Such was the rage for the crusade in France and Ger many, at this period, that Louis reckoned in his army men in complete armour, with a very great number of horse, besides infantry ; but this force, though doubled by what the Emperor of Germany brought along with him, was rendered of little or no benefit to the cause in which they were engaged, by its very numbers, and by the total want of order and discipline. The Emperor of Germany fell into a snare set for him by the Sultan of Iconium ; and the same misfortune soon afterwards befel Louis. He met 'likewise with another calamity still more grievous, and which gave him more uneasiness than the loss of his army ; for his queen Eleanor, whose affection and zeal led her to embrace the cross, and accompany him into Asia, was sus pected of an amour with the prince of Antioch. His mar riage with her had been entered into contrary to the advice of Seigel- ; and, after the death of that minister, Louis, con vinced of the soundness of his opinion by the conduct of his wife, divorced her, and restored to her the provinces of Guienne and Poitou, which he had received with her in marriage. Eleanor, soon after her divorce, married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy, who, the following year, became King of England, under the name of Henry II. The remainder of Louis's reign presents nothing worthy of notice. He frequently quarrelled with Henry II. of Eng,• land ; but their quarrels were soon made up. In 1179, he made his son Philip, who was then 14 years old, be crown ed at Rheims ; and the following year he died of a paraly tic stroke, at the age of 60.
Philip II., who was afterwards surnamed Augustus, 01: account of his exploits, had as his guardian the Count of Flanders. He signalized the commencement of his reign by confiscating the property of the Jews in France, and ba nishing them from the kingdom. He next turned his at tention to the improvement of Paris, which he enlarged and paved. It was soon apparent, that Philip was by no means disposed to suffer his authority to be trampled upon or curtailed, even by the clergy ; for, on an emergency, find ing it necessary to raise some troops, he demanded a sub sidy from the clergy of Rheims ; they refused the subsidy, but offered their prayers for his success. Soon afterwards, their territories were laid waste by some of the neighbour ing nobles, and they applied to the king for succour ; hut his reply was, that he would use his intreaties to these no bles to respect the territory of the church. He did so, but they continued their ravages ; and at length the clergy found themselves under the necessity of complying with the demand of the king, in order that they might obtain his assistance against their invaders. Philip next turned his attention to the extirpation of the brigands, who, under the name of Rot uriers, infested France, setting at nought both the civil and ecclesiastical power. In one battle he destroy ed 7000 of them.
The quart els which had existed between Philip's father and the king of England still existed ; Philip encouraging Henry's sons in their undutiful behaviour towards their fa the•. But the quarrels being in some degree quieted, by
the death of Henry's two most rebellious sons, the monarchs assumed the cross, and prepared for the Holy- Land. This enterprise, however, was surrounded with great obstacles. Philip, still jealous of heresy, entered into a private confe deracy with Richard, now heir apparent to the throne of England, and Henry found himself obliged, at an advanced age, to defend his dominions against France and his own son. Being unsuccessful, he engaged to pay Philip a com pensation for the charges of the war. Notwithstanding this success, however, Philip felt himself relieved by the death of Henry, which took place A. D. 1i 89. The pro ject of a holy war was again entertained. Both Philip and Richard King of England partook of the superstitious pre judices and zeal of the age, and they both were also eager after military glory. Thus they expected to satisfy both their religious and their military feelings, by an expedition to the Iloly Land. As, however, former attempts had been so unsuccessful, it was necessary to try another road ; and they accordingly resolved to conduct their armies by sea, to carry their provisions along with them, and by means of their naval power, to preserve an open and regular commu nication with their own states, and with the western parts of Europe. On the plains of Fezelai, in Burgundy, the monarchs assembled their armies, which amounted to 100,000 men. After renewing their oaths of friendship, and pledging their faith not to invade each other's domi nions during the crusade, they separated, Philip taking the to Genoa, Richard that to Marseilles. From these parts, they both put to sea ; and both were compelled by a storm to take shelter in Messina, where they were de tained the whole of the winter, A. D. The siege and capture of Acre was the sole fruit of this im mense expedition. Philip fell sick, and returned to France. Richard remained some time after wards ; and on his re turn, having been made prisoner in Germany, the French king, forgetful of his oath, endeavoured to profit by the ab sence of Richard, and entered into a treaty with John, his perfidious brother. As soon as Richard recovered his free dom, he turned his thoughts towards vengeance on Philip. But the latter gained several advantages over his oppo nent ; and these two princes continued to harass each other, till the death of Richard, A. D. 1199. John, who succeed ed to the throne of England, having refused to appear as a vassal of France, to answer for the death of Arthur of Bre tagne, all his ten itories that were situated in that kingdom were confiscated by Philip, who took possession of Nor mandy, and united it to his crown. Touraine, Anjou, and Maine, were also wrested from John ; so that nothing re mained to him in France but Guienne.