The political climate in Paris was far from as calm as it seemed, and King Philip of France had been very busy since the summer, and Philip was targeting the Duke of Normandy, who had recently become King of England. His father, King Henry, in order to defend himself against the threat of the Duke of Normandy, had cut down a large number of trees near Paris to build a fortress. After his father's death, the young Philip inherited a kingdom in decline, with the royal domain from Paris to Orleans cramped into an isolated island, and ambitious vassals constantly annexing lands and even conquering kingdoms. Like his father, Philip was often fearful of the power of the Normans, the conqueror of England who fought and seized territory while the royal family watched as they expanded. The Duke of Normandy betrothed his eldest son to Mann's heiress and seized the throne of England, refusing to give up his ambitions for Brittany, and the King of France could not bear it. After getting the latest news from across the Channel, King Philip finally made the decision to fall behind!

When the king's emissary appeared at the court of Le Mans and the Count of Anjou, Robert, Count of Mann, was still in the dark, and the young man was troubled by news from Flanders: relations between Baldwin, Count of Flanders, and his brother Robert "the Frisian" were strained and seemed to be ready to break out at any moment. The Earl of Mann was well aware of the influence of his two uncles in Normandy, and he was slow to decide how to stabilize the situation east of the Duchy, but he was unaware of the crisis in the south. Due to King William's winter wars, Mann's pro-Norman nobles were concentrated in the north of England, which gave the Mann nobles who were plotting with the King of France an opportunity to revolt. The civil war in Anjou had come to an end, and before the end of the year, the Count of Fulke had imprisoned his eldest brother Geoffrey, and the castles that were still resisting had surrendered, and in gratitude to King Philip, the Count of Anjou ceded the kingdom of Catina to the royal family, allowing the French king to connect the royal domain of Sens with Paris. Not satisfied with this expansion, the King of France offered to help Count Fulke against the Normans, and a timely anti-Norman coalition was established. King Philip was clearly encouraged by the success of his fledgling diplomacy, but he did not intend to do it himself at once, the Normans were still very strong, and the King of France did not want to act rashly like his father and endure the humiliation of the Battle of Wallavier again.

After the citizens of Le Mans and the nobles of Mann met secretly in the presence of the envoys of the French king, Robert the Viscount of Clune "Burgundian" spoke to everyone first: "My lords, citizens of Le Mans, we all remember the agreement at Alençon, and we also know the sacred rights of the Hugue family over Mann, and when the Count of Huger was there, we can at least say that this land was free. The Normans have usurped our northern towns by cunning and have imposed heavy taxes on all the people of Mann. Now the rightful Countess of Mann, Margaret, the sister of Count Herbert, has died, and her marriage to Robert, the eldest son of the Duke of Normandy, has ended, but the Normans are still entrenched in our land, trying to openly usurp this rich Earl State. Their garrisons and tax collectors are rampant, locusts and flies are raging, and integrity is humiliated, and we must put an end to them at once! ”

As he spoke, Viscount Robert pushed a young man in a green robe in front of everyone's eyes: "Everyone, this is the nephew of Count Huger, our rightful lord. King Philip has agreed to this succession, and as long as everyone drives out the Norman garrison and tax collectors, the whole of Mann will be free from the Norman yoke at once! Now that the time has come, the Duke of Normandy is fighting in England, and the Norman army is trapped in the snow and ice of the north, so let the usurped boy hide in Rouen and tremble! ”

All the citizens of Le M began to cheer, and the nobles from all over Mann drew their swords and swore loudly in support of the new Earl of Mann.

The rebellion at Le Mans appeared to have come suddenly, and before the Normans could react, they received news of the rebellion of the castles of Manne, Laval, Loireburg, Syll, Beaumont, and Maricorne. As a banner of the Count of Mann appeared in Le Mans, all the citizens began to rise up, and after Viscount Santa Susanna and a group of knights killed the defenders of the city gates, the citizens dragged the Normans out one by one for execution, and the winter storm almost frightened the new Count of Mann, Hugue, and the citizens shouted for blood, and the hanged corpses were everywhere, and the young Hugue fainted on the spot, but was lifted by a large crowd of enthusiastic citizens, and cheers resounded throughout the city.

The weather in Normandy was as cold as Niflheim, and Count Robert had been closed in his castle in Rouen for less than half a month, until the news of misfortune from the south arrived, and Robert was still in his bed. Roger de Beaumont arrived first, and when he saw Robert, he didn't have time to greet him, so he asked directly about the situation. Robert threw the letter beside his bed and said weakly: "Except for Montfort, all the other castles and towns have been lost, and the Duchy is currently empty of troops and defenses, and it is impossible to send troops to besiege so many strong fortresses. Roger de Beaumont stroked his beard and muttered for a moment before saying, "Indeed, and even with a large army, it is useless to attack those dangerous castles, at most plunder the towns north of Mann, and the rest can only be besieged for a long time." ”

Robert showed a look of resentment again: "I heard that there is an envoy of King Philip in the city of Le Mans. ”

Roger was shocked when he heard this: "Undoubtedly? ”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Roger also hesitated a little: "If King Philip starts to deal with us, the matter will be serious, I'm afraid it's not just a man, this matter must be notified to the king immediately, we must prepare for next year's war as soon as possible." Alas, I don't know what the situation is in York, and now that the situation around the principality has deteriorated, it is difficult to guarantee that nothing will happen if the main force does not return in the spring. ”

Robert said with some disdain: "Now that Brittany and Anjou are weak, with Philip's little strength, will they dare to challenge us head-on?" Now it's better to increase the number of troops on Mann's border, maybe some can be sent from Brittany, and then the counterattack on Mann can be dispatched nearby. ”

Obviously, Robert still values his own territory more than the threat of the French king, before Mann's rebellion, he was still considering whether to intervene in the situation in Flanders, but now he has completely let go of the problem in the east, Mann's loss is a provocation and blow to himself, this is not a little family matter of Flemish relatives, he decided to prepare to regain his personal losses first.