A.D. 1242. THE FBE2TCH ABB AFFLICTED WITH BICXXESS, 211 Meantime the king of France, having taken counsel with hie nobles, because he saw that his military enterprises all prospered in his hands, according to hie wishes, proposed to panne the king of England in a hostile manner, without losing any time, as far as Blaye, because he knew that he was now deserted by all the forces of the Poitevine, and deprived of all comfort, and descending rapidly to the abyss of despair ; and from Blaye to Bordeaux, if he departed in that direction, and to continue the war with unwearied diligence till its termina* u'on. And lo ! the Lord pitying the king, the Lord who giveth salvation to kings, when and how he wills, that Henry might not appearto have recommended himself in vain to the prayers of the men of the religious orders on his retreat, threw the hearts of the French, who were giving way to absurd pride, into confusion, by permitting seeds of division and dissension to arise among them. For some of them said that it would not be for the advantage of the French that the king of England should be taken prisoner or crushed, lest perchance England should be subjected to the yoke of France. And if that were to happen then, if even the noblest of the French were oppressed by the king, what refuge would be open to those who were forced to fly ? and would not the English be in the same case if they were oppressed ? " For," said they, " when England was placed under an interdict, we have seen France open the bosom of refuge and protection to the bishops and many of the nobles of England, as, for instance, to Robert Fitzwalter, and England did the same to Reginald, count of Boulogne." And those who spoke in this way, were among those whom earl Richard had redeemed in the Holy Land; and when others of the French had heard their arguments, they accused them of treason ; and so a dissension arose, and they were nearly having recourse to civil war. Besides, a great want of provisions, and especially of water, oppressed their army, which •as numerous, in a miserable manner, so that as their want of all kinds of food grew greater, they became swoln, and wasted away with sickness, and being afflicted and exhausted with various miseries, expired. For their fellow citizens of the province had closed up the mouths of the wells, and had polluted and poisoned the rivers and fountains, had ploughed up the meadows and pasture lands, and, having driven away the cattle, had removed to a distance all their supplies and all their crops. Accordingly, when they drank the waters, both horses and