When Prussia was erected into a kingdom, in 1701, the order issued a solemn protest against the act, asserting its ancient rights over that country. The order maintained its existence in an enfeebled condition till 1809, when it was formally abolished by Napoleon. In 1840 Austria instituted an honorary order called by the same name, and in 1852 Prussia revived it under the designation of the Order of St. John. PHILIP OF FRANCE WINS THE FRENCH DOMAINS OF THE ENGLISH KINGS A.D. 1202-1204 KATE NORGATE When Richard "the Lion-hearted" died in 1199, he left no son to follow him on the throne of England and to claim possession of the vast French fiefs of the Plantagenet family. These fiefs, which covered more than half of France and made their undisputed lord more powerful than the French King himself, became at once a source of strife. John, nicknamed "Lackland," the youngest brother of Richard, succeeded him in England and in Normandy without dispute. But their little nephew Arthur was already Count of Brittany; and the other French possessions of the Plantagenets--Anjou, Maine, and Touraine--declared for Arthur in preference to John. At this time France was ruled by Philip Augustus, who ranks among the shrewdest and ablest of all her monarchs. Dreading the vast power of the Plantagenets, he naturally sought to divide their domains by upholding Arthur. This unhappy lad, only twelve years old, was made a mere pawn in the savage game of his elders. His tragic fate is powerfully depicted by Shakespeare in his _King John_. After some fighting and several sharp political moves and countermoves, John and Philip came to terms, May 18, 1200, by which the French King conferred almost all of the disputed fiefs on John. Constant bickering, however, continued. John had to do homage for his fiefs, and his French vassals took every opportunity to appeal from him to Philip, as their overlord. Finally, when the moment seemed propitious, Philip demanded from his overgrown vassal certain Norman castles as a sort of guarantee of good behavior. This led up to the war in which the Plantagenets lost all their French domains, and became lords only of England.