page_title: John of Nottingham
section_title: The conspiracy
hierarchical_section_title: John of Nottingham / The conspiracy
caption_attribution_description: English: Edward II of England
context_page_description: John of Nottingham was a famous 14th century magician, said to have plotted to kill Edward II of England and Hugh Despenser the Younger in 1324 through witchcraft.
context_section_description: According to the case brought by the prosecution, twenty eight citizens of Coventry had become particularly discontented with the Prior of Coventry, who had been extracting considerable taxes from the city with the backing of the Despensers. In November 1323 they had approached John of Nottingham, a famous magician based in Coventry, to request his assistance in killing the King, Hugh Despenser and his father, along with the prior, using magic. John had set about doing this using necromantic ceremonies involving wax effigies of his targets. Using seven pounds of wax and two yards of cloth, John allegedly made effigies of the four main targets, the prior's unpopular caterer and his steward, along with one of Richard de Lowe, a local man on whom the magic was to be first tested. John was said to have worked with his assistant Robert Marshall in a deserted house just outside Coventry on the magical effigies, which he ultimately tested in 1324 by driving a lead pin first into the head, and then the heart of de Lowe's effigy; de Lowe apparently died as a result.
  Unfortunately for John, his assistant Marshall then turned him into the authorities, potentially as the result of a grievance against his master, before any further attacks could be made. The case against John and his sponsors came up before the King's Bench later in the year, in which the group were tried for the murder of de Lowe. They were found innocent by the jury.
caption: John of Nottingham was said to have been hired to kill the unpopular Edward II, shown here in a contemporary picture, and several of the king's key supporters with magic.
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