n. It was still prolonged for several
hours; but in the evening it was over, and the prisoners of note were
conducted to Philip Augustus. There were five counts, Ferrand of
Flanders, Renaud of Boulogne, William of Salisbury, a natural brother of
King John, Otho of Tecklemburg, and Conrad of Dartmund; and twenty-five
barons "bearing their own standard to battle." Philip Augustus spared
all their lives; sent away the Earl of Salisbury to his brother, confined
the Count of Boulogne at Peronne, where he was subjected "to very
rigorous imprisonment, with chains so short that he could scarce move one
step," and as for the Count of Flanders, his sometime regent, Philip
dragged him in chains in his train,

[Illustration: The Battle of Bouvines----81]

It is difficult to determine, from the evidence of contemporaries, which
was the more rejoiced at and proud of this victory, king or people. "The
same day, when evening approached," says William the Breton, "the army
returned laden with spoils to the camp; and the king, with a heart full
of joy and gratitude, offered a thousand thanksgivings to the Supreme
King, who had vouchsaved to him a triumph over so many enemies. And in
order that posterity might preserve forever a memorial of so great a
success, the Bishop of Senlis founded, outside the walls of that town, a
chapel, which he named Victory, and which, endowed with great possessions
and having a government according to canonical rule, enjoyed the honor of
possessing an abbot and a holy convent. . . . Who can recount,
imagine, or set down with a pen, on parchment or tablets, the cheers of
joy, the hymns of triumph, and the numberless dances of the people; the
sweet chants of the clergy; the harmonious sounds of warlike instruments;
the solemn decorations of the churches, inside and out; the streets, the
houses, the roads of all the castles and towns, hung with curtains and
tapestry of silk and covered with flowers, shrubs and green branches; all
the inhabitants of every sort, sex, and age running from every quarter to
see so grand a triumph; peasants and harvesters breaking off their work,
hanging round their necks their sickles and hoes (for it was the season
of harvest), and throwing themselves in a throng upon the roads to see in
irons that Count of Flanders, that Fernand whose arms they had formerly
dreaded!"

It was no groundless joy on the part of the people, and a spontaneous
instinct gave them a forecast of