Eleanor's position as duchess of Aquitaine, having made her one of the wealthiest heiresses of Western Europe by her fifteenth birthday, enabled her to exercise considerable influence in political matters. Her early years were in the Aquitanian court with her father William X, duke of Aquitaine, mother Aenor of Châtellerault, and siblings Petronilla (or Alix) and William.
The ducal court was a centre of cultural and intellectual exchange, and Eleanor received an excellent education there,
