William of Cassingham

Who was William of Cassingham?

William of Cassingham was a country squire of Cassingham in Kent at the time of the First Barons' War. During that conflict he raised a guerrilla force of archers which opposed the otherwise total occupation of the south-east by Prince Louis of France. A contemporary chronicler, Roger of Wendover, wrote of him:

On the death of John and accession of Henry III in October 1216, much of Louis' English support fell away and he decided to march from London to the south coast to sail to France for reinforcements. On the way, William's force ambushed Louis near Lewes, routing them and pursuing them to Winchelsea, where they only escaped starvation thanks to the arrival of a French fleet. When Louis sailed back to England to renew a siege of Dover Castle in May 1217, he found William attacking and burning the French camp there, and so decided to land instead at Sandwich and march to the castle from there.

At the end of the war, William was granted a pension from the crown and made warden of the Weald and Sergeant of the Peace in reward for his services. Until his death he filled this post, collected his pension and fulfilled minor duties such as fetching logs for the royal household. Holinshed's Chronicles writes of him "O Worthy man of English blood!".