“Politics is a blood sport.”
Not in every era do yesterday’s defeated political factions get to retire to write their memoirs or snipe from the comfort of the parliamentary minority.
Certainly not in the 1380s, when the teenage King Richard II and a confederation of nobles fought one another for control of England.
After gaining an early upper hand in 1386, Richard soon found himself defeated on the battlefield and politically encircled — leading to the memorable seating of the “Merciless Parliament”, which proceeded to attaint Richard’s advisors of treason.
A certain archbishop of York, Alexander Nevill by name, Robert de Vere, duke of Ireland, Robert Tresilian, chief justice of the lord king, and Nicholas Brembre, knight and former mayor of the citizens of London, were governors and close councillors of the king, living in vice, deluding the said king, concerned neither with the king’s nor the kingdom’s business but embracing the mammon of iniquity for themselves through much wickedness.
Two of them (not the only two by any stretch) suffered accordingly these next two dates in 1388.
Now that is politics as bloodsport.
On this day..
- 1803: Mathias Weber, Rhineland robber
- 1901: Sampson Silas Salmon
- 1951: Jean Lee, the last woman to hang in Australia
- 1329: The effigy of Pope John XXII, by Antipope Nicholas V
- 2009: Abdullah Fareivar, by the rope instead of the stone
- 1861: The Bascom Affair hangings, Apache War triggers
- 1878: J.W. Rover, sulfurous
- 1762: Francois Rochette and the Grenier brothes, the last Huguenot martyrs in France
- 1836: Giuseppe Fieschi, Pierre Morey, and Theodore Pepin, infernal machinists
- 1790: Thomas de Mahy, Marquis de Favras
- 1388: Robert Tresilian, former Chief Justice
- 1858: Chief Leschi
- 1942: Frank Abbandando and Harry Maione, mob hitmen