72 MEDIAEVAL CIVILIZATION (1119) between the King of France and the King of England as follows: "140 knights remained prisoners in the hands of the conqueror; but of 900 engaged in battle I know of three only who were killed. In fact, they were completely clothed in iron; and as much ' through the fraternity of arms as through the fear of God did they spare each other, seeking less to kill than to take prisoners." The knights often found it more convenient to levy a contribution on the peasants and on the merchants, and the war was turned into brig- andage. There were in all countries knights like Sir Thomas de Marie, who stopped the merchants on the highways, took their baggage and goods, shut them up in the prison of his castle and tortured them in order to force them to redeem themselves by paying a ransom. The right to make war continued in many provinces until the fifteenth century. The knights did not want to give up this right; war filled their lives. For exam- ple, we see how Fouque, Count d'Anjou, sums up the career of his uncle Geoffrey: "My uncle was made a knight during the lifetime of his father, and served his first campaign against his neighbors; he fought twice, once with the Count de Poitou, once with the Count du Maine, and took them prisoners. He also made war against his father.1 After the death of his father, having entered into possession of his heritage, the county of Anjou, he made war against the Count de Blois, whom he took prisoner with one thousand of his 1 This time Geoffrey was forced to submit, his father following an old Germanic custom, obliged him to come and present him- self before him, on all fours with a saddle on his back.