Eleanor the Eighteenth was known as Eleanor the Wise and Just. She was 59 years old at her death after ruling for 35 years. She ruled from 1590 to 1625.
Early Life as the Infanta
She is known to historians to have taken personal exception to the décrets outlawing religion and to have voiced her opposition to them during their announcement. As a result of this opposition, she was stripped of many honours and privileges normally afforded Princesses of the Realm or to the Infanta.
Repeated disagreements with her mother, Eleanor the Seventeenth, led to the young infanta’s imprisonment in the Tower of the Infanta.
Reign
Her first act as Empress was to nullify the décrets of her mother regarding the persecution of religious practice.
The free practice of religion shall henceforth be unrestricted in all the lands of the Empire of Australia.
–Eleanor the Eighteenth, Décret 1672
She is responsible for the creation of the Order of Artistic Merit, an award originally given to artists that she deemed of exceptional calibre. Amongst the first awardees of her newly created honour was the famous English playwright William Shakespeare.