Eleanor of Aquitaine (French: Aliénor d’Aquitaine; Éléonore de Guyenne) (1122 or 1124 – 1 April 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France (1137–1152) and of England (1154–1189). She was the patroness of such literary figures as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn.

Eleanor succeeded her father as Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitiers at the age of fifteen, becoming the most eligible bride in Europe. Three months after her accession, she married Louis VII, son of her guardian, King Louis The Fat. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon after the Crusade, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage but was rejected by Pope Eugene III. However, after the birth of Alix, another daughter, Louis agreed to an annulment. The marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152, on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, while Eleanor's lands were restored to her.

Aquitaine (French pronunciation: [a.ki.tɛn], English /ˌækwɪˈteɪn/; Occitan: Aquitània; Basque: Akitania), archaic Guyenne/Guienne (Occitan: Guiana), is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It is composed of the 5 departments of Dordogne, Lot et Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes and Gironde. In the Middle Ages Aquitaine was a kingdom and a duchy, whose boundaries fluctuated considerably.

There are traces of human settlement by prehistoric peoples, especially in the Périgord, but the earliest attested inhabitants in the south-west were the Aquitani, who were not proper Celtic people, but more akin to the Iberians (see Gallia Aquitania). Although a number of different languages and dialects were in use in the area during ancient times, it is most likely that the prevailing language of Aquitaine during the late pre-historic to Roman period was an early form of the Basque language. This has been demonstrated by various Aquitanian names and words that were recorded by the Romans, and which are currently easily readable as Basque. Whether this Aquitanian language (Proto-Basque) was a remnant of a Vasconic language group that once extended much farther, or whether it was generally limited to the Aquitaine/Basque region is not currently known. One reason the language of Aquitaine is important is because Basque is the last surviving non-Indo-European language in western Europe and it has had some effect on the languages around it, including Spanish and, to a lesser extent, French.

Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood. However, her brother's death in the White Ship disaster in 1120 resulted in Matilda being her father's sole heir.

As a child, Matilda was betrothed to and later married Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, acquiring the title Empress. The couple had no known children and after eleven years of marriage Henry died, leaving Matilda widowed. However, she was then married to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou in a union which her father hoped would produce a male heir and continue the dynasty. She had three sons by Geoffrey of Anjou, the eldest of whom eventually became King Henry II of England. Upon the death of her father in 1135, Matilda was usurped to the throne by her rival and cousin Stephen of Blois, who moved quickly and became crowned King of England whilst Matilda was in Normandy, pregnant with her third child.

Julia Fordham (born 10 August 1962) is a British singer-songwriter. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a backing singer for Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde, before signing a recording contract of her own later that decade. Fordham is now based in California.

In 1988, Fordham released her first album on Circa Records. Simply titled Julia Fordham, it reached #20 in the UK and eventually earned a Gold disc. It contained the Top 40 single "Happy Ever After" (which peaked at #27 in August 1988) The album also charted in the U.S., reaching #118 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Fordham released her second album, Porcelain, in 1989. The album charted higher than her debut (#13) but sold less, and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. It was, however, Fordham's only album to crack the U.S. Top 100, reaching #74.

In late 1991, Fordham released her third album, Swept. The album only reached #33 in the UK, but contained the Top 40 hit "(Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways", which peaked at #19 in early 1992 and was also featured in the 1991 film The Butcher's Wife.

Alison Weir (born 1951 in Westminster) is a British writer of history books, and latterly historical novels, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty. Her works on the Tudor period have made her a best-selling author. She is the biggest-selling female historian in the United Kingdom.

1989's Britain's Royal Families, Weir's first published work, was a genealogical overview of the British Royal Family. She subsequently wrote biographies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of England, Katherine Swynford, and the Princes in the Tower. Other focuses have included Henry VIII of England and his wives and children, Mary Boleyn, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots. She has published historical overviews of the Wars of the Roses and royal weddings, as well as historical fiction novels on Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Weir was born in Westminster, UK in 1951. She has described her mother as "a genuinely good person with heaps of integrity, strength of character, humour and wisdom, and has overcome life’s trials with commendable fortitude."