This Day in History: 1321-10-31

On 31st October 1321, John de Warenne – 7th Earl of Surrey and owner of Sandal Castle – was with King Edward II, at the fall of Leeds Castle in Kent. The castle had been besieged following Queen Isabella coming under attack from the battlements when she sought shelter on her pilgrimage to Canterbury. John was now clearly back in the king’s favour, but his lands in Yorkshire – including Sandal Castle – which had been given up when he had been forced to come to terms with Thomas Earl of Lancaster in 1319, would for the time being, remain in the king’s hands, even after John would be one of the lords that would pass the death sentence on Lancaster in March 1322 at his trial in the Great Hall at Pontefract Castle. John would spend the summers of 1322 and 1323 campaigning in Scotland.