Eleanor of Aquitaine (12 page)

Louis remained obdurate in his refusal to comply with Raymond's plans, and a very public row ensued. The King's barons supported him, much to Raymond's incomprehension and disgust, but Eleanor intervened and warned her husband that, if he did not attack Edessa first, she would stay in Antioch with her vassals. According to John of Salisbury, "the Queen wished to remain behind, and the Prince made every effort to keep her, if the King would give his consent." Both she and Louis knew that for her to remain in Antioch with her vassals would cripple the crusaders' chances of success in the Holy Land. However, the King, who was surprised, chagrined, and very hurt,32 would not let her dictate terms to him and threatened "to tear her away"33 from Antioch by force, as was his marital right.

In retaliation, Eleanor dropped her bombshell. "She mentioned their kinship, saying it was not lawful for them to remain together as man and wife, since they were related into the fourth and fifth degrees."34 She said "she would not live as the wife of a man whom she had discovered was her cousin";35 it was her belief that her failure to bear a son was due to God's displeasure. For the safety of both their souls, she wanted an annulment. She would then relinquish her crown, resume her tide of Duchess of Aquitaine, and remain for the time being in Antioch, under Raymond's protection.36

Louis was "deeply moved," for he still loved Eleanor "almost beyond reason,"37 and did not wish to lose either her or her lands. But seeing her so determined, "he consented to divorce her if his counsellors and the French nobility would allow it."38

In grief, Louis confided in Thierry Galan. Eleanor "had always hated" Thierry, probably because "he had the King's ear";39 there had been no love lost between them since she had recently ridiculed him in public for the loss of his manhood. Thierry now took his revenge and boldly persuaded the King not to suffer her to dally longer at Antioch, because guilt under kinship's guise could lie concealed, and because it would be a lasting shame to the kingdom of the Franks if, in addition to all the other disasters, it was reported that the King had been deserted by his wife, or robbed of her. So he argued, either because he hated the Queen or because he really believed it, moved perchance by widespread rumour.

Louis reluctantly agreed and gave orders that Eleanor be "torn away and forced to leave for Jerusalem with him."40

The French were no longer welcome anyway in Antioch and made secret preparations for their departure. At midnight on 28 March, Eleanor was rudely awakened and summarily arrested by soldiers, who bundled her unceremoniously into a waiting litter and stole away with her through St. Paul's Gate, giving her no chance to bid farewell to Raymond. Outside Antioch, the King and his army were waiting, ready to march south to Tripoli and Jerusalem. "His departure was ignominious," wrote William of Tyre, and there was no concealing the fact that the Queen was in disgrace.

Louis's actions caused a bitter rift between the royal couple. "Their mutual anger growing greater, the wound remained, hide it as best they might."41 In despair, a distracted Louis wrote to Suger,42 telling him how Eleanor had behaved and asking if his marriage was indeed consanguinous. Suger, who believed that an annulment of the royal marriage would have disastrous consequences for France, and who felt that the crusade should be Louis's priority at present, replied: "Concerning the Queen your wife, conceal your rancour of spirit, if there is any, until such time as you both shall have returned to your own estates, when this grievance and other matters may be attended to."

Louis heeded Suger's advice, but also saw to it that Eleanor maintained a low public profile in the Holy Land. Although it pained him to do so, he kept his distance from her, and it became clear to all his advisers that her much-resented influence over him was at an end.

In May 1148 the crusaders had their first glimpse of the Roman walls of Jerusalem in the distance.43 They were ecstatic with joy, falling on their knees in prayer, with tears running down their faces. No one could sleep, and the whole army kept vigil that night. Many, including Louis, fasted. The next day they proceeded across a narrow ridge known as the Pilgrims' Ladder, and so came to the Jaffa Gate of the Holy City.

Here, Louis was received as a hero, being welcomed "as an angel of the Lord" by the entire population, who had been led to the gate by Queen Melisende, with her son, young King Baldwin III; Foulques, Patriarch of Jerusalem; the Emperor Conrad (now recovered and recently arrived from Constantinople); and a delegation of the Knights Templar. There was music and cheering, and many people carried banners or olive branches. The King, however, would not acknowledge the acclaim until he had accomplished his pilgrimage, and was taken in procession through festively bedecked streets to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in order to fulfil his pilgrim's vow and be purged of all his sins. Profoundly moved to find himself on the site of the rock of Calvary and the tomb of Jesus, he reverently laid the Oriflamme of France on the altar and received the long-awaited absolution. He and his lords were then taken to other shrines and holy places in Jerusalem, before being conducted to their lodgings in the Tower of David. Only then did the King feel free to break his fast and turn his attention to more practical matters. 44

The chroniclers are silent regarding Eleanor's whereabouts on this joyful day. Had she been at Louis's side she would no doubt have warranted a mention, so it seems likely that she was still in disgrace.

On 24 June a conference was held at Acre (Akko), a seaport to the north of Jerusalem. Here the crusader leaders met: King Louis, the Emperor Conrad, Queen Melisende, and the barons of Jerusalem, France, and Germany.45 Eleanor was not present. Opinion was divided as to what to do next. Raymond of Antioch had made it clear that he would do nothing further to support the crusade, while Raymond, Count of Tripoli, was under suspicion of causing the death by poison of Alfonso Jordan, Count of Toulouse, and boycotted the conference in self-righteous indignation. Joscelin, Count of Edessa, dared not leave his domains for fear of Turkish incursions.

It was becoming alarmingly plain to Louis that few people in Jerusalem shared his pious objectives. Many were chiefly concerned with material gain, while others resented foreign interference. The King could not begin to understand the extent of corruption and intrigue within the kingdom, and he was woefully ignorant of local politics.

"Wishing to restore his reputation,"46 he favoured the suggestion of an assault on the Turkish emirate of Damascus, a strategic enterprise supported by the Emperor Conrad and the Knights Templar, but the ensuing siege was a fatal mistake, since Damascus had hitherto been a friendly neighbour. On 28 July, after an assault lasting only only four days, the attempt ended in humiliating failure as the Emir sent a plea to Nureddin for aid and the Christians were forced to retreat with considerable loss of life.47 There was talk among the crusaders that either the Emir of Damascus or the Prince of Antioch had bribed the treacherous lords of Jerusalem to go away, 48 but, whatever the truth of this, the defeat signalled the end of the crusade. The French had made themselves a laughingstock in the eyes of the Moslem world and their reputation lay in the dust. Money and resources were running out, morale was low, and Louis, who had been dogged by disaster throughout, seems to have lost his enthusiasm for the military aspects of the venture, as had the other leaders.

Contemporaries were appalled by the failure of the crusade. Henry of Huntingdon gave voice to public opinion by attributing it to the displeasure of the Almighty, "for [the crusaders] abandoned themselves to open fornication and to adulteries hateful to God, and to robbery and every sort of wickedness."

As autumn approached, the French army began to disintegrate, as men "impelled by want"49 demanded to go home or deserted. Louis gave orders that those remaining be given money for their passage, but he himself made no move to leave, despite receiving several urgent pleas from Abbot Suger, begging him to return to France. His realm needed him; there was great sadness and anger at the failure of the crusade. Louis ignored these pleas: he wanted to celebrate Easter in the Holy City before departing.

The King arranged for his brother, the Count of Dreux, to escort his barons and prelates back to France. Then, on 8 September, the Emperor left by ship for Constantinople, whence he would travel to Germany.

At Christmas, Louis and Eleanor were still in Jerusalem and still estranged. Louis, feeling the situation was hopeless, had again written to Suger, declaring that he would have his marriage dissolved when he returned to France. Alarmed, Suger wrote reminding him of what he stood to lose-- "the great Provence dower"-- and warned Louis that, should Eleanor remarry and have sons, Princess Marie would be deprived of her inheritance. Louis saw the sense of this and occupied his mind by making plans for another crusade, which never came to fruition.

We know nothing of Eleanor's activities during the eleven months she spent in Jerusalem: the contemporary chroniclers do not mention her, and stories of her deeds and pilgrimages there belong to later romances; one legend claims that she brought back from the Holy Land the
gallica
rose, a distant forebear of the red damask rose, later used to represent the royal House of Lancaster. Another credits her with introducing silkworms from the Orient into Aquitaine, and the mulberry trees whose leaves they ate. There may be a modicum of truth in these tales, for her experiences of life in the Holy Land must have had tremendous significance for her and left their mark in many ways, even though she had no obvious public role to play.

After celebrating the Easter of 1149 in Jerusalem, the King and Queen, attended by a retinue reduced to three hundred persons, sailed from Acre in two Sicilian vessels bound for Calabria in southern Italy. Louis, Odo de Deuil, and Thierry Galan were in one ship, Eleanor and her ladies in the other.

Unfortunately, Sicily and Byzantium were at war. After passing Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Aegean Isles without incident, the two ships skirted the Peloponnese coast, where, perhaps near Cape Malea, they were suddenly confronted by Byzantine ships intent on hostile action. The King gave orders that the fleur-de-lys banner of France be hoisted up the mast of his ship, but this did not impress the enemy, who had been ordered by the Emperor Manuel to kidnap Louis and Eleanor and return them as hostages to Constantinople. Eleanor's ship was actually captured and turned towards Greece, but fortuitously a fleet of Sicilian galleys was in the area and came to the rescue, driving off the Greeks and enabling Louis and Eleanor to continue their voyage towards Italy.50

Their troubles were by no means over. A violent storm separated the ships, and the one bearing the Queen was blown off course. Eleanor's whereabouts before it was brought finally to harbour at Palermo in Sicily are still a mystery. For two months there was no word of her as she made a "circuit of land and sea," possibly even seeking refuge on the African shores of the Mediterranean.

Louis, who had also been feared lost at sea, arrived in Calabria, possibly at Brindisi, on 29 July. Soon afterwards he informed Suger that he had no idea whether or not Eleanor was still alive. He was shortly relieved to learn from messengers sent by Roger, the Norman King of Sicily, that the Queen's ship had been driven by adverse winds towards "the coast of Barbary" (North Africa), but "by the mercy of God" had been intercepted by his own navy and had lately arrived at Palermo.

When Eleanor disembarked, she was very ill indeed, possibly due to exhaustion, and had to rest awhile, cared for by attendants sent by King Roger. Louis told Suger he anxiously "awaited the arrival of the Queen for almost three weeks," and, relieved when Eleanor was at last strong enough to join him in Calabria, was moved to reveal to the Abbot that she had "hurried to us with all safety and joy." Clearly, four months of separation had wrought some benefits. Although Louis informed Suger of "the very serious illness of the Bishop of Langres," he did not refer to Eleanor's sickness, an omission that suggests she had apparently regained her usual good health.

The royal party then began to make its way back overland to France, travelling west to Potenza, where they were warmly received by Roger, whose court resembled that of an oriental potentate. Here Eleanor received news that on 29 June Raymond of Antioch had been killed in an ill-advised skirmish with Nureddin,51 who sent his head in a silver case as a trophy to the Caliph of Baghdad, who had it displayed over the city gate. The Queen gave money for perpetual masses to be said for the soul of her uncle.

Leaving Potenza, Louis and Eleanor set off northwards towards Rome, with an escort provided by King Roger. They did not get very far: Louis was soon writing to Suger that Eleanor had again fallen "seriously ill."52 Whether her malady was physical or mental is not specified, nor do we know if it was precipitated by the news of Raymond's terrible fate or whether it was a recurrence of her earlier illness. She seems to have continued the journey in slow stages, making frequent stops. On 4 October the royal party stayed at the hilltop abbey of Monte Cassino, founded by St. Benedict in the sixth century. Here Eleanor rested for three days, while Louis received a civic deputation come to offer him the freedom of Rome.

Pope Eugenius, meanwhile, had been informed of the approach of the King and Queen, and he invited them to stay with him in his palace at Tusculum (Frascati), south of Rome. Eleanor was now recovering and able to make the two-day journey.

They arrived on 9 October; Eugenius welcomed Louis "with such tenderness and reverence that one would have said he was welcoming an angel of the Lord rather than a mortal man."53 This was heartening for the King, for he was painfully aware that most of the princes of Europe held him responsible for the ignominious end of the crusade.

During their visit, both Louis and Eleanor separately confided in the Pope about their marital problems, with which he had already been acquainted by Suger. Louis made it clear "he loved the Queen passionately, in an almost childish way."54 Having heard Eleanor's doubts about the validity of the marriage, and having learned that sexual relations between the couple had ceased,55 the Pope adamantly refused to consider an annulment, but blessed the marriage and confirmed it, both in person and in writing, and "commanded under pain of anathema that no word should be spoken against it and that it should not be dissolved under any pretext whatever."56