ABSTRACT
The duchy of Aquitaine descended from the regna into which the Carolingian Empire was partitioned, and the duke of Aquitaine was one of the great lords of France. Richard saw the duchy as his own legacy to rule directly, and he expended energy eventually his life defending it. Some scholars attribute the grant to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was increasingly concerned about the succession to her duchy in case Richard died without a direct heir. Princes of Aquitaine and Gascony recognised an obligation to join their duke's host in time of war, it is not at all certain that they considered such military service to be a 'feudal' obligation due from their lands. Aquitaine and Gascony were a financial liability for the Angevins, sucking funds from England and Normandy, and cultural contrasts with the Plantagenets' northern domains hindered growth of any imperial consciousness. For the Lionheart, Aquitaine was his homeland, where he had learned the arts of war and government.
