med king. He was in Normandy at the
time; but he immediately put himself at the head of an armed force
and went to England.

The barons of the kingdom immediately resolved to resist him, and to
maintain the cause of the young Arthur. They said that Arthur was the
rightful king, and that John was only a usurper; so they withdrew,
every man to his castle, and fortified themselves there.

In cases like this, where in any kingdom there were two contested
claims for the throne, the kings of the neighboring countries usually
came in and took part in the quarrel. They thought that by taking
sides with one of the claimants, and aiding him to get possession of
the throne, they should gain an influence in the kingdom which they
might afterward turn to account for themselves. The King of France at
this time was named Philip. He determined to espouse the cause of
young Arthur in this quarrel. His motive for doing this was to have a
pretext for making war upon John, and, in the war, of conquering some
portion of Normandy and annexing it to his own dominions.

So he invited Arthur to come to his court, and when he arrived there
he asked him if he would not like to be King of England. Arthur said
that he should like to be a king very much indeed. "Well," said
Philip, "I will furnish you with an army, and you shall go and make
war upon John. I will go too, with another army; then, whatever I
shall take away from John in Normandy shall be mine, but all of
England shall be yours."

The situation of the country of Normandy, in relation to France and to
England, may be seen by the accompanying map.

[Illustration: SITUATION OF NORMANDY.]

Philip thought that he could easily seize a large part of Normandy and
annex it to his dominions while John was engaged in defending himself
against Arthur in England.

Arthur, who was at this time only about fourteen years old, was, of
course, too young to exercise any judgment in respect to such
questions as these, so he readily agreed to what Philip proposed, and
very soon afterward Philip assembled an army, and, placing Arthur
nominally at the head of it, he sent him forth into Normandy to
commence the war upon John. Of course, Arthur was only nominally at
the head of the army. There were old and experienced generals who
really had the command, though they did every thing in Arthur's name.

A long war ensued, but in the end Arthur's army was defeated, and
Arthur himself was made prisoner. Jo