On June 12 the allies surprised Le Mans; their troops forced an entrance into the lower town, the fire kindled to keep them out of the city set it ablaze, and Henry fled.[343] There was a hot pursuit; Richard was among the foremost, but it seems that he had taken no part in the assault, and now only wished to prevent by his presence any personal violence to his father, for he was clad only in a doublet and an iron headpiece and carried no arms at all. Some of his men, however, outstripped him, and before he could overtake them were skirmishing with Henry’s rearguard, one of whom, William des Roches, had just unhorsed a knight of Richard’s household when the count came spurring up and shouted: “William! you waste time in folly; mend your speed, ride on!” At the sound of that voice another of the little band covering the king’s retreat turned round and spurred his horse straight at Richard, and the heir of the Angevin empire suddenly found his life at the mercy of one who was already known as the most accomplished warrior of his day, William the Marshal. So close was the encounter that Richard caught hold of his assailant’s lance and by sheer strength of arm turned it aside, shouting: “By God’s Feet, Marshal, slay me not! it were an ill deed, for I am wholly unarmed.” But the thrust had not been meant for him, and its aim was only momentarily diverted. “Nay! may the devil slay you, for so will not I,” answered the Marshal as he recovered control of his weapon and plunged it into the body of Richard’s horse.[344] The animal instantly fell dead, dragging its rider with it to the ground; knights and men-at-arms crowded anxiously to the spot, and when Richard had struggled to his feet he bade them proceed no further—“You have spoiled everything; you are a set of distracted fools!”[345]
Three weeks later father and son met once more, and for the last time. From Le Mans the allies moved eastward 1189 along the borders of Maine and the Vendômois, and thence into Touraine as far as Amboise; castle after castle surrendering to them without resistance. Henry had at first gone northward, but changed his course, and while they were thus occupied he made his way back, with a very small escort, to Chinon.[346] Negotiations were resumed; but the French king now saw his opportunity for an unparalleled display of his sovereign authority as lord paramount, and he resolved to be satisfied with nothing less than a surrender of the whole continental possessions of the Angevin house into his hands, to be restored or re-distributed at his own pleasure.[347] On July 1 he laid siege to Tours; on July 3 he took it by assault. Next day (July 4), at Colombières, Henry made the required surrender.[348] This done, Philip formally made him a new grant of the surrendered lands and received his homage for them on new conditions. One of these conditions was for the sole benefit of Philip; it was a fine of twenty thousand marks to be paid to him by Henry. The others concerned Richard. One related to Aloysia; another bound Henry to make all his barons, insular and continental, swear fealty to his rightful heir. No baron or knight who in this war had withdrawn from Henry’s service and joined Richard was to return to the former within a month of Mid-Lent next, at which date the two kings and Richard were to set out all together on the Crusade. All Henry’s barons were to swear that if he broke his plighted word with regard to anything in the agreement they would support Philip and Richard against him; and it seems that Philip and Richard, while restoring all their other conquests, were to retain either Tours, Le Mans, and the castles of Château-du-Loir and Trou, or Gisors, Pacy, and Nonancourt, “until all the things above determined by the king of France should be fulfilled.”[349]
The meeting between the two kings at which this extraordinary arrangement took place was held in the open air. So far as we can gather, Richard was either a silent spectator or was not actually present, though he was certainly close at hand. After its conclusion he went to his father’s lodging in the house of the Knights Templars at Ballan, hard by Colombières,[350] to receive, according to agreement, the kiss of peace. He did receive it, but as he turned to depart he heard his father mutter: “The Lord grant that I may not die till I have had my revenge of thee!”[351] The words were the half delirious utterance of a sick man whose brain was on fire with fever and, still more, with shame at the public degradation he had just gone through, and with disappointment at the failure of his most cherished scheme; although the worst detail connected with that failure did not become known to him till some hours later, when he received the list of the followers who had deserted him. Then he learned that John had anticipated the issue of the struggle and secured for himself the protection of the party whose success he saw to be a foregone conclusion, by pledging his allegiance to Richard.[352]
The triumph of Philip Augustus was for the moment complete. He had successfully asserted and exercised his sovereign authority over the greatest of his vassals, the vassal who was, no less than himself, a crowned and anointed king, and whose lands comprised, besides the island realm, more than two-thirds of the realm of France. The succession to all those lands, including England, had been, or seemed to have been, determined at Philip’s bidding. He was, or seemed to be, master of both Henry and Richard. But his triumph was only momentary. Within three days the convention of Colombières was a mere piece of waste parchment, for Henry of England was dead.