Peter Hinds
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264430
- eISBN:
- 9780191733994
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264430.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
The Popish plot was an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and re-introduce the Catholic faith to England. Despite it being a fiction, belief in the plot became widespread and many ...
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The Popish plot was an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and re-introduce the Catholic faith to England. Despite it being a fiction, belief in the plot became widespread and many innocent Catholics were sent to their deaths. Moving away from the focus of recent histories of the plot, which remain predominately in the realms of parliamentary discussion, courts of law and the councils of the King, this volume considers how details of the plot circulated more broadly. It investigates the many media used, primarily print, but also manuscript and word-of-mouth, for instance in books, pamphlets, newspapers, and ballads. The most prolific commentator on the Popish plot was Roger L'Estrange, the press censor during the reigns of Charles II and James II. L'Estrange was interested in the working of the London book trade at this time, and as one who did not believe there was a Popish plot, wrote prolifically in order publicly to cast doubt upon it. L'Estrange's writings provide us with valuable insights into the production, dissemination, and reception of political opinion in this period. Drawing on the insights of literary studies, political history, and the history of the book, reading this volume will further understanding in how belief in such an extraordinary plot took hold amongst so many.Less
The Popish plot was an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and re-introduce the Catholic faith to England. Despite it being a fiction, belief in the plot became widespread and many innocent Catholics were sent to their deaths. Moving away from the focus of recent histories of the plot, which remain predominately in the realms of parliamentary discussion, courts of law and the councils of the King, this volume considers how details of the plot circulated more broadly. It investigates the many media used, primarily print, but also manuscript and word-of-mouth, for instance in books, pamphlets, newspapers, and ballads. The most prolific commentator on the Popish plot was Roger L'Estrange, the press censor during the reigns of Charles II and James II. L'Estrange was interested in the working of the London book trade at this time, and as one who did not believe there was a Popish plot, wrote prolifically in order publicly to cast doubt upon it. L'Estrange's writings provide us with valuable insights into the production, dissemination, and reception of political opinion in this period. Drawing on the insights of literary studies, political history, and the history of the book, reading this volume will further understanding in how belief in such an extraordinary plot took hold amongst so many.
Peter Hinds
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264430
- eISBN:
- 9780191733994
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264430.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This introductory chapter discusses the ‘horrid Popish Plot’, which was an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II. This was done to effect an armed foreign invasion and a domestic ...
More
This introductory chapter discusses the ‘horrid Popish Plot’, which was an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II. This was done to effect an armed foreign invasion and a domestic uprising, as well as to reintroduce the Catholic faith into England. The chapter also includes a brief overview of the following chapters.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the ‘horrid Popish Plot’, which was an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II. This was done to effect an armed foreign invasion and a domestic uprising, as well as to reintroduce the Catholic faith into England. The chapter also includes a brief overview of the following chapters.
Glyn Parry and Cathryn Enis
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198862918
- eISBN:
- 9780191895425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198862918.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Cultural History
The first detailed narrative of how the Dudleys set out to destroy Edward Arden by exploiting the mental problems of his son-in-law John Somerville, who lived just outside Stratford, but who had ...
More
The first detailed narrative of how the Dudleys set out to destroy Edward Arden by exploiting the mental problems of his son-in-law John Somerville, who lived just outside Stratford, but who had quarrelled with his wife, Margaret Arden Somerville, and her father, over financial differences. Using intermediaries the Dudleys provoked Somerville into riding towards London, armed with a pistol to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, and arranged for his arrest and interrogation. They then concocted evidence implicating Edward Arden, both to confirm their dominance over Warwickshire and to establish that Somerville was key to a vast international Catholic conspiracy against Elizabeth, a story that contained sufficient truth to enable a more radical Protestant agenda to be followed at Court and in the Privy Council, against Archbishop Whitgift’s and Sir Christopher Hatton’s conservative policies. The treason trial consistently broke with established procedures in rushing Arden, Somerville, and their families to condemnation, but the regime expended great efforts in broadcasting their ‘treason’ against the conflicting evidence known in Stratford and Warwickshire, especially that Arden had been in London when he was allegedly conspiring with Somerville just outside Stratford. The treasonous fiction also aimed to implicate Hatton in the treason, but though this failed, shockingly for contemporary society, several women from both families were condemned, and several more imprisoned in the Tower for some years, another example of the exercise of raw power by the Elizabethan regime in controlling collective memory that were very unlikely to have escaped William Shakespeare’s notice.Less
The first detailed narrative of how the Dudleys set out to destroy Edward Arden by exploiting the mental problems of his son-in-law John Somerville, who lived just outside Stratford, but who had quarrelled with his wife, Margaret Arden Somerville, and her father, over financial differences. Using intermediaries the Dudleys provoked Somerville into riding towards London, armed with a pistol to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, and arranged for his arrest and interrogation. They then concocted evidence implicating Edward Arden, both to confirm their dominance over Warwickshire and to establish that Somerville was key to a vast international Catholic conspiracy against Elizabeth, a story that contained sufficient truth to enable a more radical Protestant agenda to be followed at Court and in the Privy Council, against Archbishop Whitgift’s and Sir Christopher Hatton’s conservative policies. The treason trial consistently broke with established procedures in rushing Arden, Somerville, and their families to condemnation, but the regime expended great efforts in broadcasting their ‘treason’ against the conflicting evidence known in Stratford and Warwickshire, especially that Arden had been in London when he was allegedly conspiring with Somerville just outside Stratford. The treasonous fiction also aimed to implicate Hatton in the treason, but though this failed, shockingly for contemporary society, several women from both families were condemned, and several more imprisoned in the Tower for some years, another example of the exercise of raw power by the Elizabethan regime in controlling collective memory that were very unlikely to have escaped William Shakespeare’s notice.
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780853236788
- eISBN:
- 9781846313592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853236788.003.0031
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter considers Oxford's alleged involvement in Catholic affairs. In a dispatch dated 11 January 1581, French ambassador Mauvissière recalled that Oxford became deeply involved in pro–Catholic ...
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This chapter considers Oxford's alleged involvement in Catholic affairs. In a dispatch dated 11 January 1581, French ambassador Mauvissière recalled that Oxford became deeply involved in pro–Catholic conspiracies in April 1576. He claimed that upon returning from Italy, Oxford made profession of the Catholic faith together with some of his relatives among the nobility and his best friends, and had sworn and signed with them a declaration that they would do all they could for the advancement of the Catholic religion.Less
This chapter considers Oxford's alleged involvement in Catholic affairs. In a dispatch dated 11 January 1581, French ambassador Mauvissière recalled that Oxford became deeply involved in pro–Catholic conspiracies in April 1576. He claimed that upon returning from Italy, Oxford made profession of the Catholic faith together with some of his relatives among the nobility and his best friends, and had sworn and signed with them a declaration that they would do all they could for the advancement of the Catholic religion.
