John
knew not whom to trust; he could, in fact, trust no one; and herein
lay the explanation of his restless movements, his unaccountable
wanderings, his habit of journeying through byways, his constant
changes of plan. Moreover, besides the Aquitanian rebels, the Norman
traitors, and the French enemy, there were the Breton partisans of
Arthur to be reckoned with. These had now found a leader in William
des Roches, who, when he saw that he could not prevail upon John to
set Arthur at liberty, openly withdrew from the King's service and
organized a league of the Breton nobles against him.
These Bretons, reinforced by some barons from Anjou and Maine,
succeeded, on October 29, 1202, in gaining possession of Angers. It
may have been to watch for an opportunity of dislodging them that
John, who was then at Le Mans, went to spend a fortnight at Saumur and
another at Chinon. Early in December, however, he fell back upon
Normandy, and while the intruders were harrying his ancestral counties
with fire and sword, he kept Christmas with his Queen at Caen, "faring
sumptuously every day, and prolonging his morning slumbers till
dinner-time.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205