PanzerKaput Goes To Barons’ War

This is my first unit of Knights for the Barons’ War and I not really based these on any historical knights livery but rather they are based on the greatest team in the Midlands, The Villa.

These are the Foot Knight Unit and will be the Command unit for my first force based around a Priest and Militant Monks.

I have hand painted the devices on the shields and went for a simple shield patterns and based the Lions on the badge for Villa.

Here is my first two attempts at builder a retinue and I think I have got it right but I am not really sure.

The First Retinue is a based around a Knight Lord.

Lord, Jacque de Grealis: Regular with Medium Shield and Pennant, 44 points.

His command group is

Foot Knights: 4x Veterans with Medium Shields, 108pts

Rest of the force

Foot Knights: 5x Regulars with Medium Shields, 1 with Mace, 124pts

Bowmen: 4x Regulars with Leather/Padded, 68pts

Spearmen: 6x Regulars with Leather/Padded, 102pts

Spearmen: 6x Green, 54pts

Total 500pts.

The Second Retinue is based around the Militant Monks

Lord, Father will find a name soon: Veteran with Mace, Medium Shield, Pennant and Priest, 51pts

His command group is

Foot Knights: 4x Regulars with Medium Shields, 1 Mace, 99pts

Rest of the force

Mounted Knights: 4x Regulars with Medium Shields, Lances, 124pts

Bowmen: 4x Regulars, 64pts

Militant Monks: 5x Green with Medium Shields, 3 with Spears, 63pts

Militant Monks: 5x Regulars with Medium Shields, 3 with Two Handed Weapons, 1 sword, 102pts

Total 503pts.

The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, and grew to become the wealthiest religious establishment within Leicestershire. Through patronage and donations the abbey gained the advowsons of countless churches throughout England, and acquired a considerable amount of land, and several manorial lordships. Leicester Abbey also maintained a cell (a small dependent daughter house) at Cockerham Priory, in Lancashire. The Abbey’s prosperity was boosted through the passage of special privileges by both the English Kings and the Pope. These included an exemption from sending representatives to parliament and from paying tithe on certain land and livestock.

Leicester Abbey was founded during a wave of monastic enthusiasm that swept through western Christendom in the 11th and 12th centuries. This wave was responsible for the foundation of the majority of England’s monasteries, and very few were founded after the 13th century. These monasteries were often founded by a wealthy aristocratic benefactor who endowed and patronised the establishments in return for prayers for their soul, and often, the right to be buried within the monastic church. Leicester Abbey was founded in the Augustinian tradition. The monks at the abbey were known as canons, and followed the monastic rules set down by Saint Augustine of Hippo. Sometimes known as Black Canons, because of their dress (a white habit and black cloak), Augustinian Canons lived a clerical life engaged in public ministry; this is distinct to other forms of monasticism in which monks were cloistered from the outside world, and lived an isolated, contemplative life.

Leicester Abbey was founded in 1143 by Robert le Bossu, 2nd Earl of Leicester, and was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was not the first abbey Robert had established, having founded Garendon Abbey, also in Leicestershire, in 1133. Robert’s father, Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, had previously founded a college of secular canons in Leicester, known as The College of St Mary de Castro. The new abbey assumed control of the college and its possessions, which included all of the churches in Leicester. Robert added to this with the gift of numerous churches in Leicestershire, Berkshire and Northamptonshire. The abbey also gained the manor of Asfordby from its merger with the college, and the manor of Knighton from its founder.

The earls of Leicester continued to patronise the abbey: Petronilla de Grandmesnil, wife of the founder’s son, Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, financed the construction of the abbey’s Great Choir; whilst her husband donated 24 virgates (720 acres) of land at Anstey.

In 1148, Pope Eugene III granted the abbey an exemption on paying tithe for their newly acquired land and livestock. This was granted on the condition that there was to be no impropriety or violence when electing an abbot, and that those who donated money to the abbey could be buried within it, regardless of whether they had been excommunicated.

The First Barons’ War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against King John of England. The conflict resulted from King John’s disastrous wars against King Philip II of France, which led to the collapse of the Angevin Empire, and John’s subsequent refusal to accept and abide by “Magna Carta“, which he had sealed on 15 June 1215.

The rebellious barons, faced with an uncompromising king, turned to King Philip’s son, Prince Louis, who then sailed to England with an army despite his father’s disapproval, as well as the Pope’s, who subsequently excommunicated him. Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. He was proclaimed “King of England” in London by the barons, although never actually crowned.

Louis’ ambitions of ruling England faced a major setback in October 1216 when King John’s death led to the rebellious barons deserting him in favour of John’s nine year-old son, Henry III of England and the war dragged on. Louis’ army was finally beaten at the Battle of Lincoln on 20 May 1217. And after a fleet assembled by his wife Blanche of Castile, attempting to bring him French reinforcements, was defeated off the coast of Sandwich on 24 August 1217, he was forced to make peace on English terms. He signed the Treaty of Lambeth and surrendered the few remaining castles he held. The effect of the treaty was that Prince Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England. This formalised the end of the civil war and the departure of the French from England.

King John in June 1215 was forced to put his seal to “The Articles of the Barons” by a group of powerful barons who could no longer stand John’s failed leadership and despotic rule. The king’s Great Seal was attached to it on 15 June 1215. In return, the barons renewed their oaths of fealty to King John on 19 July 1215. A formal document to record the agreement was created by the royal chancery on 15 July: this was the original Magna Carta. “The law of the land” is one of the great watchwords of Magna Carta, standing in opposition to the king’s mere will.

The Magna Carta of 1215 contained clauses which in theory noticeably reduced the power of the king, such as clause 61, the “security clause”. This clause allowed a group of 25 barons to override the king at any time by way of force, a medieval legal process called distraint that was normal in feudal relationships but had never been applied to a king. After a few months of half-hearted attempts to negotiate in the summer of 1215, open warfare broke out between the rebel barons and the king and his supporters.

French intervention

The war began over Magna Carta but quickly turned into a dynastic war for the throne of England. The rebel barons, faced with a powerful king, turned to Louis, son and heir apparent of King Philip II of France and grandson-in-law of King Henry II of England. The Norman invasion had occurred only 149 years before, and the relationship between England and France was not so simply adversarial as it later became. The contemporary document called the annals of Waverley sees no contradiction in stating that Louis was invited to invade in order to “prevent the realm being pillaged by aliens.”

At first, in November 1215, Louis simply sent the barons a contingent of knights to protect London. However, even at that stage he also agreed to an open invasion, despite discouragement from his father and from Pope Innocent III. This came in May 1216, when watchmen on the coast of Thanet detected sails on the horizon, and on the next day, the King of England and his armies saw Louis’s troops disembark on the coast of Kent.

John decided to escape to the Saxon capital of Winchester, and so Louis had little resistance on his march to London. He entered London, also with little resistance, and was openly received by the rebel barons and citizens of London and proclaimed (though not crowned) king at St Paul’s Cathedral. Many nobles gathered to give homage to him, including Alexander II of Scotland, who held fiefs in England.

Many of John’s supporters, sensing a tide of change, moved to support the barons. Gerald of Wales remarked: “The madness of slavery is over, the time of liberty has been granted, English necks are free from the yoke.”

In pursuit of John, Louis led his army south from London on 6 June, arriving the following day in Reigate where he found the castle abandoned. He moved onwards to Guildford Castle on 8 June, which surrendered immediately. Farnham Castle initially closed its gates, but then it too surrendered as the French started to lay siege. He only met resistance when he reached Winchester Castle on 14 June – it fell after a ten day siege. Louis’ campaign continued and by July about a third of England was under his control.

First siege of Dover

In the meantime, the King of France taunted his son for trying to conquer England without first seizing its key port: Dover. The royal castles at Canterbury and Rochester, their towns, and indeed, most of Kent had already fallen to Louis but when he did move on to Dover Castle on 25 July it was prepared. Its constable, Hubert de Burgh, had a well-supplied garrison of men.

The first siege began on 19 July, with Louis taking the high ground to the north of the castle. His men successfully undermined the barbican and attempted to topple the castle gate, but De Burgh’s men managed to repel the invaders, blocking the breach in the walls with giant timbers. (After the siege the weak northern gate was blocked and tunnels were built in that area, to St John’s Tower, and the new Constable’s Gate and Fitzwilliam’s Gate.) In the meantime Louis’s occupation of Kent was being undermined by a guerrilla force of Wealden archers raised and led by William of Cassingham.

After three months spent besieging the castle, and with a large part of his forces diverted by the siege, Louis called a truce on 14 October and soon after returned to London.

Sieges of Windsor and Rochester

Apart from Dover, the only castle to hold out against Louis was that at Windsor, where 60 loyalist knights survived a two-month siege, despite severe damage to the structure of its lower ward (immediately repaired in 1216 by Henry III, who further strengthened the defences with the construction of the western curtain wall, much of which survives today). This is possibly due to its having been already besieged by the barons in 1189, less than 30 years earlier.

In 1206, John had spent £115 on repairs to Rochester Castle, and he had even preemptively held it during the year of the negotiations leading up to Magna Carta, but the Charter’s terms had forced him to hand it back into the custody of Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, in May 1215. The rebel barons had then sent troops under William d’Aubigny to the castle, to whom its constable Reginald de Cornhill opened the castle’s gates. Thus, during October 1215 on his marching from Dover to London, John found Rochester in his way and on 11 October began besieging it in person.

The rebels were expecting reinforcements from London but John sent fire ships out to burn their route in, the city’s bridge over the Medway. Robert Fitzwalter rode out to stop the king, fighting his way onto the bridge but eventually being beaten back into the castle. John also sacked the cathedral, took anything of value and stabled his horses in it, all as a slight to Langton. Orders were then sent to the men of Canterbury.

Five siege engines were then erected and work carried out to undermine the curtain wall. By one of these means the king’s forces entered and held the bailey in early November, and began attempting the same tactics against the keep, including undermining the south-east tower. The mine-roof was supported by wooden props, which were then set alight using pig-fat. On 25 November 1215 John had sent a writ to the justiciars saying “Send to us with all speed by day and night, forty of the fattest pigs of the sort least good for eating so that we may bring fire beneath the castle”. The fire thus created caused one entire corner of the keep to collapse. The rebels withdrew behind the keep’s cross-wall but still managed to hold out. A few were allowed to leave the castle but on John’s orders had their hands and feet lopped off as an example.

Winter was now setting in, and the castle was taken on 30 November by starvation and not by force. John set up a memorial to the pigs and a gallows with the intention of hanging the whole garrison, but one of his captains (Savari de Mauléon) persuaded him not to hang the rebels since hanging those who had surrendered would set a precedent if John ever surrendered – only one man was actually hanged (a young bowman who had previously been in John’s service). The remainder of the rebel barons were taken away and imprisoned at various royal-held castles, such as Corfe Castle. Of the siege, the Barnwell chronicler wrote “No one alive can remember a siege so fiercely pressed and so manfully resisted” and that, after it, “There were few who would put their trust in castles”.

Death of King John

On 18 October 1216, John contracted dysentery, which would ultimately prove fatal. He died at Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, and with him the main reason for the fighting. Louis now seemed much more of a threat to baronial interests than John’s nine-year-old son, Prince Henry. Eleanor of Brittany, the grown daughter of John’s late elder brother Geoffrey, imprisoned by John since 1202, might pose another potential candidate for the crown, but with her claim ignored she remained in prison.

Pierre des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, and a number of barons rushed to have the young Henry be crowned as King of England. London was held by Louis (it was his seat of government) and therefore could not be used for this coronation so, on 28 October 1216, they brought the boy from the castle at Devizes to Gloucester Abbey in front of a small attendance presided over by a Papal Legate, Guala Bicchieri (d. 1227, Bishop of Vercelli, papal legate in England 1216–18). They crowned Henry with a necklace of gold.

On 12 November 1216 Magna Carta was reissued in Henry’s name with some of the clauses omitted, including clause 61. The revised charter was sealed by the young king’s regent William Marshal. A great deal of the country was loyal to Prince Louis, with the southwest of England and the Midlands favouring Henry. Marshal was highly respected and he asked the barons not to blame the child Henry for his father’s sins. The prevailing sentiment, helped by self-interest, disliked the idea of depriving a boy of his inheritance. Marshal also promised that he and the other regents would rule by Magna Carta. Furthermore, he managed to get support from the Pope, who had already excommunicated Louis.

Louis’ losses

William Marshal slowly managed to get most barons to switch sides from Louis to Henry and attack Louis. The two opposing sides fought for about a year. On 6 December 1216 Louis took Hertford Castle but allowed the defending knights to leave with their horses and weapons. He then took Berkhamsted Castle in late December, again allowing the royal garrison to withdraw honourably with their horses and weapons.

By early 1217, Louis decided to return to France for reinforcements. He had to fight his way to the south coast through loyalist resistance in Kent and Sussex, losing part of his force in an ambush at Lewes, with the remainder pursued to Winchelsea and were only saved from starvation by the arrival of a French fleet.

Since the truce had been arranged with Dover, the Dover garrison had repeatedly disrupted Louis’s communication with France, and so Louis sailed back to Dover to begin a second siege. The French camp set up outside Dover Castle in anticipation of the new siege was attacked and burned by William of Cassingham just as the fleet carrying the reinforcements arrived. Louis was forced to land at Sandwich and march to Dover, where he began a second siege in earnest on 12 May 1217. This new siege diverted so much of Louis’s forces that Marshal and Falkes de Breauté were able to attack and heavily defeat pro-Louis barons at Lincoln Castle on 15 May or 20 May 1217, in what became known as the Second Battle of Lincoln.

Marshal prepared for a siege against London next. In the meantime, Louis suffered two more heavy defeats, this time at sea, at the Battle of Dover and Battle of Sandwich in the Straits of Dover, this time at the hands of William’s ally and Dover’s constable Hubert de Burgh. Louis’ new reinforcement convoy, under Eustace the Monk, was destroyed, making it nearly impossible for Louis to continue fighting.

After a year and a half of war, most of the rebellious barons had defected. As a result of this and the defeat of the French in 1217, Louis was forced to negotiate. A few of Henry’s supporters held out for unconditional surrender, but the Earl of Pembroke successfully argued for the more moderate terms.

At the Treaty of Lambeth which was signed on 11 September 1217, Louis had to give up his claim to be the King of England and agreed he had never been the legitimate king. The principal provisions of the treaties were an amnesty for English rebels, nevertheless the barons who had joined Louis were made to pay the French prince 10,000 marks to expedite his withdrawal. Louis surrendered the few remaining castles that he had held, and exhorted to his allies; Scottish and Welsh troops under Alexander II and Llywelyn the Great respectively to lay down their arms. Louis also undertook not to attack England again.

A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms.

The oldest extant armorials date to the mid 13th century, and armorial manuscripts continued to be produced throughout the Early Modern period. Siebmachers Wappenbuch of 1605 was an early instance of a printed armorial. Medieval armorials usually include a few hundred coats of arms, in the late medieval period sometimes up to some 2,000. In the early modern period, the larger armorials develop into encyclopedic projects, with the Armorial général de France (1696), commissioned by Louis XIV of France, listing more than 125,000 coats of arms. In the modern period, the tradition develops into projects of heraldic dictionaries edited in multiple volumes, such as the Dictionary of British Arms in four volumes (1926–2009), or J. Siebmacher’s großes Wappenbuch in seven volumes (1854–1967).

Armorials can be “occasional”, relating to a specific event such as a tournament; “institutional”, associated with foundations, such as that of an order of chivalry, “regional”, collecting the arms of the nobility of a given region, “illustrative”, in the context of a specific narrative or chronicle, or “general”, with the aim of an encyclopedic collection. A roll of arms arranged systematically by design, with coats featuring the same principal elements (geometrical ordinaries and charges) grouped together as a tool to aid identification, is known as an ordinary of arms (or simply as an ordinary).

Glover’s Roll is an English roll of arms from the 1240s or 1250s, containing 55 coats of arms

The Matthew Paris Shields, not truly a roll but a set of marginal illustrations accompanying the chronicler’s illuminated manuscript works, Chronica Majora and Historia Anglorum. These date from c.1244–59, during the reign of Henry III, and contain drawings of shields with Latin annotations.

Walford’s Roll is an English roll dating from c. 1275, containing 185 coats with blazons.

I have finished my first unit if Militant Monks from the Abbey of St Mary de Pratis, Leicester Abbey for The Barons’ War: from Warhost and Footsore Miniatures & Games. These are known as the Black Canons because of their grab, as they are Augustinians and wear white habits and black hoods. I have gone are the more natural wool colours for these.

In the Kingdom of England by 1215, a group of powerful barons had reached breaking point due to King Johns despotic rule, high taxes and failed leadership. It was time to rebel!

Written by Andy Hobday, creator of The Barons’ War, co-developed Test of Honour and Mortal Gods & Mortal Gods Mythic., and a bit of a geek., these rules enable narrative-driven tabletop games set in an England gripped by civil war played out against the backdrop of the Magna Carta and the invasion by the Crown Prince of France.

The historically themed gameplay is fast-paced and tactical. With warriors of this period being pretty similar, it is easy to base your medieval skirmish games using these rules in any setting.

This comprehensive flick through video by Wargames Illustrated takes you through the rulebook section by section presenting a clear overview.

This is the second unit of Milites Christi finished for my St Mary de Pratis force. As you can see these monks are more militant than the first unit with there double handed axes to been the word of God to the faithless. Again I have based these on the Black Canons of Leicester Abbey, an Augustinian order.

This is the leader and command section, a priest and standard bearer, for me St Mary de Pratis force. William Pepyn was the Abbot from 1205 to 1222 and in their is no evidence that he was a militant Abbey or a warrior but lets not reality stand in the way of a good game.

I have painted him is same colours as the Monks but have made them brighter to reflex his status.

This is the sum total of the painted force for the St Mary de Pratis so far. There is a couple more units to add and then this will be the first force completed.

The First Barons’ War was fought 1215 until 1217.

Cause of the war was King John’s refusal to act according to what he had agreed upon by signing the Magna Carta.

Some may say Magna Carta was not voluntarily agreed upon by John and some clauses were outright unrealistic; that John had the barons up to the ears, and simply signed to get them off his back.

In any event, John refused to co-operate and the French sent over some knights to support the barons and their demands. The French found the timing perfect for Louis VIII, son of King Philip II of France, to rule England instead of John.

In 1216, Louis landed in Kent. John fled and Louis was proclaimed king.

In October 1216, King John died. Public opinion preferred John’s son Henry III as king rather than French Louis VIII. Many barons felt the same way. Thus, John’s son Henry III became king in 1216 when he was nine years old. Louis VIII was not welcome to rule anymore.

New king Henry III later re-issued a revised Magna Carta, first in 1225 and again in 1264.

One of the decisive battles of the First Barons’ War was the Battle at Lincoln on May 20, 1217. The barons were defeated and Louis had to agree to the Treaty of Kingston-upon-Thames of September 12, 1217. The treaty granted amnesty for the rebels and Louis had to promise to keep a low profile.

Oct 15

John returns from France

Upset by demands for higher taxes and less control over affairs in England, the Barons met John on his return with a charter from the time of Henry I which they wanted John to agree to and abide by.

Nov 20

Charter of Liberties

A group of barons, after finding a copy of King Henry I’s Charter of Liberties, swore an oath at the altar of t. Edmunds at Bury St. Edmunds to force King John to acknowledge thier rights.

Jan

John meets the Barons in London

Promising the Barons safe passage, John met them in London to discuss their demands. John postponed any answer until Easter.

May 17

London falls to the Rebels

The gates to London were opened by a supporter of the rebellious Barons and the houses of Jews were targeted for ransacking and burning. The rebels called for those Barons still on the side of John to join them. The Tower of London held by John’s supporters was too well defended to fall into the hands of the rebels.

May 27

A truce is sought

Stephen Langton and William Marshall attempted to get the Barons and John to meet and find a settlement to the civil war.

Jun 15

John’s Great Charter (the Magna Carta)

A large number of barons, led by Stephen Langton the archbishop of Canterbury, meet King John on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. They forced the king to sign the ‘Great Charter’ or Magna Carta that would limit the power of the monarchy. The barons insisted that the old feudal contract should be reinstated and that the king should abide by the laws that the rest of the population did. The feudal contract allowed the barons to run their own lands, renting it from the king but paying rent by supplying knights rather than money. This feudal system had been set up by William the Conqueror.

Aug 24

The Magna Carta is annulled

Pope Innocent III annulled the Magna Carta freeing King John from its limitations. The Pope annulled the charter on the grounds that the King only signed it because he was forced to and that the document was illegal. The Pope was prepared to support John against the rebel barons because he wanted him to take a key role in a new crusade.

Sep 13

King John appeals to the Pope

In a letter dated 13th September 1215, King John sought help from Pope Innocent III in his fight against the barons. In the letter, written while the King stayed at Dover Castle, John stated that he believed the defence of England was ultimately the responsibility of God and the Pope. Pope Innocent III agreed and declared that the Magna Carta should be annulled.

Oct (to 1217)

Baron’s war

After the Magna Carta was annulled and it was clear that King John was not going to agree to the terms of the charter the civil war between King John and the rebel barons began. The barons offered the English crown to Prince Louis, the son of King Philippe II of France and invited him to invade England. John confiscated the rebel barons’ lands and gave them to his own supporters. King John besieged Rochester Castle where a garrison of men had been left by the barons. The garrison was starved out and the castle fell to the King.

Jan

King John attacks Berwick

King John attacked Berwick and forced the Scots to leave. He also raided the lowlands.

Feb

King John puts down revolt

King John put down a revolt in East Anglia. The Barons and the French kept hold of London.

Feb

Small French fleet land in London

A small French army landed in London. Their commander informed the rebel barons that Prince Louis would soon arrive from France.

May 18

A storm hits John’s fleet

John’s fleet of ships was badly damaged by storms as they prepare to defend against an invasion from France. This left the way open for Prince Louis to sail to England a few days later.

May 21

Prince Louis of France claims English Throne

Invited by the barons opposed to king John, Prince Louis of France landed in England to claim the English Throne. Louis captured Rochester Castle after a short siege.

Jun (to Oct)

Prince Louis advances across England

Prince Louis advanced on Winchester and captured the city and its castle. Elsewhere, Windsor Castle and Dover Castle were besieged by the rebel barons. Both castles were defended and held out against the sieges. King John used Corfe Castle in the south-west as his base of operations while he planned his campaign against the rebel barons and Prince Louis.

Oct 19

King John dies

King John died at Newark. This was shortly after he lost his baggage train in the Wash estuary as the tide returned. There was supposed to be a large amount of treasure in the baggage train at the time and it has never been found.

Oct 28

King Henry III Crowned

King John’s eldest son Henry was crowned King Henry III at the abbey church of Gloucester by Peter des Roches the Bishop of Winchester. The Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal of England (William Marshal), was declared Regent.

Spring

Portchester castle captured

Prince Louis captured and almost destroyed the castle at Portchester.

Apr

Siege of Mountsorrel Castle

Royalists besieged the French controlled Mountsorrel Castle in Lincolnshire. When Louis sent reinforcements to assist those in the castle the royalists moved away to Nottingham. The French army then made the mistake of moving on to Lincoln where the royalists had held out against previous attacks.

May 20

Battle of Lincoln

Henry III’s supporters defeated the forces belonging to Prince Louis and the rebel barons that were besieging the castle at Lincoln.

Aug 24

Battle off Sandwich

A fleet of French ships were defeated off the coast near Sandwich by Hubert de Burgh. The French fleet was commanded by Eustace the Monk, a pirate and mercenary who fought for both the French and English when it suited his needs. The French fleet were bringing more men and supplies to assist Prince Louis in his quest to take the English throne. The ship Eustace was on was captured and the monk was executed.

Sep 12

Treaty of Kingston

The defeat of the French fleet left Prince Louis without much hope of taking the English throne. William Marshall blockaded London from the sea and land and at Lambeth Louis accepted peace terms. Louis waived his claim to the throne of England and should have restored Normandy to Henry but did not. Louis was paid 10,000 marks to ensure he left the country as soon as possible. William Marshall pardoned all those who had supported Louis. low profile.

The Battle of Bouvines, near Lille, took place on 27 July. King Philip II defeated the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto IV, conquering Flanders and the Angevin territories in France, and recovering lands once ruled by King John. No English forces were involved. John was Otto’s uncle, and the decisive defeat led to the English Barons gaining the confidence to confront the king and make him grant the Great Charter.

Northampton marked the beginning of the Barons’ Wars, but the rebels failed to capture the castle. It was the first of three sieges. King John was fond of the castle, and visited it over 30 times, but later gave it up along with three others in granting Magna Carta. In 1164, it was the site of the trial of Thomas à Becket. Early Parliaments were held there until 1331.

Norham Castle was a mighty English stronghold on a rocky outcrop on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now a ruin, it was built by Bishop Flambard of Durham in 1121, and being just half the river’s width away from the English and Scottish border, earned it the title of ‘the most dangerous place in England’. King John strengthened the castle from 1208 to 1212, and this helped it withstand a 40-day siege by Alexander II of Scotland, who had invaded northern England in support of the rebels in 1215.

In 1215, Rochester Castle was garrisoned by rebel barons, and endured an epic siege by King John. Having undermined the outer wall, John used the fat of 40 pigs to fire a mine under the keep, bringing its southern corner crashing down. The defenders held on, until they were eventually starved out after resisting for two months. The soldiers were put to the sword. The high elegant towers of Rochester Castle stand as a testimony to its history of destruction and rebuild.

The dissent of the Barons now takes centre stage in what is now Exeter, far to the South-West of Rochester. Rougemont Castle is also known as Exeter Castle, and is a Norman structure, with some Roman origins. It was a Crown stronghold, but rebel barons captured it for a time.

Tonbridge Castle was enlarged before 1100, with a squat tower. In 1215 Richard FitzGilbert’s grandson, Richard de Clare, attended the sealing of Magna Carta. King John then attacked and seized the castle, but it was returned two years later. A larger stone castle was rebuilt, including the massive gatehouse which still survives.

In the relentless drive northwards by King John, many fortified sites were attacked. Ely castle was said to be ‘a strong fort of lime and stone’, within the precincts of Ely, but ‘that fort being often destroyed’ was rebuilt. The castle was said to have been finally taken and destroyed by Falk de Breauté, in 1216.

Odiham had been a royal residence in the 12th century, but the present castle, built by King John from 1207 onwards, was built on a site to the North-West of the town. It was built for the King to enjoy hunting in Odiham’s Royal Deer Park. John visited on 4th June and then again on 9th June, meeting the Bishop of Winchester and proceeding to Windsor and Runnymede the following day. Following the sealing of Magna Carta King John stopped the night of 26th June at Odiham on his way to Winchester. Odiham Castle put up stout resistance to a French siege the following year, which inflicted so much damage as to need rebuilding, with the octagonal keep. These efforts supported the defence of Windsor Castle and help to ensure the French siege was repulsed there as well.

After granting Magna Carta at Runnymede, the king retired to Windsor from the capital, which was soon afterwards occupied by the barons. Hostilities, however, soon broke out again; the barons abjured their allegiance and sought help from France. The invasion of England by Louis of France, which began in May 1216, was followed by the siege of Windsor Castle. The castle was held for the king by Fawkes de Breauté, one of John’s unsavoury advisors, who had filled the castle with foreign mercenaries. The siege lasted from June to September, when it was raised, and on the death of the king in October it was still in the hands of his adherents.

In the northern reaches, King John arrived in 1216 to storm the fortified town of Berwick. On the river Tweed, it stood close to the borders of England and Scotland. The castle was founded in the 12th century by the Scottish King David I.

The 1216 siege of Barnard Castle in Durham was successfully resisted for King John by Hugh de Baliol against invading Scots. Leading rebel and Magna Carta surety Eustace de Vesci was shot dead by a crossbowman during the siege. The influence of the family enabled John Baliol, with the help of Edward I, to be crowned King of Scotland.

In December 1216, Berkhamsted Castle was besieged by Prince Louis of France. It is likely that the constable at the castle was aware of the approach of a hostile force of French mercenaries. He will have hastily arranged for plentiful food supplies to be brought in: bread, cheese, eggs and meat. Hopefully, he would have sent women and children out of harm’s way, if only to preserve the food and drink supplies for fighting men. Wells in the bailey and on the motte provided plentiful water and they would have hunkered down, ready for the attack.

After twenty days of siege, the garrison within surrendered. Next year, the year following the death of King John, the castle was reclaimed by Royalists.

Another epic and desperate siege of the castle by Prince Louis of France, and said to be the most momentous in all English history. The French king supported the unruly barons by sending his son and large forces. All aspects of siege warfare were employed and ultimately failed. Siege engines, mining and even bribery did not succeed, though the French did capture the barbican and undermined the gatehouse. The defenders rebuilt barricades and beat back the French.

King John called upon the naval resources of the Cinque Ports (Hastings, Rye, Hythe, Romney and Sandwich) which provided 50 ships, and had another 50 built. (In 1213, Philip II had gathered a fleet to invade England with papal blessing against the excommunicated John. The allies surprised the French fleet at anchor, capturing 300 vessels, and burning 100 more!) The royalist naval victory of 1217 meant that the war was finally over. A month later, the Treaty of Lambeth ensured that Prince Louis and his men left England, never to return.

Lincoln town was pro-rebel, but the castle held by Lady Nichola de la Haye was a pro-John castellaine. In May 1217, French forces besieging the castle were routed by a relieving force under William Marshal (Earl of Pembroke). The town was thoroughly sacked and its goods carried off by the victors earning the nickname ‘Lincoln Fair’.

Henry III besieged the Bedford Castle in 1224 after a falling out with Falkes de Breauté. It involved an army of 2,700 soldiers. The siege of the mighty castle lasted from 20 June until 15 August and was one of the longest sieges of the century, rivalled only by those of Dover (July 1216 – May 1217) and Kenilworth (May to December 1266). It began with a move led by Hubert de Burgh to bring back under royal control all royal castles entrusted to the adherents of King John. It was the last outburst of violence which had begun at the end of King John’s reign but the firm action taken by the sixteen year old Henry III to capture the castle ensured that with the exception of the revolt of Richard Marshal in 1233, England was not riven by civil war for another forty years. It was another milestone in the flowering of a growing sense of Englishness.

1 After the death of their predecessors, heirs of full age are to have their inheritance by the ancient relief to be set out in the charter.

2 Heirs who are under age and in wardship are when they come of age to have their inheritance without relief or fine.

3 The guardian of an heir’s land is to take reasonable issues, customs and services, without destruction and waste of his men and goods, and if the guardian of the land inflicts destruction and waste, he is to lose the wardship. And the guardian is to maintain buildings, parks, fishponds, pools, mills and other things pertaining to that land, out of the issues of the same. And heirs are to be so married that they are not disparaged, and this by the counsel of their near kinsmen.

4 No widow is to give anything for her dower or marriage portion after the death of her husband, but she may remain in his house for forty days after his death, and her dower is to be assigned to her within that period; and she is to have her marriage portion and her inheritance immediately.

5 Neither the king nor his bailiff are to seize any land for debt while the debtor’s chattels suffice; nor are the debtor’s pledges to be distrained, while the principal debtor has enough to make payment; if indeed the principal debtor defaults on his payment, the pledges are, if they wish, to have the debtor’s lands until the debt is fully paid, unless the principal debtor can show that he is quit with regard to the pledges.

6 The king is not to grant to any baron the right to take an aid from his free men, except to ransom his person, to knight his first-born son, and to marry, once, his first-born daughter, and he is to do this by way of a reasonable aid.

7 No-one is to do more service for a knight’s fee than is owed for it.

8 Common pleas are not to follow the king’s court, but are to be appointed to some fixed place. And recognitions are to be held in the same counties, in this manner: the king is to send two justices four times in the year, who with four knights of the same county, chosen by the county court, are to take assizes of novel Disseisin, Mort d’Ancestor and Darrein presentment, nor is anyone to be summoned on account of this except the jurors and the two parties.

9 A free man is to be amerced for a small offence in proportion to the nature of the offence, and for a great offence in accordance with its magnitude, saving to him his livelihood; the villain is also to be amerced in the same way, saving to him his crops under cultivation; and the merchant in the same way, saving to him his stock in trade, by oath of trustworthy men of the vicinity.

10 A cleric is to be amerced in respect of his lay fee in the same manner as the aforesaid, and without regard to his ecclesiastical benefice.

11 No township is to be amerced for making bridges over rivers, unless they used rightfully to be there of old.

12 The measure of corn and wine, and the widths of cloths and other things, are to be reformed; and weights likewise.

13 Assizes of novel Disseisin and Mort d’Ancestor are to be expedited, and other assizes likewise.

14 No sheriff is to involve himself in pleas pertaining to the crown without the coroners; and counties and hundreds are to be at their old farms without any increment, except for the king’s demesne manors.

15 If anyone holding from the king dies, it is to be lawful for the sheriff or other royal bailiff to seize and record his chattels by the view of law-abiding men, as long as none of them are removed, until it is more fully known whether he owes any clear debt to the king; and then when the debt to the king is paid. the residue is to be relinquished to the executors to perform the testament of the deceased; and if nothing is owing to the king then all the chattels are to go to the deceased.

16 If any free man dies intestate, his goods are to be distributed by the hand of his nearest kinsmen on both sides of his family, under the supervision of the church.

17 Widows are not to be distrained to marry, when they wish to live without a husband, as long as they give security that they will not marry without the consent of the king, if they hold of him, or the consent of their lords of whom they hold.

18 No constable or other bailiff is to take corn or other chattels, unless he pays cash for them immediately, (or) unless he has respite with the consent of the seller.

19 No constable is to distrain any knight to give money instead of castle-guard, if he is willing to perform that guard in person or, if he is unable to do it for a satisfactory reason, through another reliable man; and if the king takes him in the army, he is to be quit of castle-guard in proportion to the amount of time [away].

20 No sheriff or royal bailiff, or anyone else, is to take any free man’s horses or carts for transporting things, except with his consent.

21 Neither the king nor his bailiff is to take another man’s wood to his castles or on other of his business, except with the consent of the person whose wood it is.

22 The king is not to hold the land of those who have been convicted of felony except for a year and a day, and then it is to be surrendered to the lord of the fee.

23 All fish-weirs are in future to be entirely removed from the Thames and Medway, and throughout the whole of England.

24 The writ called praecipe is not in future to be issued to anyone for any tenement in respect of which a free man could lose his court.

25 If anyone has been disseised or dispossessed without judgment by the king of lands, liberties and his right, it is to be restored to him immediately; and if a dispute arises about this, it is to be settled by judgment of the twenty-five barons; and those who were disseised by the king’s father or brother are to have their right without delay by judgment of their peers in the king’s court; and the archbishop and bishops are to deliver judgment at a specific day, without the possibility of an appeal, as to whether the king ought to have the term [of exemption] of other crusaders.

26 Nothing is to be given for a writ for an inquest concerning life or members, but it is to be granted without payment and not denied.

27 If anyone holds of the king by fee-farm, socage or burgage, and of someone else by knight service, the king is not to have the wardship of the knights of another man’s fee by reason of the burgage or socage, nor is he to have the wardship of the burgage, socage or fee-farm. And no free man is to lose his knights by reason of petty serjeanties, like those who hold a tenement by rendering knives or arrows or suchlike.

28 No bailiff is to put anyone to law by his accusation alone, without trustworthy witnesses.

29 The body of a free man is not to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way ruined, nor is the king to go against him or send forcibly against him, except by judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

30 Right is not to be sold or delayed or withheld.

31 Merchants are to have safe conduct to go and come to buy and sell, without any evil exactions but paying only the old and rightful customs.

32 No scutage or aid is to be imposed in the kingdom except by the common counsel of the kingdom, unless for ransoming the person of the king, and knighting his first-born son, and marrying, once, his first-born daughter, and for this a reasonable aid is to be taken. Tollages and aids on the city of London, and on other cities which have such liberties, are to be taken in like manner. And the city of London is to have in full its ancient liberties and free customs, both by water and by land.

32 No scutage or aid is to be imposed in the kingdom except by the common counsel of the kingdom, unless for ransoming the person of the king, and knighting his first-born son, and marrying, once, his first-born daughter, and for this a reasonable aid is to be taken. Tollages and aids on the city of London, and on other cities which have such liberties, are to be taken in like manner. And the city of London is to have in full its ancient liberties and free customs, both by water and by land.

33 It is to be lawful for each man to leave the kingdom and return to it, saving his allegiance to the king, except in time of war for some short time, for the sake of the common utility of the kingdom.

34 If anyone has taken a loan from Jews, great or small, and dies before the debt is paid, the debt is not to incur interest as long as the heir is under age, whoever he may hold from. And if the debt falls into the hand of the king, he is to take only the principal recorded in the charter.

35 If anyone dies and is indebted to Jews, let his wife have her dower. And if there are surviving children, let their needs be met from the property, and let the debt be paid from the residue, saving the service of the lords. And let other debts be dealt with in like manner. And let the keeper of the land surrender to the heir, when he comes of age, his land stocked with what the issues of the land can reasonably provide by way of ploughs and other necessary implements.

36 If anyone holds of an escheat, as of the honour(s) of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne and Lancaster, or of other escheats which are in the king’s hand and are baronies, and dies, his heir will not give a relief or perform any service to the king other than he would to the baron; and the king is to hold it in the same manner in which the baron held it.

37 Fines made for dowers, marriages, inheritances and amercements, unjustly and against the law of the land, are to be entirely remitted; or they are to be dealt with by judgment of the twenty-five barons, or by judgment of the greater part of them, together with the archbishop and others whom he wishes to convoke to act with him. On condition that if any or some of the twenty-five are in such an action, they are to be removed and others substituted in their place by the rest of the twenty-five.

38 Hostages and bonds which were surrendered to the king as security are to be restored.

39 Those who have been outside the forest are not to come before the forest justices on the grounds of common summonses, unless they are involved in pleadings or [are] pledges. And the evil customs of forests and foresters, of warrens, and sheriffs, and rivers, are to be put right by twelve knights of each county, who should be chosen by the good men of that county.

40 Let the king remove entirely from office the kinsmen and whole brood of Gerard d’Athée, so that they may not hold office in future: namely, Engelard, Andrew, Peter and Guy de Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogné, Matthew de Martigny and his brothers; and his nephew Geoffrey, and Philip Mark.

41 And let the king remove the foreign knights, mercenaries, crossbowmen, routiers and serjeants who come with horses and arms to the detriment of the realm.

42 And let the king make justices, constables, sheriffs and bailiffs from those who know the law of the land and are willing to keep it well.

43 Let barons who have founded abbeys, for which they have royal charters or ancient tenure, have the custody of them when they are vacant.

44 If the king has disseised or dispossessed Welshmen of their lands, liberties or anything else in England or in Wales, they are to be given back to them immediately, without any legal proceedings. And if they were disseised or dispossessed of their English tenements by the king’s father or brother without judgment of their peers, the king will without delay do them justice, in the same way that he is to do justice to Englishmen, for tenements in England according to the law of England, for tenements in Wales according to the law of Wales, and for tenements in the march according to the law of the march. Let the Welsh do the same for the king and his men.

45 Let the king give back the son of Llywelyn, and also other hostages from Wales, and the bonds which were handed over to him as security for peace, unless things should be otherwise under the charters which the king has, by judgment of the archbishop and such others as he wishes to convoke to act with him.

46 Let the king deal with the king of Scots for the returning of hostages, and over his liberties and right, in accordance with the terms he comes to with the barons of England, unless it should be otherwise under the charters which the king has, by judgment of the archbishop and such others as he wishes to convoke to act with him.

47 And all the forests which have been afforested by the king during his reign are to be disafforested, and let the same be done with regard to the rivers which are game reserves by this king’s doing.

48 What is more, all these customs and liberties which the king has granted to the realm, to be observed on his own account with regard to his own men, all the men of the realm, both clergy and laity, will observe on their own account with regard to their own men.

Since, moreover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give and grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose five-and-twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault toward anyone, or shall have broken any one of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence be notified to four barons of the foresaid five-and-twenty, the said four barons shall repair to us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed without delay. And if we shall not have corrected the transgression (or, in the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if we should be out of the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matter to the rest of the five-and-twenty barons, and those five-and-twenty barons shall, together with the community of the whole land, distrain and distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has been obtained as they deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the persons of our queen and children; and when redress has been obtained, they shall resume their old relations towards us.

And let whoever in the country desires it, swear to obey the orders of the said five-and-twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters, and along with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we publicly and freely grant leave to everyone who wishes to swear, and we shall never forbid anyone to swear. All those, moreover, in the land who of themselves and of their own judgment, and he shall be sworn in the same way as the others. Further, in all matters, the execution of which is entrusted to these twenty-five barons, if perchance these twenty-five are present and disagree about anything, or if some of them, after being summoned, are unwilling or unable to be present, that which the majority of those present ordain or command shall be held as fixed and established, exactly as if the whole twenty-five had concurred in this; and the said twenty-five shall swear that they will faithfully observe all that is aforesaid, and cause it to be observed with all their might. And we shall procure nothing from anyone, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of these concessions and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such thing has been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use it personally or by another.

I’ve finished my archers for my St Mary de Pratis force and I wanted a civilian look, no “uniform” look for these as I seen them the foragers for the abbey. I think I have got the “look and feel” right and I cannot wait to paint so more missile troops for this game.

What do you think?

This is the last unit for my St Mary de Pratis force which in turn we led part of a larger force and these are the mounted knights. I have foot knight which are the backbone of the force, taking the centre with everything supporting them but the mounted knights are the hammer, the fast attack force, designed to sweep anyway all before these with there lance and armour. Well that is the theory.

I have painted these to be more lesser knights, lower order, loaned to the Abbey by their Baron/Lord protector. I love the way and feel of them and work well against the drab coloured monks.