After the Magna Carta was annulled and it was clear that King John was not going to agree to the terms of the charter the civil war between King John and the rebel barons began.The barons offered the English crown to Prince Louis, the son of King Philippe II of France and invited him to invade England. John confiscated the rebel barons' lands and gave them to his own supporters. King John besieged Rochester Castle where a garrison of men had been left by the barons. The garrison was starved out and the castle fell to the King.

Prince Louis of France besieged the castle at Berkhamsted. It fell to his army within a few weeks.

A small French army landed in London. Their commander informed the rebel barons that Prince Louis would soon arrive from France.

Invited by the barons opposed to King John, Prince Louis of France landed in England to claim the English Throne. Louis captured Rochester Castle after a short siege.

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.

King John's last visit to Odiham Castle was on April 14th, staying there for five days. In the middle of June Louis captured Winchester and marched to Odiham where a siege began. The small castle held out for several weeks and defied the French siege engines. Inside the castle were less than twenty men, a hand full of knights and ten sergeants. Finally on the 9th of July, they surrendered being assured they would retain their freedom, arms and horses.

A man called William of Cassingham, possibly known as Willekin of the Weald, supported King John against the invaders and attacked the rebel barons and French in whatever means he could using a form of guerrilla warfare. ¹

Prince Louis captured and almost destroyed the castle at Portchester.

Royalists besieged the French controlled Mountsorrel Castle in Lincolnshire. When Louis sent reinforcements to assist those in the castle the royalists moved away to Nottingham. The French army then made the mistake of moving on to Lincoln where the royalists had held out against previous attacks. ¹

King Henry III's supporters defeated the forces belonging to Prince Louis and the rebel barons that were besieging the castle at Lincoln.

Louis VIII became king of France, upon the death of his father Philippe Augustus. ¹

While King Henry was occupied with problems caused by the barons, Louis VIII took the opportunity to take an army into Poitou and besiege La Rochelle. Unable or unwilling to send assistance from England, Henry allowed the town to be captured and by the end of the year the northern part of Aquitaine fell to the French.

At just twelve years old, upon the death of his father, Louis IX became king of France. Because Louis was too young to rule, France was governed by the queen-mother Blanche of Castile, the widow of Louis VIII. The English believed the time was right to regain lost ground in Normandy, but it would be several years before any expeditions would take place. ¹