The conspiracy
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.[3] 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.[4] John had set about doing this using necromantic ceremonies involving wax effigies of his targets.[2] 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.[5] 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.[5]
Unfortunately for John, his assistant Marshall then turned him in to the authorities, potentially as the result of a grievance against his master,[5] 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.[6]