Civil War & Invasion |
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King Richard I, the Lionheart, died in 1199 from an injury sustained while besieging a castle, on his deathbed he designated William Marshall who was in Normandy at the time, as the custodian of Rouen and the Royal Treasury. With no legitimate heir, the choice of King was between his brother, Geoffrey’s son Arthur, Duke of Brittany, and Richard’s youngest brother, Prince John. William Marshall and
many English and Norman barons preferred John, against Arthur, who was
12 years old and was influenced by King Philip of France. King John
I, ‘John Lackland’, took the throne on 6th April 1199, the
youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
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In
1202, John mounted a rescue of his mother who was besieged at Mirebeau
by Arthur. He captured Arthur and it is rumoured that he had him murdered.
William Marshall and
John friendship ended when William paid homage to King Philip of France,
for his lands in Normandy, he was estranged from King John’s court,
until he was summoned back in 1213, when John had been falling out with
many of the barons and earls. William Marshall remained loyal to King
John during the First Baron’s War which ended with John being
forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in June 1215. |
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In signing the Magna
Carta, John was forced to hand back the custody of Rochester castle
to Stephen Langton archbishop of Canterbury, and the rebel barons set
troops to occupy the castle. On 11th October 1215 when John marched
from Dover to London, he found that Rochester in his way and began besieging
the castle. The rebels expected reinforcements from London to arrive
but John sent fire ships to burn their route in, also set about burning
Rochester Bridge, but Robert Fitzwalter held out. Conscious of the weakness
of his position Fitzwalter sought to negotiate and received a ‘safe
conduct’, for a conference in London on 9th November, but nothing
came of it and the beleaguered garrison at Rochester were forced to
surrender the next day. On 16th December 1215 the barons including Robert
Fitzwalter were excommunicated and sought refuge in France. Rochester
castle did not stay in King John’s hands for long as it was captured
by French Prince Louis in 1216,
King John had engaged
the services of Eustace, the younger son of Baudoin Busket, a Lord of
the county of Boulogne. Eustace had been a Benedictine monk at St. Samer
Abbey, near Calais, whom it was said had studied black magic, later
he turned his hand to becoming a pirate mercenary with the command of
nearly thirty ships. The services of which King John and called upon
between the years of 1205 to 1212, now and again, for raiding the Normandy
coast. Eustace the Monk had bases in the Channel Islands which he taken.
King John had a falling out and outlawed Eustace the pirate Monk, when
he stated raiding the English coastal villages, but afterwards issued
a pardon when he needed his services. In 1212 John fell out a final
time with Eustace, and John sent English troops to seize Eustace’s
Channel Islands bases. So Eustace, switched sides and raided Folkestone.
When civil war broke out in England in 1215 Eustace supported the rebel
barons and ferried Prince Louis of France across the channel to help
them in 1216. |
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Louis
of France aim was the seizing of the key to conquering England, Dover
castle, but the castle’s constable Hubert de Burgh, had his castle
ready to be defended. On 19th July 1216 the siege began with Louis taking
the high ground to the north of the castle, After three months had past
besieging the castle, and with a large part of his forces diverted by
the siege, Louis called a truce on 14th October 1216 and returned to
London.
Folkestone was King
John’s headquarters for twelve days in May 1216, when Louis of
France came across the channel with six hundred and eighty ships, his
army landing unopposed on the Isle of Thanet on 21st May 1216. John
took fight for Winchester as he saw the fleet approaching, leaving the
Folkestone to its fate. On 14th June 1216, Louis captured Winchester,
but John had already left. Louis had control over half of the English
kingdom, but on the death of King John in Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire
on 18th October 1216 many of the rebellious barons deserted Louis, for
John’s nine year old son, Henry III.
In August 1217, while
ferrying reinforcements for Louis, Eustace met with the English Fleet
sailing out of Dover under command of Hubert de Burgh, which resulted
in the ensuing ‘Battle of Dover’. Eustace seemed to be winning
the battle, until the English blinded the French with powered lime,
and boarded Eustace’s ships and defeated his men. Eustace escarped
in his ship, but was surrounded on 24th August 1217 in the ‘Battle
of Sandwich’, Eustace was found hiding in the ship’s bilges
and was beheaded. |
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Louis started a second
siege of Dover Castle when Louis landed at Sandwich and marched to Dover
where he began his second siege on 12 May 1217 However the new siege
diverted much of Louis forced that William Marshal was able to attack
and defeat pro-Louis barons at Lincoln Castle a few days later on 20th
May after which Louis gave up his claim to the English throne. |
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