volume one

niSTOur OF tue crusades. 361
piety nor an inclination to perform penance, that had led
her to make a pilgrimage to Constantinople. The fatigues
and dangers of the journey, the misfortunes of the Crusaders,
the remembrance of the holy places, always present
to the minds of true pilgrims, had not in the least abated
her too lively taste for pleasures, or her strong inclination
for gallantry.
liaymond of Poictiers, amidst the fetes given to Queen
Eleanor, did not forget the interests of his principality; he
was anxious to weaken the power of jS'oureddin, the most
formidable enemy of the Christian colonies, and ardently
desired that the Crusaders would assist him in this enter-
prise. Caresses, prayers, presents, nothing w^as spared to
engage them to prolong their sojourn in his states. The
prince of Antioch addressed himself at first to the king of
France, and proposed to him, in a council of the barons, to
besiege the cities of Aleppo and Caesarea, in Syria. This
enterprise, which favoured his ambition, oifered real advaiitages
to all the Christian states of the East, which were
threatened by the constantly increasing power of Noureddin;
but Louis VIL, who had been only brought into Asia by a
spirit of devotion, answered Eaymond that he could engage
himself in no war before he had visited the lioly places.
The prince of Antioch did not allow himself to be discouraged
by this refusal ; he employed every means to touch
the heart of the queen, and resolved to make love subservient
to his designs. William of Tyre, who has left us the
portrait of Eaymond, informs us that he was '''mild and
afftible of speech,^ exliihitinf/ in Ids countenance and manner,
I do not know loliat sinc/ular grace and hehaviour of an excellent
and magnanimous prince^ He undertook to persuade
Queen Eleanor to prolong her stay in the principality of
Antioch. It was then the beginning of spring ; the smiling
banks of the Orontes, the groves of Daphne, and the beau-
tiful skies of Syria, doubtless added their charms to the insinuating
speeches of Eaymond. The queen, seduced by
the prayers of this prince, infatuated with the homage of a
voluptuous and brilliant court, and, if historians may be believed,
too much disposed to pleasures and indulgences un-
* See the translation of William of Tyre, book xiii. ch. 21.