The Barons' War - 28mm Medieval Miniatures

Did You Know 13 - Rochester Castle (part 1)
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 21, 2019 at 03:01:24 AM

The crisis of King John's rule began in 1212 with the discovery of a plot to overthrow him. The defeat at the Battle of Bouvines in July 1214 marked the end of John's ambitions to retake Normandy and a few months later having returned to England he was faced with barons in the north of England who were actively challenging his rule. This group of barons renounced their feudal ties to John in May 1215 capturing London, Lincoln, and Exeter. 

Next in line for the rebels was Rochester where the custody of Rochester Castle traditionally sat with the Archbishops of Canterbury, who at this time was Stephen Langton.  John persuaded Langton, to cede control of Rochester Castle to a royal constable, Reginald de Cornhill which the Archbishop did under the condition it would be returned to him once peace was restored.  with John meeting the rebel barons at Runnymede, and with a peace treaty signed, the agreement between John and Langton to appoint a royal constable in charge of Rochester Castle was dissolved, returning control to the archbishop. 

However, peace did not last long and with the commencement of the First Barons' War, a group of rebels headed straight to Rochester to hold the city against the king. Chronicler Ralph of Coggeshall recorded that the king demanded Langton hand over the castle to royal control driven by his distrust over Stephen's hand in Magna Carta but the archbishop flatly refused. Although Langton held out against the king's demands, the rebels wrongly feared he would relent under pressure so seized control for themselves. Again according to Ralph of Coggeshall, this was done with the consent of the castle's constable, the same Reginald de Cornhill, who had chosen to switch allegiance from the king to the archbishop when War broke out. Langton himself left England that same month under the direction of the Pope, leaving this key castle in the hands of the king's enemies. 

The rebels at Rochester were led by William d'Aubigny, Lord of Belvoir who had up to 140 knights, supported by sergeants, and others. Hearing the news that the city was in enemy hands, John immediately left the south where he was recruiting mercenaries and rode to Rochester arriving on the 13th of October. Other royal forces had arrived ahead of John entering the city two days before, taking it by surprise and laying siege to the castle. Rochester bridge was pulled down to stop any relief forces arriving from London and the siege that followed was the largest ever to take place in England and would last almost two months.

In a letter that year to justiciar Hubert de Burgh, King John expressed his frustration, calling Archbishop Stephen Langton "a notorious traitor to us, since he did not render our castle of Rochester to us in our so great need." After this act, the custody of Rochester Castle was removed from the archbishops of Canterbury forever.

Boley Hill to the south of the castle is thought to have been used as John's headquarters during the siege. According to the Barnwell chronicler, it started with five siege engines (trebuchet) hurling a barrage of stones at the castle's wall day and night.

[To be continued...]

Welcome to Day Five, a Kickstarter Roundup with the latest Information!
over 5 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 04:20:35 PM

Great news we unlocked Hubert de Burgh and his Bannerman who are now part of the Barons' War miniatures pack list - add him by increasing your pledge by £5.  With de Burgh becoming unlocked we have been able to add two new mounted knights to the stretch goals, this new pack will be unlocked when we reach £36,000.  Currently indicated as a silhouette Mr Hicks will have them finished today with our aim being to share an image with you before the end of the week.  For these two knights, I have asked Paul to have their lances raised which provides us with the option of using them as mounted Bannermen.

If you don't know who Hubert de Burgh is I did a 'Did You Know?' about him over on my Facebook page before we went live you can Hubert de Burgh.

Finally, I have been assured by Kickstarter that the glitch some of you we have had been experiencing when adding to your pledge amount has been resolved.

Spearmen 3 Spotted!

Yesterday we were also able to add an image of the four new spearmen which make up our new pack to the campaign manager.  Being honest this pack was not in the original plans but as the support for this campaign has grown and with more basic troops requested we answered your call. 

Paul is also in the process of finishing a set of bills which will be available when it comes to selecting your packs. The idea behind adding this weapon option is your spearmen can now be armed with a polearm instead.

Footsore Miniatures Update

I popped into Footsore Miniatures & Games for an update yesterday morning and was very, very happy to see they have already made production moulds for Foot Knights pack 1 & 2.  It looks like by the end of this week they will have production moulds ready for the first ten packs, which is excellent news indeed.

We Have Started a Wishlist

The idea for this Kickstarter was always to test the water and gauge the interest for a range of miniatures from this period. Much to my delight so far it seems to have been a very popular idea which means once the Kickstarter has completed and we have fulfilled all the pledges we will look to increase the range further. I couldn't be happier! 

FAQ

I have been asked the following questions a couple of times over the last few days, so as well as adding them to the FAQ I have tacked them on the end of this roundup, below.

First time using Kickstarter. How and when do I select the packs I want?

After the Kickstarter finishes for everyone who has pledged an area will become available which you will have access to. Inside there you will be able to choose the packs you have pledged for. We will also be adding the decal sheets, extra shields and other sundries in here to include in your pledge if you choose to do so.

I just want to clarify something that I may not have made very clear all packs will come with shields, bases and weapons including spears where needed.

First time using Kickstarter. How and when do I pay for postage and packaging?

Postage and Packaging will also be charged in the pledge manager.  You can add an amount for postage to your pledge now if you choose or you can wait until the campaign ends and pay your postage in the pledge manager.

Did You Know 12 - The Marshal and the Lion
over 5 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 03:25:05 PM

Before the First Barons' War in 1188-89, William Marshal campaigned with King Henry II against the King of France.  Henry's son Prince Richard had aligned himself with Philip and the Kingdom of France. In a skirmish, between the two forces, William unhorsed Richard and could have killed him, but instead killed Richards horse.  

Within days of this encounter Henry II had died and the now King Richard summoned William to him, and to save face insists that he, Richard had saved his own life in the encounter,

"Marshal, the other day, you intended to kill me, and you would have if I had not deflected your lance with my arm."

William bravely - or rashly - held his ground, 

"I never intend to kill you, I am strong enough to aim my lance, and if I wanted to, I could have killed you."

It was a tense moment but it won the new King of England's respect and he became a trusted man.  Richard confirmed William's marriage to Isabel de Clare, daughter of the late Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke as the King was her guardian and the union granted Marshal the title 1st Earl of Pembroke. 

William was also appointed one of four co-justiciars to protect King Richard's realm in England while the King was on Crusade.  William remained loyal, even when rumours were spread that Richard was dead, and William's older brother sided with the King's scheming brother John to claim the crown.

Did You Know 11 - Falkes de Breauté?
over 5 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 02:15:51 PM

Falkes de Breauté was an Anglo-Norman soldier, possibly a mercenary, of dubious parentage with no particular aristocratic standing. Described mostly as the illegitimate child of a Norman knight and a concubine, possibly a knightly family from the village of Bréauté. Most chroniclers describe him as from common stock often referring to him by his first name which was derived from the scythe he once used to murder someone as a sign of contempt.

The first accurate records of his royal service are from 1206 when he was sent to Poitou by King John. Knighted upon his return to England in February 1207 he was entrusted with the wardenship of Glamorgan and Wenlock. As constable of Carmarthen, Cardigan and the Gower Peninsula he gained a fearsome reputation in the Welsh Marches. 

During the First Barons' War as an unquestioning subject of King John, he earned both the title of the king's steward and the hate of baronial and monastic leaders alike. In November 1215, under orders of the king, de Breauté captured Hanslope, Buckinghamshire, a castle of William Mauduit, and soon afterwards he captured Bedford Castle belonging to William de Beauchamp. In reward John allowed him to keep it.  As one of John's four captains of the loyalist army when Prince Louis of France invaded de Breauté was tasked with holding Oxford against the baronial forces. 

In reward for exemplary service, King John gave de Breauté the hand in marriage of Margaret the daughter of Warin Fitzgerald, the royal chamberlain.  This took place after the fact that Falkes had already kidnapped her to improve his standing. Falkes received not only Margaret's dowry from her father, but also as the widow of Baldwin de Revières, former heir to the Earl of Devon he inherited as her sons regent the estates connected to the title when his grandfather William de Revières died in 1217, making him a powerful man indeed.

Under Henry III, de Breauté continued to fight with the same loyalty he had shown John. That Christmas he was holding in total seven High Sheriffdoms including Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire and was proving to be a major obstacle to Louis and the rebel barons, although he lost Hertford and Cambridge in 1217. 

Falkes seemed to be everywhere, at the end of February he led a royalist force in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the port of Rye and after this, he captured the Isle of Ely.  He joined the Earl of Chester to besiege Mountsorrel, and in response, the rebel Barons were forced to divide their forces, with Prince Louis and half the force remaining at the siege of Dover while the rest marched north to relieve Mountsorrel. This proved to play a critical role in the whole campaign leading up to the Battle of Lincoln.

After successfully relieving the siege at Mountsorrel the rebels marched to Lincoln to assist their force besieging Lincoln Castle; while the town had fallen to the rebels, the castle garrison had remained loyal to the King. When the rebel relief force finally got there they found William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, leader of the royalist forces had already arrived forcing a battle in the streets of the town itself. 

However before the battle began de Breauté had led his own force into the castle itself, where his crossbowmen shot down at the rebels from the walls causing panic and chaos. During the battle, Falkes sallied out with such force that he drove deep into the enemy lines ending up first being captured before being rescued by his men.  He fought on until the rebels fled with even the loyalist leaders acknowledging his role in a critical victory against superior forces.

However, with his unashamed lust for power and some of his more dubious actions during the war Falkes de Breauté had made many enemies; numbered among them were William Marshal. Due to being seen as a commoner by his peers as time passed his elevated position grew more and more tenuous as with no lands to base himself he relied increasingly on the favour of noblemen such as the Earl of Chester and Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, who only supported him due to their disenchantment with the rule of Hubert de Burgh.

Footnote: Part of Margaret's dowry was an area in London dominated by a manor which, because of her new husband, became known as Falkes' Hall. The name morphed through the years once the original reason for the name faded into history, first becoming "Foxhall" and later "Vauxhall." 

In 1857, a Scottish engineer founded a company in Vauxhall which later became the Vauxhall Iron Works and then, in 1907, the Vauxhall Motor Company. This company used, as its logo, the griffin of Falkes de Breauté.

An Update just for you Rebels
over 5 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 04:57:37 AM

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