often used up his
entire patrimony. The usual course in such cases was a trip to Palestine
with the Crusaders, and a gallant death in battle with the infidel. But
before reaching that end, his career must have been decidedly pleasant.
He would pass the winter in his castle, training himself in feats of
arms and in musical composition. At the advent of spring, he would issue
forth, followed by a train of Jongleurs singing his songs, and proceed
through field and wood to the nearest castle. Here in the evening a
great feast would be arranged, with the Jongleurs in a special
minstrels' gallery. Next day there would be music on the ramparts, or in
fair weather brocade carpets would be spread in the meadows, and knights
and ladies would listen to more songs. Here the Troubadour himself at
times deigned to perform, thus affording his hearers an unusual
privilege. Here, too, the women had a chance to show their own skill;
for, if there were no woman Trouveres, there were plenty who were well
able to hold their own in the shorter forms of the Troubadours.

That kings and princes did not disdain to become Troubadours is proved
by the example of Richard of England and the Dauphin of Auvergne. But it
is more unexpected to find a queen among their ranks, and that no less a
queen than Eleanor, wife of Henry II. of England. Her grandfather,
William of Poitou, was one of the earliest patrons of the art, and she
inherited his tastes. Her career, like his, is one of boldness and
adventure. When wife of Louis VII., before her marriage with Henry, she
set an example to chivalry by going to the Crusades with that French
king, and not in the capacity of wife, but rather as an Amazon warrior.
She gathered around her a troupe of kindred spirits, and, equipped in
the most graceful array that armourers and milliners could devise,
started off at the head of her husband's knights. Her campaign was
conducted on principles of pleasure rather than of strategy. In Asia
Minor, where she led the van during the march, she chose her route
according to the beauty of the landscape rather than safety of position,
and more than once brought the army into grave danger. She varied the
monotony of the advance by several romantic love episodes, notably with
a young emir in the train of the Sultan Noureddin. She conducted her
career in much the same style as the light opera heroine of to-day, who
pauses in the midst of the action to sing a song, pursue an amour, o