ABSTRACT
Warfare between the Angevin's and Capetian's typically presented frontier lords with an opportunity to seek redress for long-held grievances over loss of lands or castles by switching to Philip Augustus's side. Richard after his release in January 1194 would find it impossible to retake castles of the Eure or Avre valleys that had fallen to his Capetian foe. This striking Capetian success revealed what difficulties awaited Richard in the Norman theatre; warfare there would be for the rest of his reign 'a hard slogging match'. Warfare between the Capetian and the Plantagenet resumed in April 1197, when Richard subjected to a severe sack the town of Saint-Valerysur-Somme, a Channel port belonging to the count of Ponthieu, burned the ships in its harbour and devastated the surrounding countryside. Many scholars today would agree that questions about the survival of the Angevin 'empire' cannot be addressed solely in terms of one side or the other's military advantage.
