Louis immediately attempted to persuade the garrison to accept him as king in preference to the young Henry but the garrison, having no quarrel with Henry, declined his offer.
After almost three months spent at Dover, Louis set off for London only to return on the 12th of May 1217 to attempt to capture Dover castle once again. This time a trebuchet was employed but, just as the mangonels and perriers had failed, so did the trebuchet. Matthew Paris referred to this awesome piece of medieval artillery, calling it the "Malvoisin" (the bad neighbour).
Luck turned from bad to worse for the French prince when half of his army were killed at the battle of Lincoln on the 20th of May. On hearing of this defeat Louis dismantled his trebuchet and once again returned to London.
Worse news was to follow. The decisive sea battle at Sandwich on the 24th of May, which prevented reinforcments from France, was to

mark the end of Louis's quest for the throne of England.
Hubert de Burgh, the constable of Dover castle, had not only successfully defended the "Key of England", but had also led the English fleet to victory at Sandwich.
An honourable retreat was negotiated (The treaty of Kingston, September1217) and, after being paid a large amount of money, Prince Louis agreed to leave England and set sail for his homeland and was later to become King Louis VIII of France. (1223-26).

© Paul Hillman. 2005.
Edited by Peter Kitchin.