Today is the 696th anniversary of the death of Piers Gaveston, run through with a sword and beheaded at Blacklow Hill, Warwickshire, on 19 June 1312.The story of Piers’ death – abducted from the earl of Pembroke’s custody by the earl of Warwick and killed in the presence of the earls of Lancaster, Hereford and Arundel – has been told so often I’m not going to bother repeating it here. Instead, I’ll look at some lesser-known aspects of the whole sordid business.