Popish Plot and the exclusion crisis Flashcards
Charles II
Who came up with the Popish plot
Titus Oates on the 13th August 1678
What happened on the 6th Sept
Oates swore to a deposition before Sir Edmund Godfrey
What were the plans
Plans to shoot the king on the 24th April 1678 - Would then be Catholic uprisings in Ireland and England
Why did many find the story convincing
It was unoriginal and incorporated English anti-Catholic ideologies
Coleman papers
Gave evidence to the popish plot claims
Did it last long
No it was short lived becoming non existent by the spring of 1679
What anti-catholic measures did Charles bring in
Policy of limited concessions which reissued anti-Catholic proclamations and the test act
Revelations of Montagu
- Determined to secure Danby’s downfall by revealing letters written by Danby to the house of Commons in Dec 1678
Why did Charles Prorogue and dissolve Parliament
To save James from being impeached - protecting his right to succeed him
Why could James Duke of York not be High admiral
He was a Catholic - Test act of 1673 meant he couldn’t get into office
What had Oates attempted to be
A Jesuit 3 times but failed and therefore wanted revenge
How did Charles Respond to the Popish plot idea
He didn’t believe it
What happened to Godfrey
Murdered on 12th October - believed to be by Oates’s papist conspirators ( Catholics )
National panic that ensued the popish plot
35 people were executed with most being catholic priests
How did the Earl of Shaftesbury get involved in the Popish plot
- Opponent of James Duke of York - Used London’s new monument to create fear that the Catholics would cause a second fir of London if they got into power
What happened in 1679 and 1680 parliamentary elections
Majority were for excluding James - Charles dissolves both parliaments - Charles was going to have to fight for James’s succession
Oxford Parliament
- 1681
- Weaknesses emerging in the exclusionist side with Charles gaining more power
What were the exclusionist’s divided about
- Moderates - Wanted James’s daughter Mary and husband Duke of Orange to be king and queen
- Radicals - Wanted duke of Monmouth to be next king
How did Charles respond to the idea of his illegitimate son Monmouth becoming king
Jan 1679 he summoned the privy council and declared he had only been married to queen Catherine
What were the two sides that developed out of the Exclusion crisis
- Whigs = Wanted religious toleration and the monarchy to answer to the people
- Tories = Believed authority from the monarch came from god - wanted James to be the next heir to the throne - also wanted to maintain the CofE
Which side did the king support
Tories - he attacked the stronghold of the Whigs and purged them from public office
What was the Rye house plot
Whig’s planned to kill Charles II - he responded by executed 2 of them which sent the rest into exile in the Netherlands e.g. Shaftsbury
What did the CofE claim
The Whigs were guilty of blasphemy and the Tories were correct
History of anti-Catholicism
- Book of martyrs which shared stories of people dying for the protestant faith
- Queen Mary burned 300 Protestants in the 1550s
