An incident occurred when Eustace II Count of Boulogne visited Edward the Confessor, his brother-in-law. The incident occurred in Dover where a fight broke out between the Norman visitors and the locals resulting in the deaths of several people. The area of Dover was under the control of the Godwin family and Edward the Confessor, who blamed the people of Dover for the fight, told Earl Godwin to deal with them. Godwin refused to obey Edward's order and in response Edward raised an army and forced the Godwin family into exile.

After his victory at the battle of Hastings William moved along the south coast to Dover where extra fortifications were built in the existing castle at the top of the cliffs. From there he moved on to Canterbury. After the death of King Harold the archbishops of York and Canterbury, Ealdred and Stigand supported the plan to put Edgar the Atheling on the English throne but William moved too quickly for this to be done and Edgar was too young and inexperienced to take on the role. Canterbury submitted to William and he moved on to London. Instead of entering London from the south he moved around the west of the city crossing the Thames at Wallingford. Finally archbishop Stigand and the other Anglo-Saxon leaders submitted to William and after turning south at Little Berkhamsted William the Conqueror entered London.

While staying in Dover, King Stephen suddenly became ill and died. He had agreed that Matilda's son Henry should become King upon his death. Henry was in Normandy at the time.

Henry left England via Dover and sailed back across the Channel to the Continent. There he captured Maribeau and Chinon in Anjou. The area would remain in English hands until it was regained by the French in 1205 from King John.

King Henry II ordered the reconstruction of Dover Castle. The work would continue for twenty years and at the end of it, a brand new keep had been built, along with the outer walls of the inner bailey and sections of the outer wall.

Richard set sail with his crusading army from Dover Castle at the end of the year. To ensure he had the allegiance of his younger brother John, Richard had bestowed upon him the title count of Mortain and had approved John's marriage to their cousin Isabelle. But Richard did not nominate John as his heir.  ¹

Geoffrey, the illegitimate son of King Henry II and half-brother to Richard and John landed secretly at Dover. He had been consecrated as the new archbishop of York while in Tours and his return was banned by William Longchamp. Several days after he arrived he was arrested. Citing the Winchester treaty, John sought another meeting between himself and Longchamp. This was agreed and the two were to meet at Loddon bridge near Reading. Geoffrey was freed, but Longchamp decided to flee and headed to Dover Castle.

With events going badly in France for King John, the threat of invasion was a real possibility. To help prevent that John ordered Dover Castle to be handed over to William of Huntingfield who should defend it against attack. To ensure he did so, William's son and daughter were taken hostage and were not to be released until the castle was safely returned in person to the King or Hubert de Burgh. ¹

Stephen Langton landed at Dover from France to see King John and took the position of Archbishop of Canterbury. John refused to meet with him although John did meet Stephen's brother Simon. ¹

King John made his first act of submission to the Pope's envoy at Temple Ewell after the papal legate Pandulph asked members of the Knights Templar to arrange the meeting. Temple Ewell was a Templar preceptory located near Dover. ¹

Prince Louis advanced on Winchester and captured the city and its castle. Elsewhere, Windsor Castle and Dover Castle were besieged by the rebel barons. Both castles were defended and held out against the sieges. King John used Corfe Castle in the south-west as his base of operations while he planned his campaign against the rebel barons and Prince Louis.

After the marriage at a Cistercian convent in Castile, Edward and Eleanor returned via Dover to England. Eleanor lived initially at Windsor Castle.

Moving firstly westward from the stronghold of one of Henry's supporters to another, Simon de Montfort's forces did much damage, even though Simon had ordered that no sacred place should be attacked. Simon then moved towards the south east coast ports to secure them. By the end of June he had reached Dover, its inhabitants welcoming him. ¹

Edward (I) landed at Dover to be crowned king. (Why did it take him so long to return home after the death of his father?)

Towns at Dover, Folkestone, Harwich, Hastings, Portsmouth, Rye, and the Isle of Wight were attacked and many merchant ships were destroyed. The attackers even sailed into Portsmouth harbour pretending to be English by raising English flags and sacked the town.

A French fleet attacked Dover, Folkestone and Sandwich but they were driven back to France. Boulogne was attacked in revenge. ¹

An earthquake occurred somewhere in the Straits of Dover and was felt in southern England and in the Low Countries across the North Sea. The event happened during a meeting to condem the works of John Wycliffe.

Prince Henry was given the title of Constable of Dover. ¹

The lead coffin containing the body of King Henry V travelled to Calais and across the Channel to Dover. It passed through Canterbury and Rochester and arrived in London for burial in Westminster Abbey. The body was buried within the shrine of Edward the Confessor. ¹

King Henry VI landed at Dover. ¹

Prince Henry, the future King of England, received his first official title before he was 2 years old. It was the Constable of Dover Castle.

After sending an army of some 30,000 men to France, King Henry sailed to Calais from Dover and proceeded to besiege Boulogne. The siege lasted until the middle of September when the town surrendered. ¹

With the help of Mary, Philip now had extra support for his war with France and he departed England from Dover. This would be the last time they would see each other.

Parliamentarian forces attacked any Royalist strongholds they could find in Kent including the castle at Dover. The castle was captured and was placed under the control of Parliament. ¹