<566 FRA 
by the penetration of Baldwin, were no longer fuffered to 
guide the councils of the king ; and the beginning of his 
various reign was equally characterized by activity, as the 
conclufion of it was by indolence. The care of Baldwin 
had ftored the mind of Philip with every valuable fcience, 
and the mailers he had'provided had fitted his body for 
the martial exercifes of a warlike age ; but his heart had 
refilled the admonitions of the virtuous tutor, and, as 
Philip advanced in years, his fubjedls difcerned, with a 
capacity which might have enfured their happinefs, a 
difpoiition which menaced them with the inceiTant cala¬ 
mities of war. The interelis of Philip in 1091, had fug- 
gelled to him a marriage with the daughter of the countefs 
of Flanders ; and two Ions and a daughter, the ilfue of 
thofe nuptials, could not reltrain the fickle monarch from 
divorcing Bertha, his firlt and mod amiable confort. A 
diltant and doubtful degree of confanguinity afforded the 
pretence ; and the unhappy princef?, banilhed to Mon. 
treuil, expired of a broken heart. The lullful appetite 
of the king of France demanded next in marriage Emma, 
the daughter of count Roger, brother of the duke of 
Calabria. The lady, richly adorned with jewels and 
liberally portioned, was efcorted to the French court; 
nor is it without a blulh the hillorian records that Emma 
was foon difmiffed, and her fortune retained. The paf- 
fions of Philip were now inflamed by Bertrade de Mant- 
fort, the wife of Fulk count of Anjou. The vanity of 
a lullful woman was gratified by the addrelfes of a royal 
lover; and the countefs hefitated not to forfake the bed 
of an aged hulband, to fink into the licentious arms of 
the king of France. The afcendancy Ihe obtained over 
the affedtions of Philip was difplayed in his fubfequent 
oondudl; he determined to folemnize a marriage which 
was doomed invariably to embitter his future days. The 
ceremony was performed by Eudes bilhop of Bayeux; 
but fo flagrant a violation of every moral and civil tie, 
could not efcape the cenfure of pope Urban II. In a 
council held at Autun, a fentence of excommunication 
was pronounced againft the king unlc.s he parted with 
Bertrade : his ready promife of fubmiflion fufpended the 
thunders of the Vatican ; his perfeverance in his criminal 
enjoyments, however, once more aroufed them; and in a 
fecond council, affembled at Clermont, Philip was fpiritu- 
ally degraded and fubjetled to the penalties of excom¬ 
munication. 
It was in this council held in 1O95, that Urban firlt 
preached the facred fervice of the croifades, and awaken¬ 
ed the martial fpirit of the nations of Europe to the de¬ 
liverance of the Holy Land. F^or the number and intereft- 
ing events of thefe facred expeditions, fee the article 
Croisade, vol. v. p. 374-376 ; and as far as they relate 
to England, fee the article England, vol.vi. p. 564. 
Philip, unmoved by the religious ardour of the heroes 
and chieftains of Chriltendom, chofe Hill to repofe in the 
arms of an adulterous woman, while his kingdom was 
doomed by its miferies to atone for the vices of the fove- 
reign. The feenes of anarchy and civil commotion from 
which France had beenrefeued by the prudence of Hugh 
Capet and his fucceflbrs, were again prefented in every 
province. But the dignity of the crown, which had been 
degraded by the follies of the father, began to be reltored 
the virtues of the fon ; the diltrefs of Philip, in 1102, 
compelled him to alfociate to the throne, Louis, the 
elded ilfue of his marriage with Bertha. At the early 
age of twenty years the prince difplayed a degree of pru¬ 
dence, which is feldont attained even by the experience 
«f mature wifdom ; affable, vigilant, and adlive, he com¬ 
manded the refpedt of the people as much by his private 
qualities as by bis public meafures. With a fmall but 
•well appointed army, he continually kept the field, and 
«ver-awed the barons who had difdatned the authority of 
his father. But however the abilities of Louis might 
contribute to his own glory, and to the relief of his 
father, they fubjedled him to the hatred and perfecution 
*f Bertrade ; his genius and fortune obftru,dted the royal 
N C E. 
hopes of her own fons, whom (he dill flattered herfelf 
might, if that prince was removed, fucceed to the 
throne. The fnpine and eafy king was perfuaded to 
gratify a midrefs whom he loved, at the expence of a fon 
whom he could not but edeem ; and to avoid the dan¬ 
gerous enmity of his mother-in-law, Louis obtained per- 
miflion to vifit England. He was received bv our Henry I. 
in 1105, with every mark of refpedt. Even here, if we 
can credit the tedimony of concurring hidorians, the 
unabated malice of Bertrade purfued him ; and by a letter 
fubferibed with the name of Philip, the king of England 
was requeued to retain his gued in confinement, or ex- 
tinguifh the dread of his return by death. The virtue of 
Henry fpurned at a propofal, which infulted his owri 
honour; his horror of the crime was difplayed in his 
tender regard of Louis; and to that prince he delivered 
the letter which contained the fatal fecret. In vain did 
the injured Louis demand on his return to France that 
judice to which he was fo eminently entitled, botii from 
a father and a fovereign : thefe duties were overwhelmed 
by the fatal padion for Bertrade; and, though die had 
fubfequently endeavoured to poifon the prince, the king 
was content with merely difowning the fignature, without 
endeavouring to difeover or to punifli the authors of thefe 
feenes of wickednefs. 
Philip furvived not long thefe degrading events : in the 
forty-feventh year of his reign, and the fifty-fifth of his 
age, A.D. 1108, he expired at Melun, defpifed by bis 
fubjedls, and regretted, perhaps, only by Bertrade. Yet 
his character, though deficient in virtue, was not deftitute 
of endearing qualities ; courteous, generous, and compaf- 
fionate, thofe who had immediate accefs to his perfon, 
forgot in the'manners of the man the vices of the king. 
By Bertha, whofe peace he ruined, and whofe heart he 
broke, Louis his fucceffor was his only remaining fon. 
Henry died young; and a daughter, named Condantia, 
was fird married to Hugh count of Troyes, and afterwards 
to Bohemond prince of Antioch. His children by the 
wicked Bertrade were, Philip count of Mante, whofe 
edates were confifcated for rebellion, and who died with¬ 
out iffue ; Florence, who left only a daughter ; and Ce¬ 
cilia, who was twice married, fird to Tancred prince of 
Antioch, and next to Pons de Touloufe count of Tripoli. 
Louis VI. who, from his corpulency in the latter part 
of his life, was didinguifhed by the furname of Grofs, 
immediately on the death of his father, affumed the reins 
of government. A fchifm that prevailed in the church 
of Rheims, induced the king to fix his coronation at Or¬ 
leans, and to receive his crown from the bilhop of that 
city. But more effectual meafures than an empty cere¬ 
mony were necelfary to edablidi his authority ; and the 
nobles feized the opportunity of a new reign, to affert 
again their pretenlions. Thefe were once more humbled 
in a field of battle ; and the impartial fpirit of judice 
which the monarch difplayed gradually reconciled his 
lubjedls to his fway. The difaffedted barons had been 
privately encouraged by Henry I. of England, whofe 
former companion for the prince, was now loft in his 
jealoufy of the king. But no fooner had Louis triumphed 
over the mal-contents, than he diredted his attention to¬ 
wards Normandy; A.D. 1113. Gifors on the Epte 
was the objedt of contention between the two kings. 
Louis demanded that the fortifications diould be razed s 
which Henry, without refufing, continually eluded. Their 
difeontents at length broke out in open hodi'.ities, and 
the monarchs prepared for immediate war. The caufe 
of the count of Champagne was embraced by the king 
of England ; and the count of Anjou, the fon of Fulk 
and Bertrade, renounced his homage to Henry, and joined 
the ftandard of France ; but the French, in a decilive 
battle, were doomed to experience the mortifications of a 
defeat. The vidtorious Normans were commanded by 
the count of Blois ; and the count of Flanders, gallantly 
fighting in the caufe of his fovereign, was thrown from 
his horfe and trampled to death. Yet the difputes of the 
two 
