Eleanor of Castile - Real Estate Queen
Just after Eleanor’s 13th birthday in 1254, she married the 15-year-old Edward. She almost immediately became pregnant. It was the first of 16 times she would be pregnant in her life. (Yes, sixteen. One-six.) Eddie and Ellie got along quite well, apparently.
Most noble medieval marriages were made for political alliances, not love. And so it was with Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290) and Edward Longshanks, later King Edward I of England. But these two are famous for making it work in a most unusual way for their day and age: a loving marriage.
Eleanor received an excellent education, courtesy of her parents, Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Leon and Beatrice of Swabia, daughter of the Holy Roman emperor. Their policy was that princesses should be educated just like princes, so she got the full educational package.
Throughout her life, Eleanor continued to be a patron of learning, employing scribes to copy books and manuscripts. While queen of England, she maintained the only royal scriptorium of Northern Europe of that time. She brought a Spanish sense of style, and hung tapestries on the walls of her castles, which was unusual in England at the time.
Known as the Hammer of the Scots, Edward Longshanks was almost always fighting, and Eleanor would travel with him on campaign. During the Second Barons’ War, Eleanor was the person in charge of Windsor Castle, holding it during a siege in 1264, despite Simon de Montfort stomping his feet and calling for her removal.
Queen Eleanor gave birth to her son Edward (later King Edward II) at Caernarfon Castle in Wales while King Edward I was in the neighborhood for some hammering of the Welsh. Because he was born in Wales, Edward II was the first English royal to be known as the Prince of Wales, creating the origin of the title of the next-in-line for the throne today.
They lived during the tail end of the crusading era, so of course Edward Longshanks went to the Holy Land, and of course his wife Eleanor joined him. By the time they got there, the Eighth Crusade had fizzled out, but they continued on to Acre to fight the Mamluks, or maybe the Mongols, or whoever, really. Edward just loved to fight.
While on crusade in 1272, Edward was the target of an assignation attempt where an assassin attacked him with a poisoned dagger. Wearing only his pajamas, Edward punched the would-be assassin in the face and knocked him out, but not before he was stabbed in the hip. The legend is that Eleanor saved him by sucking the poison from his wound. (picture above, from a sculpture made in 1787)
Eleanor was also a real estate mogul. The English crown was kinda broke and King Edward was always out fighting, so Eleanor took charge of the family business and became one of the biggest landlords in England. She acquired over 200 properties across the country, generating an income of over £2,000 per year, making her one of the richest people in England.
Her real estate investments inspired a popular rhyme, “The king he wants our gold, the queen our manors fair to hold.” Eleanor was an active investor, making frequent visits to her properties to ensure that everything was in order. She was known for her love of gardens, and always improved her properties to have maximum curb appeal.
If people in the English-speaking world have heard of Eleanor of Castile, it’s probably because of the Eleanor Crosses. Eleanor died in 1290 and to demonstrate his devotion and grief, Edward had a cross monument built at each of the 12 sites where her body rested at night on its way from the Midlands for burial at Westminster Abbey.
Edward’s grief was genuine, but not permanent, and a few years later he married again in hopes of producing more sons. In 1299, at the age of 60, King Edward I remarried, this time to the 18-year-old daughter of the French king. Whether or not she enjoyed lounging in the beautiful gardens created by her husband’s deceased wife, history does not record.
For some, real estate is their main business, their 9-to-5 job. For others, it’s a preferred personal investment strategy. It’s much more tangible than stocks, as you can go visit your investment property and touch the bricks and smell the flowers.
And if you choose to invest in real estate on the side, it can’t be a “set it and forget it” kind of investment. You gotta go there every once in a while and touch the bricks and smell the flowers. If you don’t, you’ll never know that there’s mold growing on your bricks and your flowers have died because a rusty El Camino is now permanently parked in the flower bed.
Can you get a property manager? Of course you can! If you live far away, it might be a necessity. You should get a good one, someone you can trust. Then trust, but verify.
Eleanor visited her many properties so she could meet with people in a time when all meetings were face to face. Video calls might be a great way to see what’s going on from afar, but nothing can replace good old fashioned being there to see for yourself.
If Eleanor can make the effort to visit her many estates, rolling through the English countryside in a carriage while pregnant, you can hop in your air-conditioned car and see what’s going on for yourself.
