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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = First Barons' War
| partof            = the  [[First Hundred Years' War]]
| image             = John of England vs Louis VIII of France.jpg
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = King John of England (left) in battle with the troops of Louis of France (right)
| date              = 1215–1217
| place             = England
| casus             = Baronial discontent with government of [[John of England|King John]]
| result            = Victory of the [[Angevin kings of England|English monarchy]]
* [[Treaty of Lambeth]]
* Restoration of ''[[Magna Carta]]''
| combatant1        = [[Kingdom of England]]
| combatant2        = {{indented plainlist|
*[[Marshal of the Army of God and Holy Church|Army of God and Holy Church]]
*[[Kingdom of France]]
----
Supported by:
*[[Kingdom of Scotland]]}}
| combatant3        = 
| commander1        = {{indented plainlist|
* [[John of England|King John]]{{Natural Causes}}
* [[Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent|Hubert de Burgh]]
* [[William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury|William Longespée]]
* [[Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester|Ranulf de Blondeville]]
* [[Peter des Roches]]
* [[William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby|William de Ferrers]]
* [[William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|William Marshal]] (from March 1217)}}
| commander2        = {{indented plainlist|
* Prince [[Louis VIII of France|Louis of France]]
* [[Robert, Lord of Champignelles]]
* [[Robert Fitzwalter]]
* [[Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester|Saer de Quincy]]
* [[Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Gloucester|Gilbert de Clare]]
* [[Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford|Henry de Bohun]]
* [[William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|William Marshal]] (until March 1217)
* [[Thomas, Count of Perche]]{{KIA}}
* [[Eustace the Monk]]{{Executed}}}}
| commander3        = 
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| strength3         = 
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
| casualties3       = 
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox First Barons' War}}
{{Campaignbox Barons' Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Anglo-French wars}}
}}

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 [[English feudal barony|barons]]) led by [[Robert Fitzwalter]] waged war against [[John of England|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 John had sealed on 15 June 1215.

The rebellious barons, faced with an uncompromising king, turned to King Philip's son, [[Louis VIII of France|Louis]], who, in 1216, 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.{{sfn|Harding|1993|p=10}} He was proclaimed "King of England" in London by the barons, although he was never actually crowned.

Louis's ambitions of ruling England faced a major setback in October 1216, when John's death led to the rebellious barons deserting him in favour of John's nine-year-old son, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], and the war dragged on. Louis's army was finally beaten at the [[Battle of Lincoln (1217)|Battle of Lincoln]] on 20 May 1217. After a fleet assembled by his wife, [[Blanche of Castile]], attempted to bring him French reinforcements but was [[Battle of Sandwich (1217)|defeated off the coast of England at 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 that he held. The treaty had the effect of Louis agreeing he had never been the legitimate king of England. That formalised the end of the civil war and the departure of the French from England.{{sfn|Arlidge|Judge|2014|p=19}}

==Background==
King John in June 1215 was forced to put his seal to "The Articles of the Barons" by a group of powerful barons who were no longer willing to tolerate John's [[Invasion of Normandy by Philip II of France|failed]] [[Anglo-French War (1213-1214)|leadership]] and [[Government in Norman and Angevin England#Historical context|despotic rule]]; The King's [[Great Seal of the Realm|Great Seal]] was attached upon it on 15 June 1215. In exchange, the barons renewed their [[oaths of fealty|fealty]] to King John on 19 July 1215. A formal document to record the agreement was drafted 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 by standing in opposition to the King's mere will.

Magna Carta held clauses that theoretically noticeably reduced the authority of the King, such as Clause 61, the "security clause", which allowed a group of 25 barons to override the King at any time by means of force,{{sfn|Turner|2009|p=189}}{{sfn|Danziger|Gillingham|2004|pp=261–262}} a medieval legal process known as ''[[distraint]]'' that was normal in feudal relationships, albeit had never been applicated towards a King. After numerous months of half-hearted attempts to reach a settlement in the summer of 1215, open conflict was unleashed amongst the [[Marshal of the Army of God and the Holy Church|rebel barons' alliance]] and the [[Kingdom of England|loyalist factions]].

==Course of events==
===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 VIII of France|Louis]], the son and heir apparent of King [[Philip II of France]] and the grandson-in-law of King [[Henry II of England]]. The [[Norman conquest of England|Norman invasion]] had occurred only 149 years before, and the relationship between England and France was not as simply adversarial as it later became. The contemporary document, the ''[[Annals of Waverley]]'' saw no contradiction in stating that Louis was invited to invade 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 the discouragement from his father and from [[Pope Innocent III]]. That came in May 1216, when watchmen on the coast of [[Isle of Thanet|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 [[Old St Paul's Cathedral|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."

Pursuing John, Louis led his army south from London on 6 June, arriving the following day in [[Reigate]] where he found the [[Reigate Castle|castle]] abandoned. He moved onwards to [[Guildford Castle]] on 8 June, which surrendered immediately. [[Farnham Castle]] initially closed its gates but surrendered as the French started to lay siege. He met resistance only when he reached [[Winchester Castle]] on 14 June, but it fell after a ten-day siege. Louis's campaign continued, and by July, about a third of England had fallen under his control.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guildford-dragon.com/2016/06/10/guildford-castle-fell-invading-french-800-years-ago-week/|title=When Guildford Castle Fell to the Invading French 800 Years Ago This Week|last=Morgan|first=Gavin|date=10 June 2016|website=The Guildford Dragon|access-date=16 July 2019}}</ref>

===First siege of Dover===
In the meantime, the [[Philip II of France|King of France]] taunted his son for trying to conquer England without first seizing its key port, Dover. The royal castles at [[Canterbury Castle|Canterbury]] and [[Rochester Castle|Rochester]], their towns, and indeed, most of Kent had already fallen to Louis. However, when he moved on to [[Dover Castle]] on 25 July, it was prepared. Its constable, [[Hubert de Burgh]], had a well-supplied garrison of men.{{sfn|Hanley|2017|page=109}}

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 [[Weald]]en archers raised and led by [[William of Cassingham]].

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

===Sieges of Windsor and Rochester===
Apart from Dover, the only castle to hold out against Louis was that at [[Windsor Castle|Windsor]], where 60 loyalist knights survived a two-month siege, despite severe damage to the structure of its lower ward. That was 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. The damage was caused possibly by the castle having been besieged by the barons in 1189, less than 30 years earlier.

In 1206, John had spent £115{{efn|{{Inflation|UK|115|1209|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}} money.}} on repairs to [[Rochester Castle]], and he had even pre-emptively 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 (rebel)|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.
[[File:Rochester Castle, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 1582414.jpg|thumb|right|The round tower (centre) and two square towers (left and right) of [[Rochester Castle]].]]

The rebels were expecting reinforcements from London but John sent [[fire ship]]s out to burn their route in, the city's bridge over the Medway. [[Robert Fitzwalter]] rode out to stop the king and fought his way onto the bridge but was eventually beaten back into the castle. John also sacked the [[Rochester Cathedral|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.

After that five siege engines were erected, and work was carried out to undermine the curtain wall. By one of those means, the king's forces entered and held the [[bailey (fortification)|bailey]] in early November, and began attempting the same tactics against the keep, including undermining the south-eastern 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 [[justiciar]]s 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".<ref>Contemporary source quoted in Salter (2000).</ref> 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.{{sfn|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1986|page=37}}{{sfn|Warren|1991|pp=254–255}} He died at [[Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire|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, Henry.

[[Pierre des Roches]], [[Bishop of Winchester]], and a number of barons rushed to have the young Henry 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 Cathedral|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, 1st Earl of Pembroke|William Marshal]]. A great deal of the country was loyal to Louis, with the southwest of England and the [[English Midlands|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's losses===
[[File:MapOfFirstBaronsWar.png|thumb|300x300px|Map of the war right before the second Battle of Lincoln, May 1217]]
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, which again allowed 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 saved from starvation only by the arrival of a French fleet.[[File:BitvaLincoln1217.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Lincoln (1217)|Second Battle of Lincoln]] in 1217.|left|230x230px]]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]] and [[Oliver fitz Regis]] just as the fleet carrying the reinforcements arrived. Louis was forced to land at [[Sandwich, Kent|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 (1217)|Battle of Dover]] and [[Battle of Sandwich (1217)|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's new reinforcement convoy, under [[Eustace the Monk]], was destroyed, making it nearly impossible for Louis to continue fighting.

==Aftermath==
After a year and a half of war, most of the rebellious barons had defected.<ref>"Kingston, treaty of" ''A Dictionary of British History''. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2009</ref> That and the defeat of the French in 1217 forced Louis 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 to agree that he had never been the legitimate king. The principal provisions of the treaties were an amnesty for English rebels but the barons who had joined Louis had 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 of Scotland|Alexander II]] and [[Llywelyn the Great]] respectively, to lay down their arms. Louis also undertook not to attack England again.{{sfn|Tout|2018|p=16}}

==Museums==
* "The 1216 Experience" at Dover Castle (in the keep, rather than at the site of the siege at the north gate) recounts the two sieges and [[Battle of Sandwich (1217)|Battle of Sandwich]], and there is also material on them at the [[Dover Museum|town museum]].
* Rochester City Museum contains a model of the castle keep under siege.

==See also==
* [[Second Barons' War]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last1=Arlidge |first1=Anthony |last2=Judge |first2=Igor |title=Magna Carta Uncovered |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1782255918}}
* {{cite book|last1=Danziger|first1=Danny|last2=Gillingham|first2=John|title=1215: The Year of Magna Carta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=av1pjnpVRNAC&pg=PA271|date=2004|publisher=Hodder Paperbacks|isbn=978-0340824757}}
* {{cite book |editor-first1=E. B. |editor-last=Fryde |editor-first2=Diana Eleanor |editor-last2=Greenway |editor-link2=Diana Greenway |editor-first3=S. |editor-last3=Porter |editor-first4=I. |editor-last4=Roy |chapter=Kings of England (2) 1066–1985 |title=Handbook of British chronology |year=1986 |publisher=Offices of the Royal Historical Society |location=London |pages=37}}
* {{cite book |last=Hanley |first=Catherine |title=Louis: The French Prince who Invaded England |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-30021-745-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Harding |first=Alan |year=1993 |title=England in the Thirteenth Century |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* Salter, Mike (2000). ''The Castles of Kent''. Folly Publications, Malvern. {{ISBN|1-871731-43-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Tout |first1=Thomas F. |author-link=Thomas Tout |title=The History of England from the Accession of Henry III to the Death of Edward III (1216–1377) |date=2018 |orig-year=1905 |publisher=Ozymandias Press |isbn=978-3732633340 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vF4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT14}}
* {{cite book|last1=Turner|first1=Ralph|title= King John: England's Evil King?|date=2009|publisher=History Press|location=Stroud, UK|isbn=978-0-7524-4850-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Warren |first=W. Lewis |authorlink=W. L. Warren |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5HPgAACAAJ |title=King John |location=London |publisher=Methuen |isbn=0-413-45520-3}}

===Siege of Dover===
* [http://johnsmilitaryhistory.com/dover.html Photos and article]
* {{cite journal |authorlink=John Goodall (author) |last=Goodall |first=John |url=http://deremilitari.org/2014/04/dover-castle-and-the-great-siege-of-1216/ |title=Dover Castle and the Great Siege of 1216 |journal=Château Gaillard: Études de castellologie médiévale |pages=91-102 |volume=19 |year=2000}} (the online version lacks the diagrams of the print version)

[[Category:Barons' Wars|1]]
[[Category:13th-century rebellions]]
[[Category:Invasions of England]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1215]]
[[Category:Wars of the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Civil wars in England]]
[[Category:Civil wars of the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1216]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1217]]
[[Category:1215 in England]]
[[Category:1216 in England]]
[[Category:1217 in England]]
[[Category:1210s in France]]
[[Category:1210s in England]]
[[Category:Anglo-French wars]]
[[Category:Louis VIII of France]]
[[Category:13th-century military history of the Kingdom of England]]
[[Category:13th-century military history of France]]
[[Category:Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe]]