{097}strong, and determined where timidity would have been, by far, more becoming and womanly. The king did not oppose her crusade; but even if he had, she would have forced him to yield to her will. She received the holy cross from the hand of St. Bernard, and immediately put on the dress of an Amazon and mounted a horse. All the court ladies did the same, calling themselves the queen's body-guard. Then they formed in parade every day, and practised military exercise in public, making themselves as ridiculous as possible. In short, they were a band of madwomen, and nobody could control them. When once they had become Amazons they abandoned all womanly occupations, consequently had no use for their distaffs; these they sent to all the knights and nobles who kept out of this insane expedition. Thus, many of them being too weak to stand such a taunt, were actually shamed into joining though their good sense opposed it. King Louis managed his difficult enterprise with a good deal of courage and prudence, but it would have required a greater general than the world has ever known to discipline a regiment of fantastic women. The freaks of these female warriors were the cause of all the misfortunes that befell the army, for the king, after landing in Thrace, sent them forward with his choicest troops, and told them exactly how to choose their camp so that they would overlook the valley of Laodicea. He remained about five miles behind with the baggage, of which there was a large supply, and had to stop frequently to fight the bands of Arabs who attacked him.