Exclusion Crisis
The political struggle in England from 1679 to 1681 over bills to bar the Catholic James, Duke of York, from inheriting the crown.
Exclusion Bill: A series of bills proposed in the English Parliament to prevent James, Duke of York, from succeeding Charles II. These bills were the crisis’s central legislative instrument.
Popish Plot: A fabricated 1678 conspiracy allegation by Titus Oates that Catholics planned to assassinate Charles II. Its anti-Catholic panic made exclusion seem urgent to many contemporaries.
Rye House Plot: A 1683 conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and James, Duke of York, whose alleged discovery led to prosecutions. The plot’s aftermath brought severe repression against former exclusionists.
Habeas Corpus Act 1679: An English statute strengthening protections against unlawful imprisonment and regulating the writ of habeas corpus. Unlike exclusion, it addressed abuses of power through legal procedure rather than changing the succession.
Charles II: King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1660 until his death in 1685. His refusal to accept exclusion and his dissolutions of Parliament shaped the crisis.
Titus Oates: An English perjurer whose false allegations in 1678 sparked the Popish Plot scare. His accusations helped create the climate in which exclusion gained popular support.
Monmouth Rebellion: The 1685 uprising led by James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, against James II’s rule. The rebellion showed how exclusion-era opposition persisted after James inherited the crown.
Regency: Government exercised by a regent on behalf of a monarch who cannot rule personally. A proposed regency offered a way to limit James’s authority without disinheriting him.
James II of England: King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 until his deposition in 1688. As Duke of York and a Catholic, he was the succession’s disputed heir.
Restoration (England): The return of the English monarchy in 1660 under Charles II after the republic and Protectorate. The restored monarchy left unresolved tensions over religion, royal authority, and succession.