Hoax: The Popish Plot that Never Was

by Victor Stater

Overview

The extraordinary story of the Popish Plot and how it shaped the political and religious future of Britain

In 1678, a handful of perjurers claimed that the Catholics of England planned to assassinate the king. Men like the “Reverend Doctor” Titus Oates and “Captain” William Bedloe parlayed their fantastical tales of Irish ruffians, medical poisoners, and silver bullets into public adulation and government pensions. Their political allies used the fabricated plot as a tool to undermine the ministry of Thomas Lord Danby and replace him themselves. The result was the trial and execution of over a dozen innocent Catholics, and the imprisonment of many more, some of whom died in custody.
 
Victor Stater examines the Popish Plot in full, arguing that it had a profound and lasting significance on British politics. He shows how Charles II emerged from the crisis with credit, moderating the tempers of the time, and how, as the catalyst for the later attempt to deny James II his throne through parliamentary action, it led to the birth of two-party politics in England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300263367
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	07/26/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Victor Stater is Jane De Grummond Professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He is the author of Duke Hamilton is Dead!, Noble Government, and A Political History of Tudor and Stuart England.

Table of Contents

List of Plates viii

Introduction ix

Prologue: The Death of William Staley, November 1678 1

1 Politics and Popery, 1675 to Summer 1678 9

2 Hand 'Granadoes', Summer 1678 33

3 Godfrey Days, September-October 1678 56

4 The Investigation, Autumn 1678 71

5 Knavish Tricks: Attacking Queen Catherine, the Test Act and the Fall of Lord Danby, November-December 1678 91

6 The First Trials, November 1678-January 1679 122

7 Confounding Politics, Winter and Spring 1679 151

8 Turning Point? Spring and Summer 1679 175

9 Battle Royal, July 1679-July 1680 208

10 Counter-Attack, Summer 1680-Summer 1681 243

Epilogue 277

Notes 283

Sources and Further Reading 303

Acknowledgements 307

Index 309

Editorial Reviews

Offers a timely warning. When readers look back at this world of cruel, arbitrary justice, paranoia and sectarianism, they should be wary of indulging in the ‘condescension of posterity.’ . . . As Stater points out, believing in conspiracy theories is a part of human nature. Times change, human nature does not.”—Paul Lay, The Times

“Oddly, perhaps, historians often present the Popish Plot with a kind of textbookish colorlessness. Mr. Stater’s achievement is to restore the plot’s fascination and to capture—after more than three centuries—the dread and incredulity felt by those who experienced it. . . . His accounts have the compulsively fascinating quality of a true-crime podcast.”—Jeffrey Collins, Wall Street Journal

“A fascinating, entertaining study in its own right—thoroughly researched, full of colourful sketches of the leading characters, brilliant at recreating the feverish atmosphere of the times and wise in its assessment of the long-term consequences for English politics.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times

“Victor Stater’s rollicking, imperious prose is both well-told history and a thought-provoking study of a world similar to our own.”—Madoc Cairns, Times Literary Supplement

“Stater tells a complex and convoluted story with absolute clarity. His historical judgments are sure and grounded on decades of digging about in the archives. And his pen sketches of the various characters are often mordantly funny. As a work of historical scholarship, Hoax is terrific. It also reminds us, if reminders are needed, to be wary of charlatans and zealots bearing news of secret plots.”—Robert G. Ingram, National Review

“Retelling in lively detail the events surrounding the fabricated revelations of a Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II in the late 1670s, the book deals with ‘plots,’ ‘revelations,’ and ‘witnesses,’ with an attentive eye to issues of (mis)representation and a knowing nod to modern parallels.”—Christopher P. Gillett, Journal of Jesuit Studies

“Stater writes with verve; his prose often sparkles. . . . This book leaves the reader not with gratitude for the first political parties, but rather with disgust and dismay at how low Restoration courtiers and politicians stooped in order to gain and maintain power. Stater has written a story for our times.”—Melinda S. Zook, Journal of Modern History

“A brilliantly detailed and thoroughly examined account. . . . Stater excels at linking micro-historical scenes into the larger macro-historical trends and issues.”—Nathan Martin, Seventeenth-Century News

“An extraordinary story of vicious lies manipulated by desperate politicians into a frenzy of disinformation. Stater tells it with verve and a magnificently tight narrative control. It led to more than thirty innocent Catholics being tortured to death. Few conspiracy stories have been quite so lethal.”—John Morrill FBA, Selwyn College, Cambridge

“A fascinating study. As well as describing the progress of the ‘plot,’ and the investigation into it, blow by blow, Stater gives us a many-sided picture of seventeenth-century London. For anyone with an interest in seventeenth-century history—this book is unmissable. Let Hoax be a lesson to us!”—Liza Picard, author of Elizabeth’s London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London

From the Publisher

A fascinating study. As well as describing the progress of the ‘plot’, and the investigation into it, blow by blow, Stater gives us a many-sided picture of seventeenth century London. For anyone with an interest in seventeenth century history – this book is unmissable. Let Hoax be a lesson to us!”—Liza Picard, author of Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London

Liza Picard

An extraordinary story of vicious lies manipulated by desperate politicians into a frenzy of disinformation. Stater tells it with verve and a magnificently tight narrative control. It led to more than thirty innocent Catholics being tortured to death. Few conspiracy stories have been quite so lethal.”—Professor John Morrill FBA, Selwyn College, Cambridge

John Morrill