In 1185 the dying Kingdom of Jerusalem, ruled by childless leper Baldwin IV, sent Patriarch Heraclius and the Grand Master of the Hospital of St John to offer Henry the keys of the Holy City. At a council at Clerkenwell on 18 March, bishops and barons ruled Henry must remain in England. Henry and John were refused permission to crusade, and the Saladin tithe was imposed.
In early 1186 Geoffrey of Brittany died in Paris on 19 August amid rumours he planned to transfer his homage to Philip. Philip claimed wardship of Geoffrey’s infant daughter Eleanor, but Constance gave birth to a son on Easter Day, whom the Bretons named Arthur.
Philip then advanced into Berry, seizing Issoudun, Graçay, and besieging Châteauroux. Henry marched to relieve the town with Richard, John, and chancellor Geoffrey; for two weeks the two kings drew up forces each morning, averting combat each evening. A two-year truce was finalized on Midsummer Eve 1187, negotiated by Richard, who plundered the Angevin treasury at Chinon to fortify Poitou.
The July 1187 defeat at Hattin saw the True Cross captured, and Jerusalem fell in October. Pope Urban III died of shock at the news, and Gregory VIII called for a new crusade. Richard took the cross first. At a meeting at Gisors-Trie, the Archbishop of Tyre silenced the kings’ feud, and both took the cross. Henry issued his Saladin tithe at Le Mans (a 10% levy on personal property, excluding knights’ and priests’ essential kit), returned to England on 30 January, secured consent for the levy at Geddington on 11 February, and sent Baldwin of Canterbury to preach the crusade in Wales.
The crusade stalled immediately: Richard insisted on departing alone, while Henry demanded a joint expedition. A Poitevin revolt led by Geoffrey of Lusignan and Raymond of Toulouse’s seizure of merchants drew Richard back to the continent. By midsummer 1188 Richard threatened Toulouse, prompting Philip to seize Châteauroux on 16 June and menace Auvergne. Henry crossed to Barfleur on 10 July and mustered forces at Alençon, but was reluctant to fight his overlord, leaving his troops idle for months on plundering raids.
An August 1188 Gisors-Trie meeting ended in acrimony when Philip cut down the ancient elm that marked the Franco-Norman border. Richard urged Henry to attack Mantes, capturing William des Barres. Henry’s position grew dire: his treasury was empty, troops were deserting, mercenaries were disbanded, Welsh auxiliaries had been sent home, and Philip was negotiating secretly with Richard. At Bonmoulins on 18 November, with Philip mediating, Philip proposed a return to pre-crusade territorial positions; Henry accepted, but Richard refused. Philip then offered to restore his gains if Henry secured Richard’s homage as heir and allowed the Adela marriage; Henry refused. Richard demanded open recognition as heir to all Angevin dominions, and when Henry demurred, Richard ungirded his sword and offered homage to Philip for the entire continental inheritance. Philip accepted, promising to restore Berry, and Henry was left speechless.
Henry sent Geoffrey to secure Anjou and retreated to Aquitaine, spending Christmas at Saumur. When the truce expired, Richard and Philip (joined by Breton forces) attacked Henry’s territories. The Pope sent two legates; John of Anagni reached Le Mans at Ascension-tide 1189, excommunicated peace-breakers, and secured promises of arbitration. At a meeting at La Ferté-Bernard on Trinity Sunday, 4 June, Philip demanded Richard’s marriage to Adela, formal succession security, and John’s dispatch on crusade; Henry refused. The legate threatened an interdict, Philip defied it and accused the legate of bribery, and the meeting dissolved.
Henry returned to Le Mans, but Philip and Richard overran Maine, seizing Ballon on 9 June. Le Mans held until 11 June: defenders fired the suburbs, but wind carried flames into the city, and French forces broke through despite Geoffrey of Brulon’s failed defence. Henry fled with 700 knights, with William the Marshal covering the rear. William encountered Richard and levelled his spear; Richard protested he had no hauberk, and William replied he would not kill him, only his horse. Two miles from Le Mans, Henry paused on a hill, weeping that God had shamefully taken the city he loved most. He rode 18 miles to La Frênaye, where he was sheltered by the Viscount of Beaumont.
Henry could have reached Normandy in a day but declared he would die as Count of Anjou rather than flee; he ordered Fitz-Ralf and de Mandeville to surrender no Norman castle except to John, and bade Geoffrey escort barons to Alençon. Geoffrey secured Alençon with 100 knights and rode to Chinon, where both he and Henry were safe by late June. Philip advanced to Roche-Corbon and summoned Henry to Azay on 30 June; Henry set out but was struck by fever. Philip forded the Loire, took Châteauneuf, and seized Tours by assault on 3 July.
Philip then summoned Henry to Colombières. The dying king lodged at a Templar commandery at Ballan, wracked with pain. When Philip and Richard arrived, they offered him a cloak, which he refused. Philip demanded unconditional surrender, which Henry could not agree to. A thunderclap sounded from a cloudless sky, striking between the two kings; a second peal broke Henry’s nerves. He placed himself at Philip’s mercy, accepting dictated terms: homage to Philip, Adela placed under Richard’s guardianship, Richard receiving the Angevin barons’ homage, Henry’s renunciation of Auvergne, a payment of 20,000 marks, with Tours and Le Mans held as pledges. Barons swore conditional allegiance to Richard; Henry kissed Richard, whispering: “May I only live long enough to take vengeance on thee.”
Henry requested only a written list of retainers to be transferred to Richard. When Roger Malcat read the names aloud, the first was Count John. Henry cried out that John, his beloved favourite, had forsaken him, then sank back, moaning he no longer cared what became of him.
His fever worsened; bishops begged him to retract his curses on his sons. Resting on Geoffrey’s shoulder, he said: “My dearest son! Thou hast always been a true son to me. If I recover, I will be the best of fathers to thee; if I die, may God reward thee.” Geoffrey sobbed. On the seventh day of his illness, Henry murmured plans to appoint Geoffrey Archbishop of York or Bishop of Winchester. He removed a gold ring engraved with the Angevin leopard, asking Geoffrey to send it to the King of Castile, husband of his daughter Eleanor. He was carried to the chapel, confessed, received absolution and last communion, and died.
Servants stripped his body and plundered it for three days until William de Trihan gave his cloak to cover it. William the Marshal arranged the burial. The day after his death, Henry’s coronation-robed body was carried from Chinon to Fontevraud, fulfilling the prophecy “he shall be shrouded among the shrouded women” as veiled nuns knelt by the bier.
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