ands that Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) brought to her marriages, first to Louis VII of France and then to Henry II of England, made her one of the most politically influential figures of her day, but her cultural endeavors had an equally profound impact on European civilization. Eleanor's efforts at the court of Poitiers shaped a culture centered on courtly love and chivalric behavior; her sponsorship contributed to the success of the troubadours and to the spread of the Arthurian legends. Other noblewomen may have had a less dramatic impact on musical culture, but they often had musicians in their personal retinue and so helped to shape the prevailing musical style. Indeed because women often married far from home, they served as a kind of cultural network for importing and mingling new ideas, styles, and tastes with the established norms of their husband's court.BibliographyColophons de manucrits occidentaux des origins au XVIe sicle. Compiled by theBenedictines of Bouveret. Spicileggi Friburgensis subsidia; 2-7. Fribourg, Switzerland: Editions universitaires, 1965.Edwards, J. Michele. "Women in Music to ca. 1450." In Women and Music: A History. Ed. Karin Pendle. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press,1991, pp. 8-28. Hildegard of Bingen. Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armoniecelestium revelationum. Barbara Newman, ed. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988. The Las Huelgas Manuscript: Burgos, Monasterio de Las Huelgas. 2 vols. Gordon A.Anderson, ed. Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 79. N.P.: American Institute of Musicology, 1982Page, Christopher. The Owl and the Nightingale: Musical Life and Ideas in France1100-1300. London: J.M. Dent and Songs, Ltd., 1989.Page, Christopher. "The Performance of Songs in Late Medieval France: A NewSource." Early Music 10 (1982): 441-450.Vox Feminae: Studies in Medieval Women's Song. John F. Plummer, ed. Studies inMedieval Culture, vol...
