The siege of Caister Castle in 1469 is documented in extraordinary detail through the Paston Letters — the most complete surviving collection of medieval English family correspondence. John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, besieged the castle which the Pastons had inherited (controversially) from Sir John Fastolf. The garrison of around 30 men held out for nearly three months before starvation and illness forced surrender. The siege illustrates how the breakdown of royal authority during the Wars of the Roses allowed magnates to pursue private quarrels by force.
Duke of Norfolk: c.3,000 men with artillery. Paston garrison: c.30 men-at-arms
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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