Philippe came under the influence of the pious legate Peter Thomas (d. 1366), whose friend and biographer he was to be, and Thomas, who became Latin patriarch of Constantinople in 1364, was one of the chief promoters of the crusade of 1365. In 1362 Peter of Cyprus, with the legate and Philippe visited the princes of western Europe in quest of support for a new crusade, and when the king returned to the east he left Philippe and Peter Thomas to represent his case at Avignon and in the cities of northern Italy. They preached the crusade throughout Germany, and later Philippe accompanied Peter to Alexandria. After the capture of this city he received the government of a third part of it and a promise for the creation of his order, but the Crusaders, satisfied by the immense booty, refused to continue the campaign.