wise, to answer the appeal for succour made to each in turn by the Norman garrison of Le Mans; Elias received their submission and sent them home in peace;[546] and thenceforth the foreign oppressor trod the soil of Maine no more. When the final struggle for Normandy broke out between Robert and Henry, Elias, with characteristic good sense, commended himself to the one overlord whom he saw to be worthy of his homage.[547] Henry was wise enough loyally to accept the service and the friendship which Rufus had scorned; and he proved its value on the field of Tinchebray, where Elias and his Cenomannians decided the battle in his favour, and thus made him master of Normandy. On the other hand, the dread of Angevin tyranny had changed into a glad anticipation of peaceful and equal union. The long battle of Cenomannian freedom, so often baffled and so often renewed, was won at last. When next a duke of Normandy disputed the possession of Maine with a count of Anjou, he disputed it not with a rival oppressor but with the husband of its countess, the lawful heir of Elias; and the triumph of Cenomannia received its fitting crown when Henry’s daughter wedded Aremburg’s son in the minster of S. Julian at Le Mans. [536] Letter of the legate, Archbishop Hugh of Lyons, dated S. Florence of Saumur, S. John Baptist’s day, 1094; _Gallia Christiana_, vol. iv., instrum. cols. 10, 11. [537] Chronn. Rain. Andeg., S. Albin., S. Serg., a. 1095 (Marchegay, _Eglises_, pp. 14, 27, 140); Chron. S. Maxent. a. 1096 (_ib._ p. 411). This last is the right year; see the itinerary of Pope Urban in Gaul, in _Rer. Gall. Scriptt._, vol. xii. pp. 3 note _m_, and 65 note _d_. [538] Ord. Vit. (Duchesne, _Hist. Norm. Scriptt._), pp. 769–771. _Acta Pontif. Cenoman._ c. 35 (Mabillon, _Vet. Anal._, p. 313). The exact date of the capture is April 20, 1098; Chron. S. Albin. ad ann. (Marchegay, _Eglises_, p. 28). [539] _Acta Pontif. Cenoman._ c. 35 (Mabillon, _Vet. Anal._, p. 313). _Gesta Cons._ (Marchegay, _Comtes_), p. 142. [540] “Quia capitalis dominus erat.” Ord. Vit. (Duchesne, _Hist. Norm. Scriptt._), p. 772. [541] _Ibid._ _Acta Pontif. Cenoman._, as above. [542] _Acta Pontif. Cenoman._ (as above), p. 314. [543] _Ibid._ Ord. Vit., as above. [544] Ord. Vit. (as above), p. 773. [545] _Ib._ pp. 774, 775. _Acta Pontif. Cenoman._, as above. [546] Ord. Vit. (Duchesne, _Hist. Norm. Scriptt._), pp. 784, 785. [547] _Ib._ p. 822.