[The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part A. by David Hume]@TWC D-Link bookThe History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part A. CHAPTER X 40/50
"I forgive him," said the king, "and hope I shall as easily forget his injuries as he will my pardon." John was incapable even of returning to his duty without committing a baseness.
Before he left Philip's party, he invited to dinner all the officers of the garrison which that prince had placed in the citadel of Evreux; he massacred them during the entertainment; fell, with the assistance of the townsmen, on the garrison, whom he put to the sword; and then delivered up the place to his brother. The king of France was the great object of Richard's resentment and animosity.
The conduct of John, as well as that of the emperor and duke of Austria, had been so base, and was exposed to such general odium and reproach, that the king deemed himself sufficiently revenged for their injuries; and he seems never to have entertained any project of vengeance against any of them.
The duke of Austria, about this time, having crushed his leg by the fall of his horse at a tournament, was thrown into a fever; and being struck, on the approaches of death, with remorse for his injustice to Richard, he ordered by will all the English hostages in his hands to be set at liberty and the remainder of the debt due to him to be remitted: his son, who seemed inclined to disobey these orders, was constrained by his ecclesiastics to execute them.[*] {1195.} The emperor also made advances for Richard's friendship, and offered to give him a discharge of all the debt not yet paid to him, provided he would enter into an offensive alliance against the king of France; a proposal which was very acceptable to Richard, and was greedily embraced by him.
The treaty with the emperor took no effect; but it served to rekindle the war between France and England before the expiration of the truce. [* Rymer, vol.i.p.
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