History
In 1215 it was from either Odiham or Windsor that King John rode out to Runnymede where met he met the barons and signed the Magna Carta. A year later Odiham Castle was captured by the French after a two-week siege during the First Barons' War in 1216.
Odiham Castle might have become one of the most important strongholds in England. In 1238 Simon de Montfort married King John's daughter Eleanor just two years after she had been granted Odiham by her brother, King Henry III. However de Monfort rebelled against Henry and died at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 and Eleanor was exiled. Odiham Castle was again retained by the Crown.
The castle was also involved in the rebellion led by the powerful Despenser family against Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella of France, the wife of Edward II.
During the fourteenth century Odiham hosted Parliament. Scottish King David II, after his capture at the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, was also imprisoned here for 11 years. However he was held under light guard and was allowed to keep a household.
By the 15th century Odiham was used only as a hunting-lodge. In 1605 the former royal castle was described as a ruin.
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