The King John Medieval Weekend is set to transport visitors back to the thirteenth century at Berkeley Castle when there will be chances to meet the King and his men, learn how and why the Castle was confiscated in 1216, and enjoy living history displays in the encampment on the Castle grounds.

The second Robert lord Berkeley was a direct ancestor of the present Mr Berkeley. He succeeded to the Castle and estates in 1190 on the death of his father Maurice. Robert was brought up in the court of King Henry II so would have been personally known to both King Richard and King John. For a time he was well treated by King John but in 1211 he fell out of favour and the King confiscated the Castle. Robert was only able to recover his property by agreeing to pay a large fine.

King John’s greed and tyrannical style of government made him very unpopular with some of his nobles and this resulted in open opposition to the King in 1215.

Magna Carta was sealed by King John at Runnymede near Windsor on 15 June 1215. It was the first attempt to make the sovereign subject to law. Although he is not named on the charter as one of the top 25 barons charged with overseeing its implementation, Robert would certainly have been at Runnymede because he helped to draft the ‘Articles of the Barons’ which set out their initial demands.

However King John soon regained power and reneged on his Magna Carta promises of fairer government. He took the estates of many of the barons who had compelled him to agree to Magna Carta including Robert. Although Robert regained the Berkeley estates in 1217 he was not allowed to repossess the Castle which was only restored to the family in 1223, three years after Robert’s death.

For a full list of 2016 events visitberkeley-castle.com/whatson.html

Berkeley Castle is open from Sunday to Wednesday until 31 October from 11am – 5pm (last admission 4pm).