Mark Beaulieu

Mark Richard Beaulieu is an expert on the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the 12th century. He has completed a six-book historical series on her life. An accomplished author, painter, award-winning photographer, and innovative technologist, he brings a distinctive visual and analytical eye to history. Trained as a studio artist, he holds an MFA from the University of California, Davis, and a BFA from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. 

1. Why did you write this series about Eleanor of Aquitaine?

As an undergraduate, I took an honors course in Medieval Studies and was required to read the abridged The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus—a real account of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her daughter’s 12th-century courts. Years later, I wondered: When did we, as a species, learn to love in the ways we do—giving flowers and gifts, sharing wine and food, writing love letters, composing personal songs? Eleanor and her courts codified these acts into the manners of romantic conduct.

Although many biographies exist of this remarkable queen, I found gaps in both historical and fictional portrayals. After ten years of study, I filled those gaps. I first wrote a Hollywood screenplay, but it languished. I concluded actors needed a deeper character study of Eleanor—her husbands, children, and courts. The Eleanor Code is the story of how a young girl grows into one of the most powerful women in history—her journey from orphan to crusader, from founder of the first Courts of Love to matriarch of kings and queens across Europe.

2. Why was she driven to make these courts?

Eleanor and her court were among the one in twenty people who survived the cataclysm of the Second Crusade. Haunted by the devastation of a Holy War and disillusioned by the Church’s failure, she abdicated her French crown, married a younger prince, and became Queen of England. Out of moral chaos, she built an academy of manners—what would become the model for all French courts. To raise her children and civilize her realm, she devised a written set of codes centered on a chevalier’s conscience and the ideals of romantic love. The Eleanor Code marked a turning point in civilization—a revolution of conduct.

Part of Eleanor’s charm lies in her unawareness that she was changing the world. Daring to defy powerful men, she forged her own vision of a better civilization. She stands among the rare few who not only perceive society’s ills but transform them—with style. In reshaping her world, she and her family transformed Europe itself.