Blood Cries Afar (65 page)

John’s French campaign, 1206. His success at Montauban was deep in the south, far away from the main crucible of war to the north. (W.L. Warren,
King John
)

The great seal of Philip Augustus. (Archives Nationales, Sceaux, Paris)

A cavalry charge at the Battle of Bouvines, 1214, one of the most important battles of the entire Middle Ages. (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)

The Battle of Bouvines: King Philip lies in mortal danger while Huge de Boves makes his escape from the battlefield. (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

Count Ferrand of Flanders and Count Renaud de Boulogne are escorted to prison after the Battle of Bouvines. (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)

Philip Augustus receives the swords of his vassals in homage. (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore)

Magna Carta. King John hoped it would buy him time to muster his forces against the rebels and prevent a French invasion. (Dean and Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral)

Seal of Robert Fitzwalter, general of the rebel army and a leading commander of Louis’s forces. The other shield is that of Robert’s fellow rebel, Saer de Quincy, representing their solidarity in their cause. (Trustees of the British Museum)

Rochester Castle. The tower in the background was rebuilt after the original one was destroyed during the siege of 1215; it is constructed in a more advanced, rounded form. (Author)

Rochester Cathedral as seen from the ramparts of Rochester Castle. John is recorded as having stabled his horses in the cathedral during the siege. (Author)

The interior cross-wall of the keep at Rochester Castle, behind which the defenders of the 1215 siege were forced to withdraw. (Author)

The fate of a defeated English garrison. Angered and frustrated by the rebels’ defence of Rochester Castle, John expressed his intention at the siege of Rochester to hand out the same treatment to the garrison there. (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)

Belvoir Castle. Roger d’Albini, who led the heroic defence at Rochester, was the master here. It was in the sights of John during his vicious campaign of 1215–16. The leading English chronicler of events for this time, Roger of Wendover, was prior at Belvoir. (Author)