F R A' 
two monarchs were again adjufted at Gifors; blit the 
terms were prefctibed by Henry, and were fubmitted to 
with reludtance by Louis ; who beheld his confederates, 
The--£Ount of Anjou, and the count of Brittany, yield 
homage to the conqueror for their refpe&ive countries of 
Maine and Brittany. 
The king of France, defirous of providing for the fuc- 
ceffion of the crown, demanded in marriage the hand of 
Adelaide, daughter of the count of Savoy. The nuptials 
took place in 7115; and the amiable qualities of the 
princefs endearec^her to the nobility, and her good fenfe 
and difcretion contributed to fmooth the rugged paths 
which Louis, throughout his reign, was condemned to 
tread. The fuccefs of Henry Fill rankled in his bofom, 
and he impatiently waited a favourable opportunity to 
Retrieve his glory. With pleafure he liftened to the fup- 
pliant voice of a young prince, who, having in vain at¬ 
tempted to aroufe the companion of other monarchs, 
fought (belter and fupport in the court of France. This 
prince was William, the fon of Robert of Normandy, and 
grandfon of the conqueror; who implored the humanity 
of Louis to procure the liberty of hL father, a prifoner 
in England to his brother Henry. The king of France 
hefitated not in granting the requeft. He adviled William 
to engage the nobles of Normandy, and particularly to 
attach to his caufe the counts of Flanders and Anjou. 
The negociations of the young prince were fuccefsful; 
and Louis, apprifed of the fentimentsof the confederates, 
demanded of tiie king of England the liberty of his bro¬ 
ther Robert. A peremptory refufal was the figna! of 
revolt to the Norman chieftains ; the indignant people 
haftened to proclaim Wiliiam their duke, and crowded to 
his fiandard ; the counts of Flanders and Anjou advanced 
with a formidable army to the gates of Rouen ; and the 
mind of Henry, aftonifhed at the defection of Normandy, 
was furprifed and embarralfed by the dread of domeftic 
confpiracy. Yet amidft the dangers which on every fide 
prefented themfelveSj the king of England difplayed that 
fortitude which ever diftinguifhed his chara6ter. Inftead 
of cortdefcending to folicit an ignominious peace, he 
difputed every inch of the ground with unabated vigour; 
his arms were feconded by negociation ; by a liberal dif- 
tribution of his treafures, he detached the count of Anjou 
from the party of the confederates ; in a bloody action 
the count of Flanders (hared the fate of his father, and 
mortally wounded in the face, foon after expired. Alain 
duke ef Brittany rufiied to the afliftance of the king of 
England ; and the unfortunate William had the double 
mortification of beholding his enemies encreafed, and his 
friends diminifhed. The forces of France were (till en¬ 
tire, and Louis was not inclined to abandon an enterprife 
in w'hich his honour aud his intereft were fo deeply en¬ 
gaged. As he advanced, in hopes of furprifing Noyon, 
he.himfelf was unexpectedly alfailed by the Englifli ar¬ 
my in the plains of Brenneville ; his van-guard, com¬ 
manded by William, in perfon, aftonifhed yet undaunted, 
and animated by the fpirit of the gallant youth who led 
them, charged with refiftlefs fury ; the Englifti troops 
who oppofed them were broken by their impetuous va¬ 
lour : for a moment, Henry defpaired of bis crown and 
life; (truck to the ground by the arm of a Norman war¬ 
rior, he yet rofe with redoubled ftrength, and levelled at 
his feet the daring adverfary. His perfevering courage 
reftored order to his troops, and the fortune of the day 
was changed by the indifcretion of Louis, who efcaped 
with difficulty to tiie neighbouring garrifon of Andeli, 
and relinqniftied to the king of England the glory of a 
field, which he had loft by his own indifcretion. The 
proffered mediation of the Roman pontiff, in 1120, was 
gladly accepted ; and Henry, after fuccefsfully concluding 
a war which threatened to fubvert his throne, dilated 
the terms of peace, and repaired the leas, to difplay his 
triumph in England. 
The domeftic misfortunes of Louis now embittered the 
happinefs of his - days. He had icarcely affociated his 
\ 
N C E. 667 
eldeft fon Philip to the throne, before he was fummoned 
to weep over his tomb : a fall from his horfe proved 
fatal to the young prince; and the favourable expedi¬ 
tions of a glorious reign, which had been raifed by his 
early virtues, were blafted by his premature death. The 
lofs of Philip was followed by the coronation of his bro¬ 
ther Louis, who, at the age of twelve years, received the 
crown from the hands of pope Innocent II. 
The health of Louis now began vifibly to decline ; and 
his life was threatened by the exceffive corpulency from 
which he derived the furname of the Grofs. In hourly 
expedition of his diflblution, he drew his ring from his 
finger, and as he delivered it to his fon, conjured him to 
recoiled!, that the fovereign power with which it inverted 
him was a public truft devolved on him by Providence ; 
and for the exercife of which, he mult be accountable in 
a future date. Before his death, he had the fatisfadlion 
of beholding his fon united to Eleanor, the daughterand 
heirefs of the duke of Guienne and Aquitain; the mar¬ 
riage was celebrated at Bourdeaux, and the young prin¬ 
cefs was folemnly Crowned queen of France. But the 
king himfelf had little time to embrace his daughter-in- 
law, before he funk beneath the preffure of difeafe, and 
expired at Paris, in the thirtieth year of his reign, and the 
fixtieth of his age, A. D. 1137. His charadter has been 
delineated in very few words, more favourable to his 
private, than to his public qualities: “ He might have 
made a better king ; he could not prove a better man.” 
Louis VII. although at the demife of his father but 
eighteen years old, affumed the reins of government. 
The ambitious nobles, and difcontented barons, endea¬ 
voured to take advantage of the inexperienced age of the 
prince to (hake off their homage, and render their feudal 
territories free and independent. Amidft a fcene of re¬ 
volt and difaffedtion, the king remained firm and un¬ 
daunted ; and the malcontents were rather intimidated 
by the fortitude he difplayed, than reduced by the troops 
he had at his command. 
Thus happily freed from fedition at home, and on 
terms of peace and amity with all the powers of Europe, 
the afpiring mind of Louis was deluded by the vifionary 
ideas of the extenfive conqueft and glory to be attained 
in a fecond croifade ; and he adtually refolved to combat 
the infidels in Afia. The forces which on this occafion 
affembled under his ftandard, have been computed at the 
incredible number of 70,000 cavalry, and 100,000 infan¬ 
try. The reins of government were, during his abfence, 
entrufted to Rodolph count of Vermandois, and to Suger 
abbot of St. Denys. At the head of this unwieldy hoft, 
Louis traveled fuccefsfully the plains of Hungary, and 
encamped, in 1147, under the walls of Conftantinople. 
In the interview with Manuel Comnenus, the feat of the 
French monarch was a low ftool, before the throne of the 
emperor of the eaft ; but Louis foon after afferted his regal 
dignity ; and when he had tranfported his army beyond the 
Bofphorus, he declined the offer of a fecond conference, 
unlefs his brother would meet him on equal terms. 
From the fliores of the Bofphorus, Louis advanced 
through a country inhabited by profeffed friends and fe- 
cret enemies. The Greeks beheld with terror the in¬ 
numerable fwarms which had poured forth from the 
weft ; and the gates of their cities, both in Europe and 
Afia, were clofely barred againft the crufadcrs. The 
fcanty pittance of food was let down in batkets from the 
walls; the paffes were fortified, the bridges broken 
down, and the ftragglers pillaged and murdered. 
The emulation of the Germans had induced them to 
prefs forward to the fcene of action ; the lingering fteps 
of the French had been retarded by jealoufy ; their junc¬ 
tion might have commanded fuccefs, their divifion en- 
fured defeat. At Nice, Louis met Conrad, his rival in 
the pious warfare, returning wounded from an unfortunate 
combat on the banks of the Maeander, and reduced to 
exchange the delufive dream of conqueft for a fecure 
paiTage t6 Paleftine by fea. Yet the misfortunes of the 
Germans 
