Citizendia
Your Ad Here

The Popish Plot was an alleged conspiracy which gripped England in anti-Catholic hysteria from 1678 until 1681. Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for Discrimination, hostility or Prejudice directed at the Roman Catholic Church or its followers [1] In August 1678, Charles II was informed by Christopher Kirkby of a catholic plot to kill him. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Kirkby had found out from Dr Israel Tongue, who, when questioned, said his information came from Titus Oates. Israel Tonge (aka Ezerel or Ezreel Tongue) ( 11 November 1621 &ndash 1680 was an English divine and a informer in the "Popish" Titus Oates ( September 15, 1649 &ndash July 12/13 1705 was a 17th-century perjurer who fabricated the " Popish Plot " a supposed [2] Oates would eventually make a host of accusations leading to the execution of at least 15 men. However public opinion eventually began to change and Oates was arrested for sedition, fined £100,000 and thrown into prison. This is about the law term For other uses see Sedition (disambiguation Sedition is a term of Law which refers to covert conduct

Contents

Background

There was a growing fear by Protestants of increasing Catholic influence in England. Charles' heir, his brother James Stuart, Duke of York had Converted to Catholicism, and the King's wife, Catherine of Braganza, was also Catholic. James II of England and Ireland James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 &ndash 16 September 1701 was King of England, King of Scots, Later that same year James James II of England and Ireland James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 &ndash 16 September 1701 was King of England, King of Scots, Later that same year James Catherine Henrietta of Braganza (25 November 1638 &ndash 31 December 1705 was a Portuguese Infanta and the Queen consort of Charles II of Charles' wars and religious policies during the 1670s led to conflict with parliament. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In 1672, Charles issued the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, in which he purported to suspend all penal laws against Roman Catholics and other religious dissenters. The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England 's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists in his realms by suspending In the most general sense penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation as opposed to civil law that seeks [3]

Charles II did not want to share power but needed Parliament for money. This article is a List of Parliaments of England Devolved English Parliament is about the debate on a devolved parliament for England He believed that an alliance with Catholic France would provide money and aid him in becoming the absolute monarch of England. As the power of the Cabal Ministry waned Thomas Osborne, Lord Danby assumed more influence in his role as Lord High Treasurer. The Cabal was a group of high councillors who held power in England from 1668 to approximately 1674. Thomas Osborne 1st Duke of Leeds ( February 20 1631 - July 26 1712) English statesman commonly known also by his earlier title of Earl The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer is an old English (after 1707, British) government position Danby sought to divert the king from a Francophile foreign policy. [4]

In December 1677 an anonymous pamphlet (possibly by Andrew Marvell) spread alarm in London by suggesting Rome planned to change the lawful government of England. Andrew Marvell ( 31 March 1621 &ndash 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, and the son of a Church of [5]

The Plot

The Plot unfolded in a very peculiar fashion. Oates and Tonge had written a large manuscript that accused the Roman Catholic Church of approving an assassination of Charles II. The Jesuits in England were to carry out the task. The Oates and Tonge manuscript also named nearly 100 Jesuits and supporters that were involved in the assassination plot. Nothing in this document was ever proven to be true.

Oates slipped a copy of the manuscript into the wainscot of a gallery in Sir Richard Barker's house. [6] The following day Tonge claimed to find the manuscript, and showed it to an acquaintance, Christopher Kirkby, who was shocked and decided to inform the King. Kirkby was a chemist and a former assistant in Charles's scientific experiments; he bragged about his access to the king. [7] On 13 August 1678, whilst Charles was out walking in St James's Park, the chemist informed him of the plot. For the football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, see St James' Park; for the football stadium in Exeter, see St James Park [8] Charles was dismissive but Kirkby stated that he knew the names of assassins who planned to shoot the King in the park and, if that failed, the Queen's physician, Sir George Wakeman, would poison him. When the king demanded proof, the chemist offered to bring Tonge who knew of these matters personally. Charles told Kirkby to present Tonge before Lord Danby. Tonge then lied to Danby that he had found the manuscript but did not know the author although it was probably a man he had seen once or twice and whom he had engaged in light conversation.

Danby advised the king to order an investigation. Charles II denied the request maintaining that the entire affair was absurd. He told Danby to keep the events secret so as not to put the idea of regicide into the people's minds. The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a Monarch, or the person responsible for it [9] However, word of the manuscript eventually spread to the Duke of York, who publicly called for an investigation into the matter. During the investigation, Oates' name arose.

On 6 September Oates was summoned before the magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey to swear an oath prior to his testimony before the king. Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey ( 23 December, 1621 – 12 October, 1678) was an English Magistrate whose mysterious death caused Oates claimed that he had been at a Jesuit meeting held at the White Horse Tavern in the Strand, London on April 24, 1678. The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order The Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. [10] According to Oates, the purpose of that meeting was to discuss the assassination of Charles II. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The meeting discussed a variety of assassination methods which included: Stabbing by Irish ruffians, shooting by two Jesuit soldiers, or the assassination of Charles II by the Queen's physician, Sir George Wakeman. Sir George Wakeman was a Physician to Catherine of Braganza, Consort of Charles II of England. [11]

When Oates and Tonge were brought before the Privy Council later that month, Charles caught out several of Oates' lies and proceeded to denounce his credibility. A privy council is a body that advises the Head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically but not always in the context of a [12]

The Tipping Point

The Popish Plot was nearly dismissed as nothing but a conspiracy theory until the murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey. Papist is a term usually disparaging or an Anti-Catholic slur referring to a member of the Catholic Church. Godfrey was a member of Parliament, and a strong supporter of Protestantism. His disappearance on October 12, 1678, and the finding of his body on October 17 sent the Protestant population into an uproar. His murder was unsolved. Many of his Protestant supporters blamed the murder on the Catholic Church. This sent the Popish Plot from a conspiracy to an absolute truth. Every Protestant in England feared that the Catholic Church was planning a massacre of dissenters. To this day, no one is certain who killed Sir Edmond Godfrey. There is some rumor that Oates and Tonge may have committed the murder to advance their cause, but no evidence to support that rumor exists.

The hysteria of the Plot elevated Oates to a national hero. He was given a residence and an allowance. Oates' testimony led to the conviction and execution of fifteen men. During this time the political Whig party gained popularity. The anti-Catholic sentiment grew to the point of public rallies against Catholicism. There were several occasions that makeshift images of the Pope were burned [13] Eventually the lies of Oates were realized and the hysteria of the Plot diminished. Oates was found to be a liar and was put in prison by James II who took the throne after Charles II. Oates was later released.

Gallery of Playing cards

Informer William Bedloe

Titus Oates uncovers plot

Magistrate Edmund Berry Godfrey with Oates

William Brooks, Alderman of Dublin

Thomas Pickering, Benedictine monk and victim of the Popish Plot

Nathaniel Reading in Pillory

Edward Colman a victim of Oates's plot

The execution of the five Jesuits

External links

References

  1. ^ Heald, Henrietta (1992). Chronicle of Britain. Jacques Legrand, 605. ISBN 0192116959.  
  2. ^ Brown, Molly (1999). The Invitation to a Funeral. Saint Martin's Press Inc. . ISBN 0312970943.  
  3. ^ Fraser, pp. 305–308 and Hutton, pp. 284–285
  4. ^ Mark Knights, ‘Osborne, Thomas, first duke of Leeds (1632–1712)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004
  5. ^ Heald, Henrietta (1992). Chronicle of Britain. Jacques Legrand, 603. ISBN 0192116959.  
  6. ^ >Pollock, John p. 13
  7. ^ Alan Marshall, ‘Tonge, Israel (1621–1680)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004
  8. ^ Brown, Molly (1999). The Invitation to a Funeral. Saint Martin's Press Inc. . ISBN 0312970943.  
  9. ^ Pollock, John p. 73-74
  10. ^ Williams, Shelia (1958). The Pope-Burning Processions of 1679, 1680 and 1681. "Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. " p. 104-118. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from JSTOR database.
  11. ^ Williams, Shelia p. 104-118
  12. ^ Heald, Henrietta (1992). Chronicle of Britain. Jacques Legrand, 604-5. ISBN 0192116959.  
  13. ^ Williams, Shelia p. 104-118
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic