" The removal of Nicola de la Haye might also affect the outcome of the siege.’ In the dark days when most women went unnoticed and were barred from education or public office, Nicola de la Haye shone like a star. Inheriting the position of Constable of Lincoln Castle from her father, she so impressed King John that he made her Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1216. It would be very fair to say that without her leadership, Lincoln Castle would have fallen. And England, too. "

― Jodi Taylor , A Catalogue of Catastrophe (The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #13)