The Knight Who Saved England: William Marshal and the French Invasion, 1217 (General Military) by Brooks Richard

Author:Brooks, Richard [Brooks, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: The Knight Who Saved England: William Marshal and the French Invasion, 1217
ISBN: 9781472808363
Publisher: Osprey Publishing Ltd
Published: 2014-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

The younger Marshal’s soldiers were dragged from the cathedral, where they sought sanctuary, but he escaped, ‘heeding his father’s warning by flight, as it is said’ (ibid.).

Worcester lay deep in John’s redoubt of western counties, outside which he controlled only the neighbourhood of his surviving castles. Most of these lay in the Midlands, with outposts at Lincoln, Windsor, and Dover. Their resistance amply justified Angevin expenditure on castles and routiers. The most significant was Dover. Blocking Louis’s direct communications with France, Dover was ‘strongly fortified by art and nature’ (Barnwell). Matthew Paris described it as ‘the front door of England’. It was held by Hubert de Burgh with 140 Poitevin and Flemish knights, and a profusion of sergeants and supplies. Justiciar of England since 1215, Hubert had defended Chinon long after Rouen fell, being wounded and captured in a hopeless sortie in June 1205. If anyone could hold Dover he could.

Louis occupied Dover Priory below the castle, while his men built a hutted camp outside, complete with shops to demonstrate their intention to stay. Unimpressed, the garrison launched ferocious counter-attacks, to which Louis replied by threatening to hang the defenders. He then launched a co-ordinated attack from the high ground to the north-west, while troops demonstrated from the town, and ships cruised offshore to cut off all hope of relief. Crossbowmen shot at the defenders, and perrières and mangonels battered the walls. Engineers constructed a tower of hurdles and a ‘cat’ to protect miners entering the ditch to dig beneath the barbican, a palisaded fortification before the gatehouse. The avoué’s company took the barbican, killing the sector commander, but when their miners brought down one of the gatehouse towers, the defenders repulsed the storming party, and blocked the breach with oak beams and tree trunks. After twelve weeks both sides were ready for a truce.

The sieges of Lincoln and Windsor were equally futile, though financially more advantageous for the attackers. The chatelaine of Lincoln, Lady Nicola de la Haye, bought off the Northerners, who rode to Dover with the King of Scots to do homage. They were followed in September by the Count of Nevers, whom Louis had sent with many English barons to take Windsor. This was defended by Enguerrand of Athée, fresh from the defence of Odiham. His garrison of sixty knights launched violent counter-attacks, twice cutting through the French perrière’s arm. The French commander battered the walls for two months, but ‘when they were on the point of the castle giving up, having accepted a bribe from the castellan, he treacherously withdrew with the army.’ (Dunstable). On 14 October, Louis agreed a truce with Dover’s undefeated garrison, consummating his triple failure.

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