176 KOOER OF WEKDOVER. [A.D . 1198. knights and two hundred horses, covered with armour ; of soldiers, horse and foot, and arbalesters, he took an immense number. After tin's, the victorious Richard sent letters to all his friends in England, such as the archbishops, bishops, abbats, earls, ami barons, earnestly and devoutly begging of them to join him in glorifying God for having granted him such a triumph over his enemies. Of a trcaly madt-between the kings of France and England. Philip the French king, therefore, seeing that the power of the king of England daily increased whilst his own gradually grew deficient, yielded to necessity, and secretly sent messengers to the supreme pontiff, setting forth by his pleaders that lie was willingly to come to an arrangement with the king of England, or by a truce to put off lighting for a time, in order that, after the truce was confirmed by the authority of the pope himself, the monarehs of both kingdoms might, by his co-operation, be able to fulfil the vows of their pilgrimage, and to release the land of promise from the power of the enemies of Christ ; and that this might be made secure and binding, the king asked the pope to send some cardinal with plenary powers to the western parts, who could, if necessary, pronounce sentence of interdict against whichever of them should be found averse to peace and amity. With these and many other similar requests, pope Innocent, who was most anxious to forward the cause of tlie crusade, was induced to comply, more by money than the king's entreaties, and he accordingly sent Peter of Capua, one of his cardinals, to make peace between the two kings, lie. on his arrival at the French king's dominions, by advice of that monarch, took with him some bishops of both kingdoms, and, on coining to the king of England, he explained to him what great calamities were happening and would continue to happen to the kingdoms of the two monarchs unless peace was soon made between them. King Richard, however, answered with indignation, Saying that he. was not bound by law to do anything at the pope's command, especially as he had often asked him to compel the French king by the church's censure to restore to him the territories and castles which the said king, in disregard of his oath, had unjustly seized on when he himself