ook part with the sons in these unnatural contests, and in the course
of them the most revolting spectacles were presented to the eyes of
the world--of towns belonging to a father sacked and burned by the
sons, or castles beleaguered, and the garrisons reduced to famine, in
which a husband was defending himself against the forces of his wife,
or a sister against those of a brother. Richard himself, who seems to
have been the most desperate and reckless of the family, began to take
an active part in these rebellions against his father when he was only
seventeen years old.

These wars continued, with various temporary interruptions, for many
years, and whenever at any time a brief peace was made between the
sons and the father, then the young men would usually fall to
quarreling among themselves. Indeed, Henry, the oldest of them, said
that the only possible bond of peace between the brothers seemed to
be a common war against their father.

Nor did the king live on much better terms with his wife than he did
with his children. At the time of Eleanora's marriage with Henry, her
prospects were bright indeed. The people of England, notwithstanding
the evil reports that were spread in respect to her character,
received her as their queen with much enthusiasm, and on the occasion
of her coronation they made a great deal of parade to celebrate the
event. Her appearance at that time attracted unusual attention. This
was partly on account of her personal attractions and partly on
account of her dress. The style of her dress was quite Oriental. She
had brought home with her from Antioch a great many Eastern fashions,
and many elegant articles of dress, such as mantles of silk and
brocade, scarfs, jeweled girdles and bands, and beautiful veils, such
as are worn at the East. These dresses were made at Constantinople,
and when displayed by the queen in London they received a great deal
of admiration.

We can see precisely how the queen looked in these dresses by means of
illuminated portraits of her contained in the books written at that
time. It was the custom in those days in writing books--the work of
which was all executed by hand--to embellish them with what were
called illuminations. These were small paintings inserted here and
there upon the page, representing the distinguished personages named
in the writing. These portraits were painted in very brilliant colors,
and there are several still remaining that show precisely ho