 During the First Barons ' War ( 1215 – 1217 ) in King John 's reign , baronial forces captured the castle from Archbishop Stephen Langton and held it against the king , who then besieged it . The Barnwell chronicler remarked " Our age has not known a siege so hard pressed nor so strongly resisted " . After resisting for just over seven weeks , the garrison surrendered . Although the castle had been greatly damaged , with breaches in the outer walls and one corner of the keep collapsed , it was hunger that eventually forced the defenders ' hand . The castle did not stay under John 's control for long : in 1216 it was captured by the French Prince Louis , who was the new leader of the baronial faction . John died and was succeeded by his son King Henry III in 1216 ; the next year , the war ended and the castle was taken under direct royal control . 
