Editing Eleanor of Aquitaine (section)

==== Taking the Cross (1145–1147) ====
[[File:LouisVIIatVezelay.jpg|thumb|Louis VII taking the cross, by [[Sébastien Mamerot]], {{c.|1490}}|alt=Illustration of Louis taking of the cross at Vezelay]]
[[File:Deuxième croisade-it.svg|lang=en|thumb|Route of the Second Crusade|alt=map showing the route the Second Crusade took]]
Louis remained obsessed over the massacre at Vitry and considered a [[pilgrimage]] to the [[Holy Land]], but events overtook this desire. The [[First Crusade]] (1096–1099) had succeeded in capturing the Holy Land from the Turks and establishing a system of four (largely [[Franks|Frankish]]) [[crusader states]] to administer the region, known as the Outremer.{{efn|[[:wikt:Outremer|Outremer]]: Literally "overseas"}} But this was threatened, when on 24 December 1144, [[Imad al-Din Zengi|Zengi]] and the [[Saracen]] Turks [[Siege of Edessa (1144)|captured Edessa]], capital of one of the crusader states, making the adjacent states of [[Principality of Antioch|Antioch]], [[County of Tripoli|Tripoli]] and [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] vulnerable.{{sfn|Weir|2012|p=45}} Of these, Antioch was the most vulnerable, and of particular concern since the [[Prince of Antioch]] was [[Raymond of Poitiers]], Eleanor's uncle. On 1 December [[Pope Eugene III]] issued a [[papal bull|bull]] requesting that Louis and all faithful French Christians mount a [[crusade]] to rescue the remaining States. Louis and Eleanor were at Bourges when the message arrived, and Louis responded enthusiastically on Christmas Day that he would lead a crusade. Noting a lack of enthusiasm among the French nobility, Louis postponed further action till Easter 1146.{{sfn|Weir|2012|pp=47–48}}{{sfn|Turner|2009|loc=cap 3}}{{sfn|Owen|1996|p=21}} Final planning took place at Saint-Denis over Easter that year, at which Pope Eugene attended. Louis delegated administration of his kingdom to Eugene, who appointed Abbot Suger and Ralph of Vermandois as co-regents.{{sfn|Turner|2009|loc=cap 3}}

Eleanor also formally [[:wikt:take the cross|took the cross]] during Bernard's sermon, which meant leaving her daughter behind. Eleanor recruited some women of the Aquitainian nobility for the campaign as well as some 300 other women who volunteered to help.{{sfn|Weir|2012|p=49}} It was not unusual for women to take part in crusades. From Louis's perspective, there were advantages in including her. As [[regent]] to an absent monarch, she could have created problems for Suger, Louis's choice as his administrator, and he needed the support of the Aquitainian nobility. Furthermore, the crusade was ostensibly to come to the aid of her uncle.{{sfn|Owen|1996|pp=21–22}} The presence of women was not without its critics, particularly among clerics, though this may have been influenced by hindsight, given that William of Newburgh's account was written well after the actual crusade.{{sfn|Turner|2009|loc=cap 3}}{{sfn|Weir|2012|pp=49–51}} Eleanor's taking the cross provided the next opportunity for her detractors to construct her legend, with claims that she and her ladies set off for the crusades as [[Amazons|Amazonian]] warriors.{{sfn|Weir|2012|pp=49–51}}