Page:The Queens of England.djvu/98

 ELEANOR OF PROVENCE, QUEEN OF HENRY THE THIRD. Eleanor, no less celebrated for her beauty (which acquired for her the surname of La Belie) than for those defects which rendered her so unpopular in England, was the daughter of Raimond Berenger, Count of Provence, grandson to King Alphonso of Arragon, and of Beatrice, daughter of Count Thomas of Savoy. Raimond Berenger, the last Count of Provence, cultivated poetry with some success, and encouraged the literature, if such it might be called, of the troubadours, to whom he gave a hospitable reception at his court. Beatrice, his countess, also courted the muses, and, if we may judge by the only couplet of her poetry preserved, her writings were more remarkable for freedom of sentiment than for delicacy. Eleanor of Provence is said to have possessed much of the talents and accomplishments of both her parents, and while yet in early youth was the author of a poem still preserved, and said to have considerable merit. Beauty and talents, how- ever, although gifts to be prized, were insufficient to fit their possessor for the duties imposed by the high station to which they assisted to elevate her. Nor was Henry the Third a prince likely to correct by his judgment the errors of his youthful queen, or by his example to lead her to the path of duty. Weak, unsteady of purpose^ and avaricious, he had few qualities calculated to make a favorable impression on the heart of his bride, or to inspire her with respect for his opin- ions. Disappointed as he had so frequently been in his matri- monial projects, he was probably so gratified to find himself at last the husband of so lovely and brilliant a creature as Eleanor, that he was more disposed to yield implicit compliance to her will than to assert his own. The education and example she received, in a court like that of her parents, were not cal- culated to form the principles or correct the failings of the 80