Final answer:
Eleanor of Aquitaine built her power as a monarch through marriage, a common strategy in medieval Europe for forming alliances and consolidating political power.
Step-by-step explanation:
One way Eleanor of Aquitaine built her power as a monarch was through marriage. Marriage was a strategic tool used by rulers to form alliances, secure peace treaties, and establish political power. In Eleanor's case, her marriages first to Louis VII of France and later to Henry II of England significantly increased her influence, territorial control, and political significance in Europe.
This practice of using marriage as a political strategy was common among monarchs and noble families in medieval Europe for consolidating power and influence.
Historical examples from Hellenistic kingdoms to the French and Spanish monarchies have shown how elite women could leverage marriage to strengthen their own or their family's position. For instance, the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain and lessened the power of the nobles, which was a significant step towards the consolidation of royal rule.
Similarly, marriages were used to end conflicts, such as the one between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms when Antiochus II married Berenice.