1. Lesson 6: What happened at the siege of Rochester castle?
Knowledge: To recall the names of at least five weapons used against a castle.
Understanding: Explain how King John tried to capture Rochester Castle
Skill: To develop writing an account
Last Lesson
Pick the odd one out.
Arrow, sword, battle axe, chainmail, spear
Last Week
Concentric castles had moats to protect them.True or false?
Last Term
In the feudal system the peasants were the most powerful. True or false?

2. In 1215 a group of rebel barons weren’t happy with King John, because they felt he was a poor leader. To make matters worse, he kept asking the barons for more and more money in taxes for his unsuccessful wars. Rochester castle was very important to King John because it guarded one of the main roads in and out of London. The barons knew this, so they seized control in the summer of Rochester castle was very well defended. In 1206 the King himself spent a fortune improving the castles ditches and keep - making it one of the strongest castles in the country. The outer walls were over three metres thick and the walls of the main tower were 34 metres high. So the King decided to surround the castle lay siege to it.
EASY
Why was Rochester castle important?
The castle guarded...
MEDIUM
How was the castle defended?
It was one of….The outer walls were...and...
CHALLENGING
Can you infer (guess) what the word siege means?

3. List A
Siege
Trebuchet
Battering Ram
Siege Tower
Greek Fire
List B
A huge catapult
A covered ladder
French word for sit
Chemical fire that you couldn’t put out
Swings at doors and walls to make a hole
Task: Use the information on the diagram and match the key words to the definitions.
CHALLENGE
Which siege weapon do you think was most effecitve?

4. 1.What was King John’s secret weapon?
He decided to use..
2.Why did it work?
This is because ...burns so hot that…
3.What was the result?
In the end ...was destroyed

5. Write an account of the siege of Rochester castle. (8 marks)
Must have 4/ 5 events in chronological order.
1.Why was the castle important?
2. How was the castle defended?
3. How did the King try to capture the castle initially?
4. What did he try in the end?
The castle was very important because it was located...
The castle had …..walls and...towers. This made it difficult to….
The King first used standard siege weapons such as….They did not work because….
In the end he came up with a new plan to….This worked because….