Note 588 — Chapter VI · (continued 2)

Vet. An. 306. “Cives cum bellico apparatu de civitate egressi, contra ejus exercitum viriliter obsidere conabantur. Rex autem, perfidorum consilio se intelligens deceptum, facto vespere, cum imminentis noctis profundum silentium advenisset, cum exercitu suo clam discessit et castra vacua hostibus dereliquit. Cives autem mane surgentes, cum semetipsos ad pugnam præparare cœpissent, comperto regis abscessu, castra illius invaserunt, et neminem ibi reperientes ad propria reversi sunt.” Orderic (772 A) substitutes a drawn battle by daylight, and mentions the occupation of Ballon; but they both agree in the main fact that Rufus, for whatever cause, withdrew from before Le Mans for a season. Ballon is spoken of as “fortissima mota, per quam totum oppidum adversariis subactum paruit.”