Rory McGrath finds out how King John was able to burn down Rochester in 1215 during the First Barons' War (1215–17). This civil war was between a group of rebellious barons, led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France, and King John of England. The war resulted from the king's refusal to accept and abide by the Magna Carta he had sealed (not signed) on 15 June 1215, and from the ambitions of the French prince, who dragged the war on after many of the rebel barons had made peace with John.