Part 6 LOUIS AND ADELAIDE

 I'm slightly late posting this weeks's excerpt from my Akashic research notes.  I've been away in London and I've only just returned. 

This is by no means all of the research, but it's still in rough order.  I've been doing the research mostly in a linear, chronological way, but now and again I need to backtrack further down the line and new early pieces come in, so although the general progress will be chronological here, readers may still find moments of back-tracking now and again.

Below, you will find Louis and Eleanor hearing of his father's death, and an introduction to Louis' mother, the formidable Adelaide of Maurienne.

Go to Louis receiving the news that his father has died.

I think Louis is asleep. Yes he is.  He is being gradually awaked by a voice and he comes out of the fog and he immediately goes down on his knees and starts praying. Was he alone in bed?  No, Alienor was in the bed with him. ‘Oh my father, grant him entry into heaven.  He’s asking for Saint Peter to intercede on behalf.  He’s repeating these things over and over.  Alienor is crawling across the bed to find out what’s going on.  She says ‘Oh, my God’ and puts her hand over her mouth.  Immediatelys she is thinking ‘He will be king,’ and everything expands.  She’s a little fazed by it.  The thing was that they were going to be greeted by his family who would have everything ready for them as guests, but now they are going to have to go as the householders.   That’s a whole different thing. I think she’s in shock.  She’s wondering if he realises what it means.  She wants him to stop praying and come back into the bed. So she can comfort him?  Why does she want him to come back to bed?  It’s mostly because she doesn’t want him to be seen vulnerable in public. She doesn’t think it wise. She needs to talk to him about what they’re going to do.  She’s telling him to say thank you to the messenger and let the messenger go.  Practical things like ‘We must get up, we must get ready.  You can have masses said for your father; you don’t have to do them yourself.  She does have a lot of sympathy for him because she knows what it’s like to lose a father.  They are both in the bed sitting up with their knees up.  She has put her arm round him and he has got his head on her shoulder.  Louis has gone quite numb.  He is thinking ‘I must do something’ but he is not very productive in thinking what to do.  I think he is feeling a bit panicked and he is taking comfort  from her.

He obviously has to mourn, but also as Alienor reminds him, he has a duty to his people that he has to fulfil now and make them feel that he’s okay and confident and in control.   

How does Louis feel about Alienor giving him advice and telling him what to do?  He doesn’t see it that way at all.  He feels that he is still in charge. She’s just there to advise him.  It’s just part of the surroundings, therefore it’s his.  He doesn’t see any conflict. Is he grateful to her?  No, he takes it for granted.  It’s what he thinks she should do, but also there’s a bit of naivety there because he’s got no experience of anyone being any different.  It’s just what is.

Louis’ relationship with his mother Queen Adelaide of Maurienne.  To an incident prior to 1137.

He’s got a really strange expression.  His mouth is really pursed.  I am seeing a huge domed ceiling with a point at the end and I am seeing light streaming from that point.  I am seeing lots of people – monks gathered under that light and him looking from one side at this body of men.  I feel that she is behind him.  He is separate from this group of men and then there is her behind him separate again.  There’s no movement.  Just this focus on the men.  I think it must be some kind of religious ceremony.  There seem to be some voices.  I think it’s a service.  He’s joining in with the singing.  He’s finding it absolutely beautiful.  I’m not getting a contact with her.  I’ll go forward. Oh right, this is it!  He’s turned around and realised that she is there and his whole middle has lit up.  This is the most real and excited that I’ve seen him.  He is very excited to see her, but she is much more measured.  ‘Hold on boy,’ sort of thing.  ‘What about the kneeling?’  So he has to kneel  to her and she nods and he has the approval.  She says she has just been speaking to his tutors and she is recounting the areas where he needs to pay attention.  It’s to do with manuscripts and to do with memorising, but otherwise they are very pleased with him.  He just needs to concentrate more on his manuscripts.  She’s not giving away too much praise at all, but he is jumping up and down inside like a little boy!  He adores his mum and I think part of it is because she is so distant and difficult to get approbation from, it makes him more keen to get it.  He absolutely adores her, but he’s a bit scared of her as well.

So another moment?  He’s a little boy.  His body is so tight and happy. I am seeing some weapon practise going on.  He’s been watching, very excited, and now it’s his turn to go on.  His mother had been watching, that’s what this is all about, and he had been standing near her waiting his turn.  She seems to be dressed very formally, very stiff materials.  He’s doing his weapon play.  He’s got a sword.  They’re doing a display or practise.  He’s following specific movements.  There’s a strategy.  At the right moment the opponent falls back. I don’t get the sense that there’s any chance of Louis losing.  It’s just meant to demonstrate his skills at this stage.  He’s so thrilled with himself when he’s finished.  He’s really beaming inside, rays of golden light beaming out of him.  He’s looking at his mother for congratulations and she nods and says ‘Good.’  And then just turns away and walks off.  Oh, the disappointment in him is painful.  All his expectations have gone zoom, straight down.  He’s thinking he must try harder next time.  He must work harder.  He must win her favour.  He watches her go off and pushes his feelings down and turns back to the other men and boys he’s been practising with.  He takes on the challenge again with a lot more bravado.

What does Adelaide think of her son Louis?  This a lofty individual and not particularly emotional.  A calm feeling and a tall feeling.  She’s the sort of person who can categorise things right and wrong very easily. It’s strange, it’s not a maternal feeling.  It’s more a feeling of wanting to give the right training to this person, almost like an employee, to fulfil a role. It’s like she’s trying to mould him, but she’s more interested in her own life.  He is like a job to her.  She’s got other interests, personally.

Her opinion of Louis’ marriage to Alienor? Oh, she’s got very good posture this woman, I should tune into her more often!  It’s a bit of a balancing act for her.  It’s part of fulfilling the role, which is good, but it also means there’s a live bird in the nest and we can’t have that, so it’s a feeling of wanting to constrain and restrict so that it just fits into the nest – like an egg rather than a bird.  She doesn’t want a loose cannon in the family, but she is thinking ‘Well, we shall see.’  She is not particularly approving on first impression.

So go to when her husband dies and she realises she is no longer Queen of France.  She’s got genuine grief about his death. She says ‘He was good in his own way and he looked after me.  There will never be another like him.’ There’s the feeling that this man underpinned an entire  tree.  Everything came from this central trunk.  What can you do when the central pillar is not there?  I feel as if she wants to maintain a structure even though he’s not there, and make it as though he is there and just let Louis the heir be the mouthpiece.  So let Louis take a slightly larger role than he has at the moment, but basically everything is as if he is acting on behalf of his father.  That’s how she feels about it.  Her own role would obviously be to help him implement his father’s role.   And how does she see Alienor in that mix?  She keeps having to try and push her back. She thinks that Alienor has got no idea of social etiquette or what’s right and proper, and she can’t be told.  She’s wild. It just seems as if she has to be completely natural, which is shocking to Adelaide.  If we were all natural, how could there be any kings and queens?  It’s an art.  It’s something you have to perfect.  If we were all to be natural, than anybody could be king or queen, but she sees it as ‘Oh well, these things that come to challenge us,’ and it’s just something she has to deal with.  

Alienor getting to know Adelaide

Adelaide has very fixed, starey eyes that are quite judgemental in their expression.  She’s not a warm person.  There’s a distance between herself and Alienor.  On the other hand she xtends her aura of authority and regalness to include Alienor and she expects Alienor to participate by expressing her own regality and stiffness. I can feel them walking a long a corridor and Adelaide is leading the way.  The whole building is so new to Alienor she is just looking round as she walks.  I’m not getting much emotion from her.  They’re in a more private room now. It’s quite big though.  Adelaide is seeing to it that Alienor has a sit down in a big carved chair.  She’s having her feet washed by some assistants.  She’s having her hands washed too.  She reminds me of a strict schoolmarm, and there’s also a quality of our own queen there as well.  You know when Diana and Sarah Ferguson were brought into the royal family, they were both automatically supposed to be royal and behave like the royal family.  It’s the same kind of attitude here.  Adelaide is just talking about the journey, asking her about the journey, trusting that her son is well.  She is interested about him going off to do his duty, but not a hint of any fear about what might happen to him. This is all completely new for Alienor because it’s so, so unemotional. She’s wondering when the sweetmeats when will be brought on, as in not just the nutrition, but the people with feelings.  Where are they?  It all seems kind of cold and empty.

So go to an incident with them a few years hence.  Say in 1140.

  Oh dear, she’s not feeling happy.  Everything’s going round and round and she wants to cry.  This woman is going round and round her and harrying her, like dogs circling and having a nip at the ankles whenever they can.  Alienor can’t relax.  She’s got to be on her guard.  She’s got to put on an appearance otherwise there’ll be big trouble.  At the same time she is being undermined. It’s mostly about keeping ‘my son happy.’  Little hints about what she could do, and questions about what she is doing to service the son in terms of how she behaves towards him, how she dresses.  It’s like you've got to be the perfect couple on top of the perfect wedding cake.  There’s very little room for Alienor to breathe easy and be free and relax and be herself.  She has to be alert and fully conscious of what’s going and what she’s doing.  There are possibilities of people being her enemies.  I suppose it’s a very political environment and she’s having to deal with it on a 24 hour basis, so she has developed a very mature personality.  

Another incident with Adelaide and Alienor?

I am seeing Alienor with a baby in her arms and Adelaide looking over.  There’s pleasure in her face.  That’s unusual.  This is genuine emotion.  And then she looks up and she has a hard look for Alienor.  So pleasure at the baby and hardness for Alienor.  ‘Maybe you will do better next time my dear.’ Because it’s a girl?  I think so.  But she likes the baby for its own sake.  It’s a good healthy baby.  Also because she’s a grandmother she likes it.  It’s another thing to have power over. For Alienor it’s like being smacked across the face with a wet cloth.  Shall I try and find a nice time between them?  It all seems a bit harsh doesn’t it?  You can try!

They are sitting before a fire in a room.  There’s a youngster sitting on the floor and Alienor has her hand on top of the youngster’s head.  Adelaide is sitting at the side. Adelaide is telling tales of when she was a young girl and what used to happen in the old days and how the winds used to howl outside and how there were dark, dark woods.  It was very cold.  You never knew what danger was lurking outside in the woods.  How the guards used to play tricks on them by bouncing in through the doors and roaring as if they were invaders, just to scare the women.  Adelaide used to have to stand up against them, stand her ground, and use her authority to tell them to get out because otherwise there would have been general marauding and merry making that she’d heard of in other castles.  Like in Aquitaine (wry comment from me).  She hopes that Alienor will remember this and also that the little one will never have to experience anything so uncivilised.  And she sort of gives herself a seal of approval, as if awarding herself a gold medal.  She pats the little girl on the head, thinking ‘she’s got my golden blood in her veins as well.  She’ll be strong; she’ll be a good one.’ Alienor is just non committal.  She’s sitting there taking it in her stride as if she’s heard it all before, but at least she is not being called upon for her opinion this time. So Adelaide will ask her opinions then?

In the sense of the teacher will ask ‘What do you think about this?’ And you are expected to give the right answer.