Siege of Nottingham--Day Three

Siege of Nottingham, Day Three. The rebel garrison was now being subjected to an unrelenting bombardment by the mangonels. Richard had organized his men into eight hour shifts at the siege of Acre, so the garrison had no respite, and it is very likely that he did the same at Nottingham. He did not need to use the Greek fire, and was probably reluctant to do such widespread damage since Nottingham was a royal castle. While he was at dinner, two men from the castle emerged with a flag of truce, sent to see if the king had really returned; his taking the outer bailey in one day and then hanging those sergeants was probably a solid hint. The Histoire of William Marshal helpfully recorded their names, Sir Fouchier de Grendon and Henry Russell. Richard strode forward and demanded, “Well, what think you? Am I the king?” They agreed he was indeed the king and he sent them back to the castle to share the news. One of the constables and thirteen knights then surrendered at once, but the remainder of the garrison apparently needed to talk it over. They eventually yielded, too, when assured their lives would be spared. The three-day siege of Nottingham was over, and with it, John’s rebellion.

There are two eye-witness accounts of this siege, by Roger Hoveden and Marshal’s Histoire. The more affluent of the rebels were held prisoner until they paid ransoms; the remainder were freed upon posting fines. A few of these fines had not been fully paid by the time John assumed the throne in 1199; he apparently erased them from the rolls. Biographies of Richard discuss the siege, but the best in-depth account is The Siege of Nottingham Castle in 1194, by Trever Foulds, published in 1991 in Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, Vol XCV. I found it on-line several years ago when I was working on Prince of Darkness but I no longer have that link; it could probably be googled, though, for anyone interested.

Richard celebrated by making a visit to Sherwood Forest, which he’d not seen before; it was reported that he liked it very much. (No mention made of a meeting with Robin Hood.) He is now making ready for a Great Council meeting in Nottingham, and I will try to catch up on my Today in History Notes.
PS Henry de Pommeraye had ejected the monks from the island monastery of Mont St Michael in Cornwall and fortified it for John. (Is there anything left of it, Ken?) it was reported that when he heard Richard had regained his freedom, he died of fright!