Each man who held lands of a certain value was bound to furnish a knight for his lord's service; and the barons thus held a body of trained soldiers at their disposal.

When Henry called his chief lords to serve in the war of Toulouse, he allowed the lower tenants to commute their service for sums payable to the royal treasury under the name of "scutage," or shield-money.

The "Great Scutage" did much to disarm the baronage, while it enabled the king to hire foreign mercenaries for his service abroad.
Again however he was luckless in war.

King Lewis of France threw himself into Toulouse.

Conscious of the ill-compacted nature of his wide dominion, Henry shrank from an open contest with his suzerain; he withdrew his forces, and the quarrel ended in 1160 by a formal alliance and the betrothal of his eldest son to the daughter of Lewis.
[Sidenote: Archbishop Thomas] Henry returned to his English realm to regulate the relations of the State with the Church.