- Pontefract Castle 13th Century
- 1215 - On 23rd July 1215 King John wrote a strongly-worded letter, from a council at Oxford, to the men of Yorkshire, covering all ranks (and by implication John de Lacy, lord of Pontefract), to hand back possessions they had seized from the king, by the 15th August; the same date that London was to be returned to the king. On the 16th July, at Oxford King John had demanded the restoration of his treasure from London plus the formal restoration of peace. The barons had sought to extend their power over institutions such as the Exchequer in addition to presenting further claims for restoration of lands from the king and intervening in the appointment of local officials to secure favourable terms. Unsurprisingly the council ended abruptly with the Barons leaving "with great rancour".
- 1229 - On 23rd July 1229, John de Lacy, lord of Pontefract, was at the Northampton council convened by Henry III which agreed to muster an army and fleet at Portsmouth on 13th October to recover 'lost' lands in France.
- Pontefract Castle 14th Century
- 1326 - On 23rd July 1326, Henry of Lancaster, brother of the executed Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and later to be lord of Pontefract when Edward III returned the earldom to him, was made Joint Commissioner of Array in the counties of Warwick, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby by Edward II. The king was now under enormous pressure to mobilise his defences against possible invasion by France or Roger Mortimer and his mistress, Queen Isabella.
- Sandal Castle 15th Century
- 1483 - On 23rd July 1483, Richard III, lord of Sandal, wrote an agreement protecting the widow (Katherine Neville) and children of Lord Hastings who had been executed for treason the previous month. No attainder was issued meaning that his family kept their titles and land and Hastings’ brother, Ralph was pardoned on 2nd August.