In an age when women were little more than the property of their husbands, barred from public life, and whose lives went unrecorded, Nichola de la Haye really stands out.

Nichola inherited the position of Constable of Lincoln Castle from her father Richard de la Haye, a minor Lincolnshire Lord. Her work was noticed by King John, who in 1216 made Nichola Sheriff of Lincolnshire, even though she was a woman and in her mid-sixties.

The Battle of Lincoln

By May 1217, much of England had been taken by the combined French and rebel English forces, including the city of Lincoln, during the First Barons’ War. Only Lincoln Castle remained in support of the new King Henry III. As Constable, Nichola kept power of Lincoln Castle during months of sieges from the invading forces.

On the morning of May 20th the Second Battle of Lincoln was fought as the famous William Marshal arrived in the city with royalist forces to support the Castle. The French and rebel forces were defeated, the siege ended, and the invading forces retreated.

It was a turning point in the First Barons’ War, and meant that Prince Louis would not take the English throne.