What was Eleanor of Acquitaines impact on feudalism?

Eleanor of Aquitaine was born into a Europe dominated by feudalism. Feudalism was the way of life in the Middle Ages and was based on a system of ranks, with each rank pledging loyalty and protection to one another. Eleanor of Aquitaine took up the crusade during a sermon preached by Bernard of Clairvaux. She was followed by some of her royal ladies-in-waiting as well as 300 non-noble vals. She insisted on taking part in the Crusades as the feudal leader of the soldiers from her duchy.