KENILWORTH CASTLE - NEW EVIDENCE!!!

Revisiting the siege of 1266, when huge stones battered one of the finest castles in England

James Ellroy, my favourite bad boy of American crime fiction, once wrote: ‘if you’ve got the stones, you can make history do whatever you want it to.’

Usually I quote that phrase idiomatically. But today it has the ring of literal truth. According to my morning newspaper, some truly gigantic stones have been examined at Kenilworth Castle, the great, now ruined, fortress in the English Midlands that was once the power-base for the Lancastrian dynasty.

Eight hunks of rock, weighing up to 105kg each, have been identified as catapult ammunition used when Kenilworth Castle was besieged in 1266.

(The BBC, among other outlets, has more.)

According to my paper, 105kg is roughly the same weight as a giant panda. I typically go around 97kg these days. I had never realised that I weighed as much as one of those monochrome, sex-shy bamboo munchers. But this is not the point.

What is the point is that these monster projectiles can be connected with one of the longest sieges in England’s medieval history, which took place during the final stages of the Second Barons’ War.

So what happened during this siege? Why was it so protracted, and why did the besieging army need to go so heavy on the artillery? Read on, and I shall explain.

Kenilworth Castle (these days)

The sad ballad of Henry III