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The latter seems to have been the view expressed forcibly by Blanche of Castile, mother of St Louis.
Blanche did not want her son to fulfill his Crusading vow, and put every obstacle in his path. Her motivation may have been the sheer wastefulness of the whole exercise, or else that it was part of her continuing attempts to dominate her son's reign. She remonstrated forcibly with him and we can sense her mind behind the words attributed to the Bishop of Paris, who told the king:
"...remember that when you took the cross, making an important vow hurriedly and without advice, you were ill and your mind was wandering. Blood rushed to your brain so you were not of sound mind and your words lacked authority."
The bishop reminded St Louis of dangers from the emperor and other enemies, and of the innate difficulty of the pilgrimage.
The queen then spoke in her own voice, addressing her "dearest son" and telling him not to rely on his own wisdom, but to listen to the advice of virtuous friends. He should bear in mind what virtue was, and how it was in accordance with God's wishes to obey a mother. She then advanced a series of arguments, including his unsoundness of body and mind and that he would suffer military setbacks at home, trying in the most forceful way to stop Louis from going.
As a footnote to this glimpse into Blanche's opposition to Crusading, at least in the case of her son, it might be mentioned that Louis threw a tantrum, tore the Cross from his shoulder, and then reassumed it, claiming that now no one could doubt the soundness of his mind.2
For other women, the Crusades were perhaps mainly an opportunity to escape the drudgery of feudal life in Europe. For the Goose Woman of the eleventh century, it appears to have been a festivity.
But for most of the peasant women involved, the journey appears to have begun as a solemn religious commitment, whatever else it may have turned into.
All the commentators agree on this, although the voices of the women themselves are now silent.
1. Ross, Portable Medieval Reader, pp.679-82.
2. Matthew Paris, The Illustrated Chronicles , p.51.
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