[889] _Livre d’Eracle, Rec. Hist. Croisades, Hist. Occid._, ii. 190-3. William of Newburgh, lib. v. c. 16, and Roger of Wendover, ed. Coxe, iii. 74, 75, give a letter purporting to have been written by the “Old Man” to exculpate Richard from the charge of having contrived Conrad’s death. In William’s version the letter is addressed “principibus et omni populo Christianae religionis,” and professes to have been written spontaneously; in Roger’s version it is addressed to Duke Leopold of Austria, and Roger says (though the letter itself does not say) that it was written at the request of Richard during his imprisonment in Germany. William says, “Has [literas] nimirum se vidisse atque legisse vir fide dignus mihi protestatus est cum regi Francorum Parisius constituto solemniter fuissent oblatae”; he adds that Philip formally accepted the document as proof of Richard’s innocence; and he dates this transaction 1195. The contents of the letter differ slightly in the two versions, but both are substantially in agreement with the accounts in Ernoul and Eracle of the circumstances which led to Conrad’s death. The letter is unquestionably a forgery. It may have been circulated in the East as well as in the West, and the “ultramarine” chroniclers may have taken their story from it; there is, however, also a possibility that both they and the composers of the letter—whoever these may have been—all alike derived their information from a genuine source. [890] “Li baron de France esteient En lor tentes hors de la vile, Que haut que bas, plus que dis mile; E li haut ensemble parlerent E a la marchise manderent Qu’ele lor rendist la citie Trestut en peis e en quitie En guarde a l’oes le reis de France; E el respondi sanz dotance Que quant li reis la revendreit Que mult volenters li rendreit, Si ainz n’i ad autre seignor.” _Est._, ll. 8912-23. For the last four lines the _Itinerarium_ (342) has: “Quibus ipsa respondit quod quando rex Ricardus ipsam visere veniret, ipsi potius redderet civitatem et nulli alii, sicut dominus suus moriens ei praeciperat.” The context in _Estoire_ clearly shows that by “li reis” in l. 8921 Ambrose meant not Richard but Philip; and it seems most likely that this version is the correct one, although Ambrose, as well as the Latin chronicler, has previously stated that Conrad when dying had bidden Isabel “que la citie ne rendist Fors al cors le rei d’Engleterre Ou al dreit seignor de la terre” (ll. 8858-64)—“ut civitati Tyro conservandae vigilanter intenderet, nec cuiquam hominum resignaret nisi regi Ricardo sive illi quem regnum jure contingebat haereditario,” _Itin._, 340. Whom Conrad can have meant by the last seven words (if indeed he really spoke them) is a puzzle of which I can suggest no solution. [891] _Est._, ll. 8774-7; _Itin._, 338. [892] _Est._, ll. 8928-50, 8973-9016; _Itin._, 342, 343, 346, 347. [893] _Est._, ll. 9021-62; _Itin._, 348, 349. The date of the wedding is given by R. Diceto, ii. 104.