before the martyr’s shrine, and allowed himself to be scourged by ‘all the bishops and0 abbots who were present, and each of the monks.’⁴²
   After the coronation of Richard I, the king of Scots, who had neglected to attend the ceremony, was summoned to Canterbury and an important treaty was concluded between the two kings.
   Returning to England in 1194, after an absence of four years and three months, Richard landed at Sandwich and proceeded next day to pay his first devotions at the shrine of St. Thomas.⁴³  In the reign of John it was upon Kent that the eyes of all were fixed during the struggle with the Pope and monks which resulted finally in the papal invitation to the French king to intervene with armed force. When the year 1213 found the English under arms to meet the French attack, a great assemblage of troops took place at Dover, Feversham and Ipswich, as the most likely points of invasion. But most of these were soon dismissed owing to difficulties of supply, and only the most efficient were retained. The army was then concentrated at Barham Down, near Canterbury, and is said to have numbered 60,000 picked knights and stout and well-equipped men-at-arms.⁴⁴
   Meantime the king was in Kent, moving from one seaport to another, superintending operations.⁴⁵  He had the Templar’s house at Ewell, between Barham Down and Dover, and there he met Pandulf on 13 and 15 May 1213 and surrendered England to the Pope. This was followed by Stephen Langton’s arrival at Dover and reinstatement in the primacy.
   Two years later the quarrel between John and his barons had become acute, and the king was actively preparing for war, which was not to be averted by the signing of Magna Charta on 15 June 1215. He took up his quarters on the coast to get ready for the reception of his allies and mercenaries, Michaelmas being fixed for a general muster at Dover. Here large bands, recruited in Gascony, Poitou, Flanders, and Brabant, joined the royal standard. John was anxious to secure the castle of Rochester, which was in the custody of the archbishop and was held for him by Reginald de Cornhill the younger. The king, finding he could no longer trust Reginald, had appointed Hubert de Burgh sheriff of Kent in his place,⁴⁶  but Reginald remained in charge of the castle and allowed Robert Fitz-Walter and William Daubeney to enter and garrison the place⁴⁷ on behalf of the baronial party. Within three days John appeared before the town and attempted to burn the bridge. Fitz-Walter, who appears to have remained outside the castle, repelled this attack; but two knights, one of them Oliver of Argentan, were taken prisoners. John took up his quarters in Rochester on 13 October and invested the castle, stabling his horses in the cathedral.⁴⁸  For seven weeks the garrison, under Reginald of Cornhill and William Daubeney, held the king at bay in spite of a bombardment kept up day and night. The outworks were first taken by John, then recovered by the garrison, but finally lost. The barons made a feeble attempt at relief, but returned to London and left Rochester to its own resources. At last a breach was effected by mining; the defenders were reduced to eating their
   ⁴² Ibid. 248. For later visits see the article on Ecclesiastical History.
   ⁴³ Rymer, Faedera, i, 50.
   ⁴⁴  R. Wendover, Flores Hist. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 67.    ⁴⁵ Itinerary.
   ⁴⁶ 25 June. Hasted, Kent, i, lx. Five days later he was made governor of Dover Castle. 
   ⁴⁷  Ralph of Coggeshall, Chron. (Rolls Ser.), 173, 174, 176.
   ⁴⁸  Ibid. and Itinerary.