POPISH PLOT

The 'Popish Plot' (1678–1681) was an alleged Catholic conspiracy. In fact the plot was devised as part of a conspiracy to discredit Catholics in England.
In 1678 a pair of corrupt English clergymen named Titus Oates and Israel Tonge announced that they had uncovered a "Popish Plot" to murder King Charles II of England and replace him with James, his Roman Catholic brother. Nonconformists rushed to support the Anglican Whigs, who consequently won a great majority in the House of Commons. In 1679 the Whigs passed the "Exclusion Bill" to keep James from the throne, but the act failed to pass the House of Lords. It later became known that Oates and Tonge had lied; the Whigs — having capitalized on near civil war — suffered a decline in popularity.

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See also

★ Anti-Catholicism

★ Bigotry

★ Religion in the United Kingdom

★ Playing card

★ Popery

External links

★ Nathaniel Reading

★ Names of eight Jesuit victims