he first to set the example
of taking a Paynim spouse was King Baldwin himself, and these
connexions in time became, not only frequent, but almost universal,
among such of the knights as had resolved to spend their lives in
Palestine. These Eastern ladies were obliged, however, to submit to the
ceremony of baptism before they could be received to the arms of a
Christian lord. These, and their offspring, naturally looked upon the
Saracens with less hatred than did the zealots who conquered Jerusalem,
and who thought it a sin deserving the wrath of God to spare an
unbeliever. We find, in consequence, that the most obstinate battles
waged during the reigns of the later Kings of Jerusalem were fought by
the new and raw levies who from time to time arrived from Europe, lured
by the hope of glory, or spurred by fanaticism. The latter broke
without scruple the truces established between the original settlers
and the Saracens, and drew down severe retaliation upon many thousands
of their brethren in the faith, whose prudence was stronger than their
zeal, and whose chief desire was to live in peace.

Things remained in this unsatisfactory state till the close of the year
1145, when Edessa, the strong frontier town of the Christian kingdom,
fell into the bauds of the Saracens. The latter were commanded by
Zenghi, a powerful and enterprising monarch, and, after his death, by
his son Nourheddin, as powerful and enterprising as his father. An
unsuccessful attempt was made by the Count of Edessa to regain the
fortress, but Nourheddin, with a large army, came to the rescue, and
after defeating the Count with great slaughter, marched into Edessa and
caused its fortifications to be rased to the ground, that the town
might never more be a bulwark of defence for the kingdom of Jerusalem.
The road to the capital was now open, and consternation seized the
hearts of the Christians. Nourheddin, it was known, was only waiting
for a favourable opportunity to advance upon Jerusalem, and the armies
of the Cross, weakened and divided, were not in a condition to make any
available resistance. The clergy were filled with grief and alarm, and
wrote repeated letters to the Pope and the sovereigns of Europe, urging
the expediency of a new Crusade for the relief of Jerusalem. By far the
greater number of the priests of Palestine were natives of France, and
these naturally looked first to their own country. The solicitations
they sent to Louis the Seven