The Road to Runnymede
By 1215, King John had alienated virtually every powerful faction in England. He had lost Normandy to the French, imposed crushing taxes, quarrelled with the Pope (who placed England under interdict for five years), and ruled with an arbitrary cruelty that even by medieval standards was exceptional. In January 1215, a group of rebel barons confronted John and demanded he confirm their traditional liberties. John stalled. In May, the rebels seized London. On 15 June 1215, at Runnymede, a meadow beside the Thames, King John placed his seal on the Magna Carta — the Great Charter of English liberties. It was the first time in English history that a king had been forced to submit to the rule of law.
Magna Carta established the revolutionary principle that even the king was subject to law — a concept that would shape democracy across the world for eight centuries.
The Collapse of Peace
The peace lasted barely two months. John repudiated the charter almost immediately, and Pope Innocent III annulled it. Civil war erupted. The rebel barons, unable to defeat John on their own, made a fateful decision: they invited Prince Louis of France to invade England and take the crown. Louis landed in May 1216 with a French army. By autumn, the rebels controlled London and most of south-east England. John retreated north, his army dwindling. In October 1216, while crossing the Wash in Lincolnshire, John lost the Crown Jewels in the marshes. He fell ill, possibly from dysentery, and died at Newark Castle on 18/19 October 1216. His nine-year-old son was crowned Henry III.
King John at Lincoln Castle
Before his death, King John visited Lincoln Castle. The scene that greeted him has become one of the most famous moments in the barony's history. Nichola de la Haye, the 5th Baron of Brattleby, met the king at the eastern gate, carrying the keys of the castle. She told John that she was too old and too weak to continue her duties as castellan. The king's response echoed through the centuries: 'My beloved Nichola, I will that you keep the castle until I order otherwise.' He then personally inspected the castle's defences. It was one of his last acts as king — a recognition that in a kingdom falling apart, this elderly woman was one of the few people he could trust.
John's words to Nichola — 'My beloved Nichola' — are among the most personal recorded utterances of any medieval English king. They reveal a relationship of genuine trust and respect.
The Battle of Lincoln — 1217
After John's death, the war continued. The French and rebel barons besieged Lincoln Castle, which Nichola still held. On 20 May 1217, a royalist army under William Marshall, the legendary 'greatest knight who ever lived,' marched to Lincoln's relief. The battle that followed was decisive. Marshall's forces entered the city through a gate that had been blocked but not guarded, and attacked the besiegers from behind while Nichola's garrison sallied out from the castle. The French and rebel forces were routed in what became mockingly known as the 'Lincoln Fair' — because the victorious royalists looted the town so thoroughly. The Battle of Lincoln was the turning point of the First Barons' War. Within months, the French were forced to withdraw from England.
Nichola as High Sheriff
During this period, Nichola served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, jointly with Philip Marc. This was an almost unprecedented distinction for a woman in medieval England. The office of Sheriff was one of the most powerful in the county — responsible for law enforcement, tax collection, maintaining the king's peace, and commanding the county's military forces. That the Crown entrusted this office to a woman speaks volumes about Nichola's reputation and capability. She was not a figurehead; she was the active, functioning sheriff of one of England's largest and most important counties.