John of Nottingham was a sorcerer and necromancerForm of magic in which the dead are re-animated and able to communicate with the sorcerer who invoked them, just as they would if they were alive. alleged to have attempted to kill King Edward II and others in 1324 through the use of magic.^[1] Edward was at that time ruling England with his royal favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger, in an increasingly despotic manner.^[2] Although he had defeated his Lancastrian opponents at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322,^[3] many of his enemies had escaped to France, from where they continued to conspire against him. There had been an attempt earlier in 1324 to murder Edward and Despenser, which had been foiled.^[2]

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 Hugh Despenser and his father, also called Hugh.^[4] In November 1323, they had approached John of Nottingham, a famous magician based in Coventry,^[1] to request his assistance in killing the King, the Despensers, the prior and two of his officials using magic.^[4] John agreed, for the princely sum of £20 for himself and £15 for his assistant, Robert Marshall;^[1] £20 is the equivalent of about £613,000 as at 2024.^[a]Calculated using relative income value.^[5]

John and Robert were supplied with seven pounds of wax and two ells of cloth, with which they constructed six wax images of their targets and a seventh of Richard de Lowe, a local man on whom their magic was to be tested. The demonstration was a success; when a lead pin was inserted into the head of Richard’s image he lost his mind, and died following its insertion into the heart of his image.^[1]

For reasons unknown, Robert Marshall lodged an appeal to the authorities against John before any further attempts could be carried out. An appeal was a legal device by which a person could escape any punishment for a crime they committed by acknowledging their own guilt and testifying against their accomplices. At the resulting trial all the conspirators were acquitted, but John had died while in prison.^[1]