The taking of Le Mans and the flight of Henry II from the History of William the Marshal
The following section details the French capture of Le Mans in 1189. War had broken out between Henry II against his son Richard and Philip Augustus, King of France. Henry had gathered his forces, including William, at Le Mans, while Richard and Philip were capturing castles in the area. They decided to make a secret march against Le Mans, in hopes of catching the English King unprepared. This engagement would be the last for Henry II, as after his flight from the city he died, leaving the crown to Richard. For the original French text, click here.
The King of England, there in Le Mans,
was furious to be losing his lands.
He called for William Marshal,
8384 who was very much pained
to see the King's anger and fury,
and Sir Geoffrey de Brūlon
and his brother with him,
8388 and Sir Peter fitz Guy,
and Sir Robert de Souville,
who preferred town business
to fighting business, that is all I can say,
8392 and he was marshal of the King's household.
The King told them to rise in the morning
and go to inspect the French army
and see in what direction it would march.
8396 And they, fully prepared to do
as he wished, rose early.
They donned their light armour,
so that they could travel more easily,
8400 whether to chase the opposition or rescue their own men.
They all armed themselves in the early morning.
Full of merriment and gladness,
they crossed the river Huisne.
8404 There was a very dense fog
in the morning, which interfered
with the business they had in hand.
They rode on until they came upon
8408 their scouts and saw them;
this situation was not in their favour.
They then mounted their horses,
took up their shields and lances,
8412 and set off slowly on their way.
Robert de Souville said
to the Marshal: "In Christ's name,
my lord, if my advice were to be believed,
8416 I would advise you in good faith
that I should go to the King
and tell him at what great speed
the King of France is riding to attack him."
8420 "My lord, I will not allow you to go this day,"
said the Marshal, "to inform him of that,
since it could not achieve anything worthwhile.
Instead, my advice is that I go
8424 with Sir Geoffrey de Brūlon
to see what manner of men those riders are
and how they are conducting themselves."
They climbed up a little mound,
8428 and saw from where they were
the whole army of the King of France,
which was riding in vast numbers
so close to them that, if a man had got one handy,
8432 he could have hit them with a cross-bow bolt.
"Geoffrey," said the Marshal,
"let's go, for it would do us harm
to stay a moment longer."
8436 Then they returned to their men
and told their companions
the news as it was.
Once more, Robert de Souville
8440 said: "Marshal, it would be right for me
to go and tell this to the King."
"My dear lord, I shall not let you go,
as I've told you already, by God's lance."
8444 Then Geoffrey said: "Alas! Alas!
How sad and what a great pity
that Eumenidus didn't have such a messenger
as you in his hour of need!
8448 It was a bad thing for him that you were so far away;
he could really have used you."
The knights laughed at this.
Sir Geoffrey de Brūlon
8452 said to the Marshal: "I advise you that,
since these scouts are coming so close
and are not paying heed to anyone,
we ride to attack them.
8456 Before anyone could come to their aid,
there would be saddle-cloths slipping off,
and we would have reduced them to such a situation that,
if only they could be caught by their bridles,
8460 they would lose their hacks."
The Marshal replied:
"We could have gained at the most,
perhaps, twenty or thirty hacks.
8464 However, we can have no expectation of anything worth while,
since we've hardly any horses,
and, so God save me, I think
that we never had such a need of horses,
8468 in whatever land we found ourselves,
as we shall this day.
The King of France, without pausing for rest,
is riding straight for Le Mans,
8472 and the flanks of our horses
would surely be heaving, if we did as you suggest,
before we got to safety."
So, with that, they returned,
8476 arrived in Le Mans, and told
the King what they had seen
and therefore knew for a fact.
When the good King of England saw
8480 that the King of France, through his trickery,
was pillaging his land in this manner,
he left the town in the company
of his barons; with the impending crisis in mind,
8484 he had the bridge over the Huisne cut down
and the fords thoroughly staked,
so that no man could cross there,
be it on foot or horseback, without doing himself a mischief.
8488 Furthermore, he had ditches dug
so that they would be unable to pass,
whatever clever scheme they might have in mind,
for he thought it was a fact
8492 that there was no other ford.
As they were speaking about these matters,
they looked at the other side and saw,
beyond the river, the King of France
8496 riding with the whole might of his army.
His intention was to wait and stay the night there,
so he had his tents pitched
at the edge of a wood called Le Parc,
8500 at an arrow's distance that side of the river.
And the Marshal said to the King:
"Sire, now listen to me.
Their side have made camp,
8504 so my advice, in faith,
is that we go and rest our horses.
In that way we shall be closer to them tomorrow,
we shall be able to see what they intend to do
8508 and shall gain knowledge of their situation."
"By God! Marshal," said the King,
you speak well and like a courtly man."
After this exchange of words, they went
8512 into the town, and decided that,
if the King of France moved
towards the town, they would
burn everything outside the walls,
8516 and that was what happened in truth.
The next day, without delay,
they had mass celebrated very early,
because they were in great fear of that vast army.
8520 The Marshal lost no time in arming himself.
The King, quite unarmed and on horseback,
left the town by a gate at the bottom
and headed for the Maison Dieu,
8524 but the Marshal behaved sensibly
and would not do the same,
for great injury could have befallen him as a result.
The King said: "Go on, take that armour off,
8528 Marshal. Why are you armed?"
The Marshal replied:
"If it please you, Sire, so much will I say,
that I am very happy to be armed
8532 and my arms don't cramp my style in the slightest.
I shall not remove my armour for the rest of this day
until I have discovered what burden
we shall have to shoulder.
8536 An unarmed man cannot last out
in a crisis or a grave situation,
and we don't know what their intention will be."
The King replied: "Upon my faith!
8540 You won't be coming with me then."
After this exchange of words and views,
the King made his son count John,
a son he loved and greatly trusted,
8544 disarm himself,
as he did lord Gerard Talbot,
Sir Robert de Tresgoz,
and Geoffrey de Brūlon.
8548 Indeed, all those who left the town
with him, disarmed themselves first,
and with him they rode beyond the Maison Dieu.
There, all those who were his trusted men
8552 stopped to deliberate,
and it was not long before they caught sight
of the King of France's vanguard.
They saw them riding over there many men abreast
8556 and reaching the bridge,
which had been deliberately broken to pieces.
Nobody imagined there was a ford there,
but they tested the water with their lances
8560 and discovered the best ford in the world.
Ten knights rode forward until
they had launched themselves across the ford.
Our side had been deceived in this matter.
8564 Robert de Tresgoz saw them
and said to the King: "My dear lord,
look, their knights are coming."
Gerard Talbot, being a wise man,
8568 took up his shield and a lance,
as one of their knights had come galloping forward
well in front of the others.
Sir Gerard met him and,
8572 as he did, he struck him such a blow
on his shield that his lance was shattered
and flew into many bits.
Sir Richard fitz Herbert
8576 saw the blow well delivered, in sight of all,
by sir Gerard,
so he took up his shield, rode forward
to take a lance in his hand,
8580 and galloped at full tilt
towards another knight he saw coming.
He dealt him such a savage blow
on his shield that his lance splintered
8584 and shattered right up to the fists he held it with.
And the worthy Marshal, I believe,
as he stood there in front of the gate,
asked John of Earley
8588 for his helmet, told him to lace it up,
and said that those who had but lately
taken off their armour were rightly sorry,
and that now those who were unarmed
8592 would be wishing they had their armour on.
John of Earley handed him
the helmet and very quickly laced it up.
The Marshal was all alone in front of the gate,
8596 and nobody was there to give him
advice, help or assistance,
but he defended himself and performed
as a good knight should
8600 when he is in such a situation.
The French rode up to him
to launch a fierce attack,
but he defended so well
8604 that they made no gains from him.
And those standing on the wall above the gate
and on the parapet, shouted
in a loud voice, in all directions:
8608 "Over here, God is with the Marshal!"
Baldwin de Béthune heard the words
and there was no misunderstanding on his part:
it was an established fact
8612 that he belonged to the Marshal's company,
that he loved him beyond all others
as he had proved many times before.
Sir Hugh de Malannoy
8616 came to his side, as I've been led to understand;
Sir Reginald de Dammartin,
who had no better acquaintance than the Marshal,
and who was later count of Boulogne,
8620 spurred to his side without delay;
and Hugh de Hamelincourt
did not come, he ran;
Sir Eustace de Neuville
8624 came galloping down through the town;
Eustace de Canteleux for his part
made no small speed;
and, finally, Ralph Plomquet
8628 and Sir Peter Mauvoisin
came out of the gate.
The result was a good and fierce encounter,
not embarked on in a spirit of jest.
8632 And all of a sudden there was Sir Andrew
de Chauvigny, a knight
from the company of the count of Poitiers
and renowned for his deeds of great valour,
8636 riding in the direction of our knights.
If you had been there, you would have seen lances
shattering on a great scale, and much clashing
of steel swords on helmets.
8640 There was no word spoken there by way of threat,
there were none of the usual gibes,
for there was much else to occupy them.
As a result of a fierce and hard-fought onslaught,
8644 they drove our men back,
for they came on very fiercely.
Sir Hugh de Malannoy,
who had distinguished himself in the combat,
8648 was knocked into the moat
surrounding the town, I believe,
both he and his horse together.
The Marshal, in the company of Baldwin
8652 and Reginald de Dammartin,
launched a vigorous attack on them,
driving them back in no time,
so that our side recovered some of the ground lost
8656 and forced them back
down the street,
almost as far as an arrow travels.
And I can tell you that, during the course of that retreat,
8660 there were combats and fights on a great scale.
The Marshal stretched out his hand,
took Sir Andrew de Chauvigny by the bridle,
and led him away.
8664 He took him as far as the gate,
and the horse, which was moving fast,
already had its head inside the gate
when someone on the parapet above
8668 threw down a huge stone
which struck Sir Andrew
on the arm. It was a very cruel blow to him,
because his arm was broken in two.
8672 Someone else threw down
a big stone, one of sizeable proportion,
which hit his horse's head.
The horse reared up, and the Marshal was left
8676 with the bridle in his hands.
The horse turned back,
and Sir Andrew left scot-free,
although he had received a
8680 very bad wound.
The Marshal threw the bridle through the gate
and a groom took it away.
He returned to the fray,
8684 which was still not at an end,
for nobody wanted to withdraw from it,
so much was each man keen to perform well.
During the fight the Marshal took
8688 two others by the bridle, joining these
close together. However, they played it so well
that they cut free of their bridles and escaped,
and so left the combat.
8692 My witness to this is John of Earley,
to whom, I understand, the bridles were handed over.
Since those receiving the bridles tell the story,
it must be believed and treated
8696 as heard and seen.
The damage was on such a huge scale
that broken lances with their heads
lay everywhere around,
8700 and one struck the Marshal's horse,
with the result
that it was wounded in one of its hind feet.
The Marshal stretched out his hand
8704 and straightway took by the bridle
a man who was a very fine knight
from the company of the count of Poitiers,
one Aimery Odart.
8708 And he took him to some effect;
he led him away against his will,
that man who was born in the area of Loudun;
he held him firm and led him away
8712 as far as the gate.
At that point the King, completely unarmed,
rode up to meet him, and when he arrived,
he said: "Marshal, be in no doubt about it,
8716 your splendid feat of chivalry
could yet turn out to work badly for us before this day is out. This much have I noticed,
that none of our other gates
8720 is as sound or as strong as that one,
and you can rest assured
that we might well lose."
"Sire," said the Marshal,
8724 "if they came inside, it would be bad for us,
that should not be glossed over,
but proceed as is your wish.
However, I would like to ask you
8728 to take charge of the knight
I have captured and take him away with you."
"You yourself see to it
that he is well guarded," said the King,
8732 "and have him disarmed."
At that the Marshal dismounted,
since his horse was maimed,
and he mounted the horse
8736 he had taken along with its rider,
the latter being sent, without further ado,
to the Marshal's lodgings.
He then rode forward with the King,
8740 who, to tell you the truth, in a violent
and excessive manner, had the town outside
the walls set fire to.
When the King of France,
8744 who had no desire to ride into the town yet,
saw this, without further delay
he had his tents pitched
beyond the river, on the other side.
8748 He was pleased to see the town in flames.
With a sorely troubled heart, the King rode
in the Marshal's company
up and down the streets of the town
8752 which that day he lost from his patrimony.
They saw a woman wailing
and weeping bitter tears,
as she took her possessions out of her house,
8756 which was in flames.
The Marshal, a tender-hearted man,
was saddened and troubled by the sight,
and told his squires to dismount
8760 and help her, without delay.
He himself dismounted
and most gladly set about
giving her help and assistance.
8764 He was most willing to repair
the harm done, as was his wont.
He picked up a feather quilt,
which was alight underneath,
8768 and the acrid fumes coming from it
caused him so much distress
that he had to remove his helmet
from his head, since the smoke trapped within
8772 was doing him harm.
When the King rode into the town,
it so happened
that he brought the fire with him,
8776 and the town caught fire
in three or four places.
All those who were with him
were completely unable to douse the flames,
8780 so they left things as they were and departed.
The King sent men into the town
to summon the count of Mandeville,
and the Marshal who was with him,
8784 a man ever true and loyal,