In 1461, left in charge of the castle by her husband, she refused to surrender it to Edward IV and the royal commissioners.
[1] Raising the drawbridge, she defended the castle "with slings, 'paveises', faggots, timbers, and other armaments of war", assisted by fifty people "armed with swords, 'glavyes', bows and arrows".
[2]When the castle of Bokenham fell to the Crown, in the turbulent last years of Henry VI, John and William Knyvet seized possession of it in defiance of royal authority.
When Twyer shouted a demand to be admitted, there appeared 'at a certain little tower' of the drawbridge John Knyvet's wife Alice, backed by some fifty persons in warlike array.
'[3] Alice's manner must have been as emphatic as her words: 'for fear of death and mutilation' John Twyer and his companions hastily withdrew.