[MR] Wikipedia: Second Battle of Lincoln, 1217

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this day in 1217, Sir William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, defeated an
army of English barons who had chosen loyalty to French Prince Louis (later
King Louis VIII). This was actually a rather small battle, but it was the
pivotal event in the First Barons' War.

To set the stage, we have to go back to Bad King John. Remember him? He so
riled his barons by predatory tactics, and repudiation of Magna Carta, that
many of his barons rose in rebellion. William Marshal was one of the few
who continued to support King John. The rebels invited crown prince Louis
of France to England and offered him the crown. Backed by a French army and
the rebellious barons, Louis set himself up as king, ruling from London,
and held nearly half of England. Then King John died on 10 October 1216.
John's 9-year-old son became the rightful king as Henry III, with Marshal
acting as regent and protector. Many English barons switched sides, and the
struggle became a general civil war with both sides being pretty much
equally matched, though Louis could call on resources from France to
bolster his position.

Lincoln was an important walled city in northeastern England. Most of the
inhabitants chose loyalty to Prince Louis. Not so the keeper of Lincoln
castle, entirely within the city itself. The castle was held for Henry by a
remarkable woman, Nicola de la Haie. Surprising for a woman, she was
Sheriff of Lincoln. Nicola and her small garrison of about 20 held out
against a siege by Thomas, Count of Perche.

Word of Marshal's approach to Lincoln reached Perche. Rather than face
Marshal on open ground, he chose to take a strong defensive position within
the city itself. This made the pro-French army both besiegers and besieged.
Perche's force numbered about over 600 knights and about 1,000 infantry.
Marshal's army had slightly over 400 knights and some 300 crossbowmen. The
remainder were men-at-arms for a total of just over 900.

Marshal's crossbowmen stormed Lincoln's less defended north gate and
entered the city, taking positions on rooftops where they rained terror on
Perche's men. As the rest of Marshal's army charged through the gate, the
castle garrison fell on Perche's confused rear. The brutal house-to-house
fighting lasted some six hours. When Perche refused to surrender and was
killed, the remainder of his army fled south. Over 300 knights were taken
prisoner that day, and many more who fled were later killed or captured.
Wikipedia does not mention what became of Perche's infantry, but their fate
probably wasn't pretty as they had no ransom value.

Because the citizens of Lincoln had chosen to support Louis, Marshal
ordered the town sacked by his victorious army in what became known as "the
Lincoln Faire".

The loss of Lincoln and Perche's death were serious blows to Louis'
position. He sent to France for reinforcements. On 24 August, a French
fleet of 10 large troop ships and some 70 smaller supply vessels under the
command of the notorious pirate Eustace the Monk was defeated by a much
smaller English flotilla at the Battle of Sandwich. After giving up his
fruitless siege of Dover Castle, Louis realized his position was untenable.
Under the Treaty of Lambeth, Louis left England and renounced any claim to
the English throne. He did pocket a bribe of 10,000 marks, raised from
among the rebel barons.

Were it not for Marshal's victory at Lincoln, we might all be speaking
French today, *n'est-ce pas*.

You can read more about the Second Battle of Lincoln at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lincoln_(1217) .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep Merry Rose relevant and in business.