Henry at once made a circuit of his Norman fortresses, especially those which lay along the French border, put them in a state of defence, and issued orders to all his castellans in Anjou, Britanny, Aquitaine and England, to do the like.[651] Before Lent had closed the old prophecy which Henry’s enemies were never weary of casting in his teeth was fulfilled: his own “lion-cubs” were all openly seeking to make him their prey.[652] Whether sent by their mother, with whom they had been left behind in Aquitaine, or secretly fetched by their eldest brother in person,[653] both Richard and Geoffrey now joined him at the French court.[654] Eleanor herself was caught trying to follow them disguised as a man, and was by her husband’s order placed in strict confinement.[655] Louis meanwhile openly espoused the cause of the rebels; in a great council at Paris he and his nobles publicly swore to help the young king and his brothers against their father to the utmost of their power, while the three brothers on their part pledged themselves to be faithful to Louis, and to make no terms with their father save through his mediation and with his consent.[656] Young Henry at once began to purchase allies among the French feudataries and supporters among the English and Norman barons, by making grants of pensions and territories on both sides of the sea: grants for which the recipients did him homage and fealty,[657] and which he caused to be put in writing and sealed with a new seal made for him by order of Louis[658]--his own chancellor, Richard Barre, having loyally carried back the original one to the elder king who had first intrusted it to his keeping.[659] [651] _Gesta Hen._ (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 42. [652] See the quotation from Merlin’s prophecy, and the comment on it, _ib._ pp. 42, 43. [653] The first is the version of the _Gesta Hen._ (as above); the second that of Will. Newb. (as above, pp. 170, 171). [654] _Gesta Hen._ (as above), p. 42. R. Diceto (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 355. Gerv. Cant. (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 242. [655] Gerv. Cant. as above. He adds a comment: “Erat enim prudens femina valde, nobilibus orta natalibus, sed instabilis.” [656] _Gesta Hen._ (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 44. [657] See the list, _ib._ pp. 44, 45; and cf. Gerv. Cant. (Stubbs), vol. i. p. 243. [658] _Gesta Hen._ (as above), pp. 43 and 45. [659] _Ib._ p. 43.