There was another reason why Richard was alarmed at the idea of Philip's returning home.
"He will take advantage of my absence," said he, "and invade my dominions, and so, when I return, I shall find that I have been robbed of half my provinces."
So Richard did all he could to dissuade Philip from returning; but at length, finding that he could produce no impression on his mind, he yielded, and gave a sort of surly consent to the arrangement. "Let him go," said he, "if he will. Poor man! He is sick, he says, and I suppose he thinks he can not live unless he can see Paris again."
Richard insisted, however, that if Philip went he should leave his army behind, or, at least, a large portion of it; so Philip agreed to leave ten thousand men. These men were to be under the command of the Duke of Burgundy, one of Philip's most distinguished nobles. The duke, however, himself was to be subject to the orders of Richard.
Philip's oath to Richard.
Richard also exacted of Philip a solemn oath, that when he had returned to France he would not, in any way, molest or invade any of his—that is, Richard's—possessions, or make war against any of his vassals or allies. This agreement was to continue in force, and to be binding upon Philip until forty days after Richard should have himself returned from the Crusade.
Disapprobation of King Philip's course.
These things being all thus arranged, Philip began to make his preparations openly for embarking on his voyage home. The knights and barons, and indeed the whole body of the army, considered Philip's leaving them as a very culpable abandonment of the enterprise, and they crowded around the place of embarkation when he went on board his vessel, and manifested their displeasure with ill-suppressed hisses and groans.
Saladin is unable to fulfill his promises.