Part 1.

The great siege of Rochester castle is
possibly the most famous siege of the
medieval period due mainly to the fact that its outcome would ultimately decide whether the crown of England would stand or fall. It is also the best documented of all medieval sieges.
The story really begins in the year 1204 when King John, the king of England, lost most of his lands in France including Normandy,
Anjou and Poitou to the king of France.
In an effort to regain these regions John had to raise huge amounts of money to pay his knights and also to recruit foreign mercenaries in order to do battle against the French king.
The money was raised by over-taxing his barons and extorting money in other ways such as fining people huge amounts for trivial offences.
This, and John's lack of success in France persuaded the barons to draw up a large list of complaints against him.
This list of complaints was called Magna Carta - the Great charter.
The king was forced to sign Magna Carta but, as soon as he had, he secretly wrote to the pope (Innocent III) asking that the charter be declared illegal and condemned, however, before the pope had an opportunity to write back, the rebel barons had agreed that John could not be trusted to adhere to the terms of the charter and had decided to offer the crown of England to Prince Louis, the eldest son of the king of France.
The scene was set for a bloody civil war.
King John had already taken possession of Rochester castle but under the terms of Magna Carta was forced to hand it back into the custody of the archbishop of Canterbury in May 1215.
In September the pope wrote to John announcing that Magna Carta was "not only shameful and base but also illegal and
unjust".
However, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Stephen Langton) refused to condemn the charter and was subsequently suspended from office.

In preparation for war John had been recruiting foreign mercenaries and from Dover he marched toward London, in his way stood Rochester castle.
The rebel barons had sent troops to Rochester under the command of William de Albini and when they arrived at the castle the gates were opened to them by the constable (Reginald de Cornhill).
Both John and the barons had sent envoys to the French court asking for support but the rebels had more to offer - The throne of England.
Prince Louis accepted the rebel's offer and made ready to cross the English channel from France.
Taking personal charge of military operations, King John marched to Rochester and by 13th October he was at the castle gates.
The rebels were expecting reinforcements from London but John broke down the bridge spanning the river Medway and proceeded to stable his horses at Rochester cathedral, he then sacked the cathedral and removed anything of value.
Orders were then sent to the men of Canterbury saying " We order you, just as you love us, and as soon as you see this letter, to make by day and night, all the pickaxes that you can. Every blacksmith in your city should stop all other work in order to make them and you should send them to us at Rochester with all speed".
Five siege engines were then erected, these giant stone throwing machines where intended to smash the mighty walls of the castle.
The outer walls were soon breached and the bailey was quickly captured, all that remained to do was to take the great keep.
By day and night John's siege engines battered the walls of the keep but the walls stood firm and soon John realized that he would have to review his tactics. More..........