volume one

HISTOIir OF THE CHUSADES. 335
loillof God!'' and ''the Cross! tlie Cross!'' Eleanor of
Guienne, who accompanied Louis, received, as his wife, the
sign of the cross from the hands of the abbot of Clairvaux.
Alphonso, count of St. Gilles de Thoulouse, Henry, son of
Thibaut, count of Champagne, Thieri, count of Elanders,
William of Nevers, Kenaud, count de Tenniere, Yves, count
de Soissons, William, count de Panthien, William, count de
Varennes, Archanbaud de Bourbon, Enguerard de Coucy,
Hugh de Lusignan, the count de Dreux, brother of the
king, his uncle the count de Maurinne, and a crowd of
barons and knights followed the example of Louis and
Eleanor. Several bishops, among whom history remarks
Simon, bishop of ISToyon, Grodfrey, bishop of Langres, Alain,
bishop of Arras, and Arnold, bishop of Lisieux, threw them-
selves at the feet of St. Bernard, taking the oath to fight
against the infidels. The crosses which the abbot of Clairvaux
had brought were not sufiicient for the great number
who claimed them. He tore his vestments to make more,
and several of those who surrounded him, in their turns,
tore their clothes into strips in order to satisfy the impa-
tience of all the faithful whom he had inflamed with a desire
for the holy war.
To preserve the memory of this day. Pons, abbot of Vezelai,
founded upon the hill where the knights and barons had
assembled, a church, which he dedicated to the holy cross.f
The tribune, from the top of which St. Bernard had preached
the crusade, remained there a long time the object of the
veneration of the faithful.
After the assembly of Yezelai, the abbot of Clairvaux
continued to preach the crusade in the cities and neighbouring
countries. Prance soon resounded with the fame of the
miracles by which Grod seemed to authorize and consecrate,
in some sort, his mission. He was everywhere considered
as the messenger of Heaven, as another Moses, who was to
conduct the people of Grod. All the Christians were persuaded
that the success of the enterprise depended upon St.
Bernard, and in an assembly held at Chartres, in which were
met several barons and princes, illustrious by their exploits,
* The pulpit from which St. Bernard preached the crusade remained in
the church of Vezelai until the period of the revolution of 1789.