This Day in History: 1400-01-08

On 8th January 1400, after a failed plot (Epiphany Rising) by the Earls of Salisbury, Huntingdon (Richard’s half-brother), Rutland and Kent (Richard’s nephew) and the Lord Despenser to seize Henry IV and his sons and arrange for Richard II’s release from imprisonment at Pontefract Castle, Salisbury was lynched at Cirencester. Lord Despenser managed to escape to Bristol but was murdered on the 15th January. The Earl of Huntingdon was seized at Pleshey in Essex and beheaded for his role in the attempted coup.