There must have been, therefore, a great sense of relief to many within
the land when, in the year 1270, Edward, having taken the Cross,
entrusted his children and all his possessions to his uncle Richard and
departed to join the French King on crusade to the Holy Land. The
dangers from pestilence and sword besetting such expeditions to the East
were perfectly well understood—repeated and painful experience had
brought them home to all, both of high and of low degree. With this full
knowledge Eleanor made the momentous decision to accompany her husband
and to share the trials and dangers of the crusade.
Before they had actually left France on their journey to the East,
intelligence was received of the death of Louis of France, the leader of
this crusade, in Tunis, and although it must have been clear to Edward
that the chance of a successful issue of the crusade was much
diminished, nevertheless, accompanied by his comparatively small English
force, he went on towards Palestine.
The next two years were spent in the East. The crusade ended in failure,
scarcely relieved by the exploits of Edward in raising the siege of
Acre, at the battle of Nazareth, and in one or two smaller engagements.
From among the incidents of the crusade, the attempted assassination of
Edward by an emissary of one of the Sultan’s emirs stands out most
clearly. During the struggle Edward was badly wounded in his arm. The
wound suppurated, the arm swelled, and threatened to become gangrenous.
At this juncture the physician in the household of the Master of the
Temple was called in to advise, and stated his opinion that the only
chance of recovery was by means of free incision of the affected arm.
Edward decided that this should be done. On hearing the decision of her
husband, the Princess, worn out with anxiety, broke down completely, and
had to be conveyed from the tent in charge of her brother-in-law,
Edmund, and John De Vescy.[24] The operation was then performed, and
Edward made a satisfactory recovery. During his convalescence, he must
have owed much to the devoted care of his wife and to the skill of his
medical attendants. It was during these three years of close
association, while Edward had to bear the trial of repeated
disappointments in addition to the severe hardships and imminent perils
of foreign warfare, that a bond of firm comradeship was formed between
the future King and Queen.
Footnote 24:
Hemingford, Walter: Historiae Angliae Scriptores. Gale; ii, p. 591,
Oxford, 1687. Hemingburgh, Walterus de: Hamilton, H. C., Eng. Hist.
Soc., ii, p. 335.
Eleanor had three children before leaving England, and during her years
of travel in the East and in France, two, if not three, more had been
born; of these, Joan of Acre, of romantic memory, and a son Alphonso,
for some years heir to the English crown, survived. It can hardly be a
matter of doubt that the number of her children added to the hardships
of her long journeys, and the almost certain incidence of disease had an
adverse influence on the health of the future Queen.