Half a century before the sight of a Frenchman in the land would have roused every peasant to arms from Avranches to Dieppe.

But town after town surrendered at the mere summons of Philip, and the conquest was hardly over before Normandy settled down into the most loyal of the provinces of France.

Much of this was due to the wise liberality with which Philip met the claims of the towns to independence and self-government, as well as to the overpowering force and military ability with which the conquest was effected.

But the utter absence of opposition sprang from a deeper cause.

To the Norman his transfer from John to Philip was a mere passing from one foreign master to another, and foreigner for foreigner Philip was the less alien of the two.