BattlefieldsDover Castle Siege by Louis 1216
Medieval

Dover Castle Siege by Louis 1216

1216
England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Prince Louis
Forces
Hubert de Burgh garrison
VS
Victor
Hubert de Burgh
Forces
Prince Louis with French siege engineers
Outcome
Dover never fell; de Burgh s defence preserved it as royalist rallying point throughout the war
The Battle

History & Significance

Prince Louis of France besieged Dover Castle in 1216-17, the greatest siege of the First Barons War. Hubert de Burgh held it for the English crown. Louis deployed miners who collapsed a section of the outer gate tower but de Burgh s men blocked the breach with timber. The castle never fell. Louis attempted negotiations and diversionary assaults. Dover s resistance was the single most important military factor in the royalist recovery after John s death.

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