Flushed by his success against Flanders, Philip II. soon fell again into hostilities against Henry II. He clamoured for the restoration of the Vexin, the marriage portion of his sister Margaret, widow of Henry the younger, but finally allowed it to remain in the English king’s hands as the future portion for his other sister Alice, the promised bride of Richard of Aquitaine. But he still intrigued actively with Henry’s disloyal sons. In 1186 Geoffrey of Brittany went to Paris to plot new designs against his father, but was cut off by fever when still the French king’s guest. Projects of crusade delayed for a time the weaving of the network of intrigue. But in 1189 Philip again found Richard at war against his father. [Sidenote: Defeat and death of Henry II., 1189.] A sharp campaign was fought, which resulted in the complete defeat of Henry II., who on 4th July 1189 was forced to make a complete submission at Colombières, and died two days afterwards. It was the second great triumph of Philip’s reign. Though the Angevin heritage passed unimpaired to Richard, the new king was not statesman long enough to keep together so precarious an inheritance. Henceforth the advantage was increasingly on Philip’s side. [Sidenote: The call to the Third Crusade, 1187–1189.] The call to the Third Crusade postponed the inevitable struggle between them. But the historian of France may well pause at the death of Henry II. The period of struggling and waiting was now almost over. In the later and more brilliant portion of his reign, the conqueror of Philip of Alsace and Henry of Anjou had to gather in the fruits of his victories. Yet the future position of France was already assured in the year that saw the death of the most resourceful of her enemies. CHAPTER XIII THE THIRD CRUSADE AND THE REIGN OF HENRY VI.[24] (1187–1197) Europe in 1187—Preparations for the Third Crusade—Crusade and Death of Frederick Barbarossa—Destruction of the German Army—Crusade of Philip II. and Richard I.—Truce with Saladin—The Reign of Henry VI.—Henry’s Coronation and first Italian journey—First attack on Apulia—German troubles—Captivity of Richard I.—Conquest of Apulia and Sicily—The Hereditary Empire and the Conquest of the East—Death of Henry. [Sidenote: The state of Europe after the fall of Jerusalem.]