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constructed in a more advanced, rounded form. (Author)

    Rochester Cathedral as seen from the ramparts of Rochester Castle. John is recorded as having stabled his horses in the cathedral during the siege. (Author)

    The interior cross-wall of the keep at Rochester Castle, behind which the defenders of the 1215 siege were forced to withdraw. (Author)

    The fate of a defeated English garrison. Angered and frustrated by the rebels’ defence of Rochester Castle, John expressed his intention at the siege of Rochester to hand out the same treatment to the garrison there. (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

    Belvoir Castle. Roger d’Albini, who led the heroic defence at Rochester, was the master here. It was in the sights of John during his vicious campaign of 1215–16. The leading English chronicler of events for this time, Roger of Wendover, was prior at Belvoir. (Author)

    The perils of sea travel: a military ship goes down in a storm. This was the fate of many vessels in John’s reinforcement fleet in the English Channel in 1215, coming to England to prepare for the French invasion. Among the victims was one of John’s leading commanders. (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

    A soldier of King John torturing prisoners. The livery of the soldier denotes him as being in the service of John’s general William Marshal, considered by many contemporaries as the epitome of chivalry. (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

    John’s campaigning, September 1215 to March 1216. (W.L. Warren, King John )

    Prince Louis with the four cardinal virtues being presented with a copy of the Karolinus by its author, Gilles de Paris. The work was designed to inspire Louis to emulate the deeds of the great first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne. (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)

    John’s network of royal castles, a major military asset during the French invasion. (John Gillingham, The Angevin Empire )

    Dover Castle. This massive fortress overlooking the English Channel was ‘the key to England’ according to Matthew Paris. It was subjected to prolonged sieges by French forces. (Author)

    Siege and battle scene. Most medieval battles arose from siege situations. Note the trebuchet in action. These large machines, the heavy artillery of the day, were used to great effect against castle walls during the invasion. However, some very strong fortresses could withstand their bombardment. (Pierpont Morgan Library)

    The Roman walls of Portchester looking towards the twelfth-century keep. Portchester’s strong coastal position made it an important objective for Louis. (Author)

    Armies on the move. The supply wagon is transporting the soldiers’ armour. Logistics were key to a successful campaign and a particular problem for the French invaders. (Pierpont Morgan Library)

    A king prepares for battle, he and his horse wearing the chainmail armour of the day.(Trinity College, Cambridge)

    The great seal of King Louis. (Archives Nationales, Sceaux, Paris)

    Map showing the territory consolidated by Louis during his invasion. It does not show the land of English rebels affiliated to him in the North. (N.J.G. Pounds, The Medieval Castle in England and Wales)

    Newark Castle, the place of John’s death. (Author)

    Effigy of John from his tomb at Worcester Cathedral. His heart was not buried with him: it was taken from his deathbed corpse by a leading churchman. (Photograph by Mr Christopher Guy, Worcester Cathedral Archaeologist)

    William Marshal’s castle at Pembroke, Wales. With his other mighty royalist fortress on the Welsh border at Chepstow, the rebels and French made little permanent headway in the west. (Author)

    Effigy of William Marshal from his tomb, Temple Church, London. (Author, by kind permission of The Temple Church, London)

    The coronation of the boy king, Henry III. (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

    The ruined keep of Odiham Castle, where a garrison of only thirteen men bravely held up Louis’s forces for a fortnight.