PanzerKaput Goes To Barons' War

“When the French occupied the Kentish weald, their troops did great harm to the local people and their possessions. William of Cassingham and his band of archers repaid the French in kind. Patrols set off into the woods, never to be seen again. Supply convoys were ambushed, and sentries shot at their posts. When the French king heard of this partisan raising hell in “his” country, he dispatched one of his most able servants, Thomas, Count of Perche to put an end to the English menace.”
A fictional excerpt from Roger of Wendover’s chronicle, describing the exploits of English partisan William of Cassingham.

Thomas, Count of Perche

Born to Geoffrey III and Mathilda of Saxony, Thomas grew up in the care of his step-father, Enguerrand III Lord of Coucy. Eager to prove himself, he fought with the French army at Bouvines, where his retinue of militiamen fought in the army’s left wing. Having won his spurs on the battlefield, the Count joined Louis’ expedition to England in 1216.

When John died, and the French elected to continue the struggle against the English barons, Thomas found himself embattled around the town of Lincoln, as fitting a knight of his stature he was offered quarter which he declined and fought on to the death. Thomas, Count of Perche’s body was found in the aftermath stabbed through the eyes of his visor, when William Marshal the leader of the Royalist forces heard this he wept. The death of such a high-profile noble in battle shocked both sides.

William of Cassingham

William of Cassingham, nicknamed Willikin of the Weald by chroniclers, was a country squire who took up arms to oppose the French invasion. Reportedly, his army of guerrillas numbered in the thousands, and wreaked havoc on the enemy in the Kentish Weald. His travels to John’s base of operations in Nottingham castle may have permanently associated bow-wielding outlaws with the area, giving rise to the legend of Robin Hood in later centuries.

At the end of the war, due to his loyalty to the crown, William was granted a handsome pension and made Warden of the Weald and Sergeant of the Peace by King Henry, a post he held until his death.

I have painted the Knight character, Thomas, Count of Perche, different to the way to the way it was meant to be but have painted, William of Cassingham, the true Robin Hood, the way he should be.