as Arques in May, taking a number of castles. John, following a message from his mother, Eleanor, rushed from Le Mans to Mirebeau, attacking the town on 1 August 1202, with William des Roches. William promised to direct the attack on condition he was consulted on the fate of Arthur, and successfully captured the town along with over 200 knights, including three Lusignans. John also captured Arthur and Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany sister of Arthur, but antagonised William, failing to consult him on the future of Arthur, and causing him to leave John along with Aimeri of Thouars and siege Angers. Under the control of Hubert de Burgh in Falaise, Arthur disappeared and John was seen as responsible for his murder, with his sister, the Fair Maid, never released. The Angevin Empire was under attack in all areas, with the following year, 1203, being described as that "of shame" by Warren. In December 1203, John left Normandy never to return, and on 24 June 1204, Normandy capitulated with the surrender of Arques, Rouen, and Verneuil. Tours, Chinon, and Loches had fallen by 1205. On the night of 31 March 1204, John's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, died, causing a rush of "most of Poitou...to do homage to the king of France". King Alfonso of Castile invaded Gascony, using the claim of his wife, John's sister Eleanor. When John to the continent in June 1206, only the resistance led by Hélie de Malemort, Archbishop of Bordeaux had prevented Alfonso's success. By the end of John's expedition on 26 October 1206, most of Aquitaine was secure. A truce was made between John and Philip to last for two years. The Angevin Empire had been reduced to England, Gascony, Ireland, and parts of Poitou, and John would not return to his continental possessions for eight years. Return to France By the end of 1212, Philip II was preparing an invasion of England. Philip aimed to crown his son, Louis, king of England, and at a council at Soissons in April 1213, he drafted a possible relationship between the future France and England. On 30 May, William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, succeeding in crushing the French invasion fleet in the Battle of Damme and preventing French invasion. In February 1214, John landed in La Rochelle after creating alliances headed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto. The aim was for the Earl of Salisbury and