Lions' Forge: The Epic True Story of 5 Kings and the Lion Queen

The Second Crusade is close at hand; Alienor is pledged to join in the Crusade, the Germans are entering the fray, and preparations are beginning in earnest. Hearts beat with the excitement of a great adventure, a Crusade which would unquestionably lead to the victorious culmination of Christendom’s fifty-year-old battle with Islam.

It’s the year 1145. Massive forces are building across the world. A Crusade, the world war of its time, is about to begin. It will engage men from Paris to Jerusalem in battles witnessed by the gods themselves.

Louis's troubles continue with the lack of an heir and a new Pope. Tensions are building in the Middle East with the fall of Edessa. Could another war be brewing?

The young couple we met in the last episode, the Aquitanian heiress Alienor, newly married to Prince Louis Capet, both elevated to the French throne upon Louis’ father’s death, would be husband and wife for fifteen years. They would have two daughters and no sons. Given the fixation of powerful men, especially Frankish kings, on having a male heir, very few wives unable to produce little boys were likely to last. Alienor undoubtedly remained Queen of France as long as she did because the marriage contracts had provided that unless she had a son to sit on the French throne, the crown would not gain full possession of The Aquitaine and, very possibly, because her husband truly did love her beauty, her wit, her exotic ways so enticingly different from the austere habits of the chilly north.

Alienor of Aquitaine and Louis Capet of France had just married and, mere weeks later, inherited the French throne. He was seventeen, she a mere thirteen. They had unparalleled wealth thanks to HER fortune and they had considerable respect thanks to HIS father. And they had the great advantage of the aid and counsel of Abbot Sugar, one of the truly extraordinary people of his day.In this episode, we learn more about this important figure of the day, the famed Abbot that was counsel to not only Alienor and Louis Capet, but to her Father, as well. How he changed our view of God and Church Architecture is still felt today.

Two deaths and one marriage lead to new leadership in the Aquitaine. How our Eleanor becomes Queen.

Today we learn of our Heroine's fate as her life is suddenly turned upside down.

Here we will meet our Heroine's parents, and learn of the circumstances surrounding her family's tumultuous history.