Louis and his men were soon on the verge of starvation; there was plenty of corn in the town, but no means of grinding it save the slow process of rubbing it between their hands; they could get neither flesh nor fish; their “best food” consisted of some “large nuts” which they found in the town. For a while they struggled on, making occasional truces with the ships’ men, probably for the purpose of being able to fish without molestation and thus procure a little food; but the sailors paid little or no regard to these truces, and even came ashore to shoot at the enemies.[105] At last Louis sent some messengers who contrived to slip through the Weald to London for succour. Some of his knights there set out to rescue their lord; but they dared not attempt to pass through the Weald, so they went by the high road through Canterbury to Romney, and thence—as it was impossible for them to proceed from Romney to Winchelsea without passing Rye—despatched a message to the governor of the county of Boulogne asking him to send them all the ships he could get. He sent, it is said, over two hundred vessels—probably only small boats—all of which save one came into port at Dover, and were speedily occupied by the French knights who hastened thither from Romney; but a succession of storms kept them waiting a fortnight before they could sail. Meanwhile Louis and his men had possessed themselves of several large ships which were lying in the harbour of Winchelsea; and one of the vessels sent from Boulogne had, “by the hardihood of the mariners,” contrived to evade the English fleet and reach the same place, “where it was very welcome.” In all likelihood the captain of the ship which achieved this exploit was a man who for many years past had been known on both sides of the Channel as the most daring of seamen and the most ruthless of pirates, Eustace “the Monk”; for it was Eustace who now proposed to build, on one of the large ships, a “castle” wherewith to attack the English. This “castle” was “so big that everyone stared at it with wonder, for it overpassed the sides of the ship in every direction.” A stone-caster was next set up on another ship, to hurl stones at the English fleet; Louis had already set up on the shore for the same purpose two similar machines, whose missiles went almost across the channel which separates Winchelsea from Rye; and these did the English ships considerable damage. But one evening the English brought up some of their vessels close to the town, stole away the galley which bore the “castle,” and hewed it in pieces before the very eyes of the French. Louis laid the blame of this mishap on the Viscount of Melun, who apparently was responsible for the watch that night; Melun bluntly declared the men were so hungry that not four knights could be found to undertake the watch; Louis retorted that he would take it himself. Then Eustace de Neville interposed, saying he would find forty knights to watch with him as long as Louis pleased. That night he did it, with forty of his friends, “very honourably”; and next morning the relieving squadron from Dover came in sight. The English ships threatened to intercept it; but the first English vessel which came to close quarters by some accident struck one of its own consorts and sank it with all its crew, and amid the confusion resulting from this catastrophe the French ships made their way safely into the harbour of Winchelsea.[106]
With these ships Louis, whose force is said to have now consisted of more than three thousand men, proceeded to Rye, which the English garrison, seeing they could not defend it, evacuated.[107] By this time the Marshal[108] and the other members of the Council were on their way up from the west of England to a general muster of the Royalist forces at Dorking. Thence, on 28th February, a letter was despatched in the King’s name to the townsfolk of Rye, bidding them take courage, give no hostages to Louis, and make no terms with him, for they would speedily receive “greater succour than they could believe possible.” The Bishop of Winchester, the Marshal, the Earls of Chester, Ferrers, and Aumale, nearly all the barons of the western March (Walter de Lacy, Hugh and Roger de Mortimer, Walter and Roger de Clifford, William de Beauchamp, John of Monmouth, “and others”), and several other well-known leaders (William de Harcourt, Engelard de Cigogné, William de Cantelupe, Falkes de Bréauté, Robert de Vipont, Richard FitzRoy), with a multitude of knights, men-at-arms, and crossbowmen, and some loyal Welshmen, were setting out for Rye at once, and the King himself was about to follow with the Legate and a crowd of clergy and “crusaders.”[109] But before this letter was written Louis had made his escape. After appointing his nephew Enguerrand de Coucy as his representative in England, with orders to go to London “and not stir thence upon any account,” and leaving a French garrison in Rye,[110] he had slipped away to Dover, and thence sailed on 27th or 28th February to France.[111]
The Legate meanwhile had turned the war into a crusade. He had set the example, which the prelates followed, of assuming in token of the sacredness of the young King’s cause the white cross which marked the English warriors in Holy Land; all loyal subjects were exhorted to do the like; and those who had already taken the cross with the intention of joining the host now on its way to Egypt were encouraged to exchange their intended pilgrimage for the struggle with the excommunicate enemies at home.[112] Nobles and common folk alike responded to this appeal, “preferring to have a king from their own land rather than a foreign one.”[113] All through the winter the tide had been turning surely though slowly. As early as the end of November, 1216, William of Aubigny, the lord of Belvoir, who in the preceding year had defended Rochester castle for the rebel party with a stubborn bravery worthy of a better cause, and on its capture had been sent by John to prison at Corfe, bought his release by a fine of six thousand marks and homage to the new King; he was at once intrusted with the castle of Sleaford, “and he kept it right valiantly.”[114] Two recruits of yet greater importance joined the Royalist forces a few days after Louis left England: the younger William Marshal—eldest son of the regent—and the king’s uncle, William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury. These two, “who loved each other like brothers,”[115] seem to have been already contemplating a return to their natural allegiance in the second week of December, 1216;[116] but their scruples or their fears kept them in the hostile camp for three months longer. Then, in the first days of March, the elder Marshal “met them by the way” somewhere between Shoreham and Knepp.[117] The meeting was evidently pre-arranged.[118] All three spent the night together at Knepp; and when the two younger men parted from the elder one next morning, it was to lead their followers to Winchester and besiege it for the King.[119] The old Marshal followed them with another body of troops, and laid siege to Farnham in the first week of March.[120] By 12th March it was taken;[121] and so, too, about the same time, was the city of Winchester and “the lesser castle” there—that is, the Bishop’s castle, known as Wolvesey.[122] The “tower,” or royal castle,[123] however, held out against the united forces of the two friends and the regent, who on leaving Farnham came to their assistance. At last it was decided that he should continue the siege,[124] while his son and Longsword led their forces to Southampton or Odiham,[125] and another party under Philip d’Aubigné was sent to besiege Porchester.[126] On the last day of March the younger Marshal laid siege to Marlborough; and “after great difficulty” he took it.[127] Southampton and Odiham had now been regained;[128] Chichester was won before 16th April, and Porchester before 27th April.[129] Meanwhile Falkes de Bréauté had made a raid on the Isle of Ely and recovered possession of it for the King.[130] The royal forces were swelling fast; “converts”—as the rebels who returned to allegiance are called in the official records—came crowding in;[131] and after Easter the Marshal, while still blockading the “tower” of Winchester, felt himself strong enough to despatch the Earls of Chester, Aumale, and Ferrers, with Robert de Vipont, Brian de Lisle, William de Cantelupe, and Falkes, and a number of knights and men-at-arms drawn from the garrisons of the evacuated royal castles, to form the siege of the rebel Earl of Winchester’s great fortress of Mountsorel in Leicestershire.[132]
Tidings of these things reached Louis in France; “and when he heard them,” says a contemporary, “he was not at all glad.” About Easter time he had betaken himself to Calais, but with only a very small following; if he had gone to France with the hope of gathering forces there, he must have been disappointed. He had, however, procured a new machine called a trebuchet, “about which there was much talk, for at that time few of them had been seen in France.” With this machine, and a handful of knights—only one hundred and forty—he at last set sail[133] for England once more on Saturday, 22nd April.[134] As the French ships drew near to Dover on the morning of S. George’s day {Sunday, 23 April}, their occupants saw the huts which had been built to shelter the besiegers of the castle still standing, empty but intact. At that very moment, however, King John’s son Oliver and Willikin of the Weald came down upon the huts and set them on fire, after slaughtering some of the few men who had been left to guard them. To attempt a landing at Dover in the face of an enemy whose numbers and position it was impossible to distinguish amid the smoke thus raised, and who could so easily pour down a murderous fire of arrows and other missiles from the cliffs, would have been to court destruction. Louis therefore altered his course and made for Sandwich. There he succeeded in landing,[135] though not without opposition from some of the local ships.[136] Next day he rode to Dover and took up his quarters in the priory. There he heard dismal reports of the losses suffered by his adherents in other parts of England; so he hurriedly arranged with the constable of the castle for a further prolongation of the local truce,[137] and returned to Sandwich. Having now been joined by the Count of Nevers with a few followers, he dismissed the inferior portion of his own forces to the ships, which he sent back to France,[138] but, as the sequel showed, with instructions to return.[139] Then, after firing the town of Sandwich in vengeance for the hostility of its mariners,[140] he moved on to Canterbury; next day (Tuesday, 25th April) he set out for Winchester. At Malling he was met by Saer de Quincy, Simon de Langton, and some others of his English partisans. On the morrow (Wednesday, 26th) he “made a long day’s march, for he went from Malling to Guildford”; his baggage could not get beyond Reigate. On this day he was joined by Enguerrand de Coucy and the greater part of the garrison which he had left in London. Next day (Thursday, 27th) he reached Farnham, but only to find it prepared for defence against him, and to learn that Winchester castle was lost to him,[141] its castellans having surrendered it before they knew of his return to England.[142]
No sooner did the Marshal hear that Louis was back than he gave orders for the immediate razing of all the castles which had been retaken, except Farnham.[143] It was Farnham that Louis now turned to attack. The outer bailey was speedily captured by assault; but the keep, as a foreign chronicler quaintly says, “heeded it not.”[144] Next day (Friday, 28th April) Earl Saer of Winchester came to Louis asking for help to relieve Mountsorel.[145] Its garrison of ten knights and some men at arms under Henry de Braybroke had held out manfully for nearly a month, but had now found it needful to ask their lord, Saer, for succour.[146] After some consultation Louis, “being unable to get rid of him otherwise,”[147] sent him to London with orders that some of the leaders there should supply him with troops and accompany him to Mountsorel for the twofold purpose of relieving that fortress and “subduing the whole province” to Louis himself. Under the joint command of Saer, the count of Perche, Robert Fitz Walter, and some other barons, a large body of knights and men-at-arms, some English, some French, and “all coveting their neighbour’s goods,” as an indignant chronicler says, set out accordingly from London on Monday, 1st May.[148]
From S. Alban’s, where they halted for the night, the French mercenaries went about plundering churches, desecrating cemeteries, and putting “all sorts of people” to torture and ransom; at the abbey they got nothing but food and drink, Louis having apparently given it to be understood that he was “satisfied” with the larger sum which he had recently extorted from the abbot, and that they must exact nothing more. A marvellous experience which befell some of the sacrilegious spoilers at Redburn[149] probably sobered them somewhat, for they passed through Dunstable “without doing much harm.”[150] When, a few days later, they reached Mountsorel, they found that, so far as that castle was concerned, their work was done. The leaders of the besieging force had had timely warning from their scouts, and had withdrawn to Nottingham.[151]
Louis meanwhile had on Saturday, 29th April, marched from Farnham to Winchester, his rearguard chased by a party of Royalists from Windsor, who, however, failed to overtake it. The Marshal, after demolishing the castle as much as haste permitted, had evacuated the city, and the few Royalists left in it fled at the approach of the French. Louis stayed there five days, to put in train the restoration of the castle. On 4th May—Ascension Day—he left the completion of this work and the custody of the city to the Count of Nevers, and set out once more for London.[152] There he heard that the garrison of Dover had broken their truce, and chased and slain some of his men who had arrived at Dover after he left it. He stayed in London two nights and then went on to Dover, and on the Friday before Whit-Sunday, 12th May, set up his trebuchet before the castle, while his men built themselves huts all around in preparation for a renewal of the siege. Next day (Whitsun Eve) forty of his ships reappeared, seeking to enter the harbour; but a contrary wind drove them back to Calais, all except five, which made their way in together. On Monday, 15th, the other thirty-five came again from Calais. At the same time there hove in sight some eighty or more ships “great and small,” among them twenty “great ships armed and prepared for battle,” coming from Romney under Philip d’Aubigné and Nicolas Haringot. The small French transports, not daring to risk a meeting with these big vessels, fled towards Calais; twenty-seven of them however had advanced so far that they could not withdraw in time to avoid an encounter; eight of these were captured, the sailors and men-at-arms whom they carried were slain at once, and the knights imprisoned in the holds of the ships, “where they were uncomfortable enough.” The victorious English ships then anchored before the castle, thus effectually cutting off its besiegers from all chance of reinforcement by sea. Louis vented his rage by sending some of his men by land to burn Hythe and Romney; the “Wealdsmen” attacked them, but seemingly without success.[153]
While Louis was in London, the host which had gone to relieve Mountsorel moved eastward to Lincoln, at the urgent request of Hugh of Arras, who went in person to beg that they would all join him and his “Northern” friends at the siege of Lincoln Castle. He was, he said, almost on the point of taking it, and its capture would be a great advantage to the cause of Louis. After some debate the leaders consented, and the whole force marched to Lincoln and quartered itself in and around the city.[154] Tidings of this movement reached the Marshal on the Friday before Whit-Sunday {12 May}—the day on which Louis set up his trebuchet at Dover—when the council and the loyal barons were gathered round the King at Northampton for the approaching festival.[155] Hereupon, says his biographer, “God, Who supports, maintains, and counsels all loyal men, put into their hearts a marvellous counsel, of which came much good and much honour to them. List, then, the sum of the counsel with which God inspired the man chosen and renowned and trusted above them all. ‘Hearken,’ spoke William the Marshal, ‘loyal knights and all ye who are in fealty to the king! For God’s sake hearken to me, for what I have to say deserves a hearing. This day we bear the burden of arms to defend our fame, and for ourselves and our dear ones, our wives and children, and to keep our land in safety, and to win great honour, and for the peace of Holy Church, which these men have wronged and ill-used, and to gain remission and pardon of all our sins. Take heed then that there be no backsliders amongst us.’”[156] After this solemn exordium he put the situation clearly before his audience. Part of the enemies were sieging Lincoln Castle, but only a part; Louis was elsewhere, and “those who accompanied him had got themselves foolishly into a tangle.”[157] Here, then, was an opportunity not to be lightly thrown away. “For God’s sake, let us stake everything upon it! Remember that if we gain the victory, we shall increase our honour, and preserve for ourselves and our posterity the freedom which these men seek to take from us. We will keep it. God wills us to defend it! Therefore every man must bestir himself to the utmost of his power, for the thing cannot be done else. There must be no gaps in our armed ranks; our advance upon the foe must be no mere threat; but we must fall upon them swiftly. God of His mercy has granted us the hour for vengeance upon those who are come hither to do us ill; let no man draw back!” The whole assembly “took heart and hope, strength and hardihood” from his words, and became eager to go forward at all costs.[158] So, with the unanimous consent of Gualo and the other members of the royal council, the Marshal called upon all loyal castellans and knights to muster at Newark on Whit-Monday, 15th May.[159] They came gladly, to the number of four hundred knights, near two hundred and fifty cross-bowmen, and so many sergeants and horsemen as might well make up for the small number of knights.[160] The leaders of the host were the two William Marshals, Bishop Peter of Winchester (who was “learned in the art of war”), the Earls of Chester, Ferrers, and Aumale, William d’Aubigny, John Marshal, William de Cantelupe with his son of the same name, Falkes de Bréauté, Thomas Basset, Robert de Vipont, Brian de Lisle, Geoffrey de Lucy, Philip d’Aubigné, “and others.”[161]