of England series, and in The Plantagenet Saga, Eleanor of Aquitaine is featured in 'The Plantagenet Prelude', 'Revolt of the Eaglets', 'The Heart of the Lion', and 'Prince of Darkness'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine.

Robert of Arbrissel declared that the leader of the order should always be a woman and appointed Petronille de Chemillé as the first abbess. She was succeeded by Matilda of Anjou, the aunt of Henry II of England.
This was the start of a position that attracted many rich and noble abbesses over the years, including members of the French Bourbon royal family.
It also became a refuge for battered women and penitent prostitutes, and housed a leper hospital and a home for aged religious.

During the French Revolution, the order was dissolved. The last abbess, Madame d'Antin, died in poverty in Paris. On 17Aug1792, a Revolutionary decree ordered evacuation of all monasteries, to be completed by 01Oct1792.
The abbey later became a prison from 1804 to 1963.