 Conditions within the keep worsened by the day and the garrison were reduced to eating horse flesh . In an attempt to reduce the demand on limited provisions , some members were sent out of the keep , beginning with those least capable of fighting . Some sources record that they had their hands and feet amputated by the besiegers . On 30 November the garrison eventually surrendered and were taken captive . Initially John wanted to execute them all as was the custom of the time when a garrison had forced a long and bloody conflict . Savaric de <unk> , one of John 's captains , persuaded the king otherwise , concerned that similar treatment would be shown to royal garrisons by the rebels . Only one person was executed : a <unk> who had previously been in the service of the king since childhood was hanged . Many of the rebels were imprisoned , sent to royal castles such as Corfe for safe @-@ keeping . Of the siege the Barnwell chronicler wrote , " Our age has not known a siege so hard pressed nor so strongly resisted ... Afterwards few cared to put their trust in castles " . Prince Louis of France , son of Philip II , was invited by the barons to become the new leader of the rebellion and become king in the event of their victory . In 1216 he arrived in England and captured Rochester Castle ; it is not known how , however , as no documentary evidence recording the event survives . 
