History Commons^™

The Eleanor of Aquitaine vase in the Louvre has long been known as one of the rare modern survivals of the famous treasury of the royal abbey of Saint-Denis carefully assembled by Abbot Suger in the mid twelfth century. Suger's own inscription on his elaborate mounting for the vase tells how it came into his possession through Eleanor of Aquitaine's grandfather, William IX of Aquitaine, Eleanor herself, and her first husband, Louis VII of France. But the earlier history of the vase, which is of early medieval, mid-eastern origin is obscure because until now no one has been able to …