Introduction -- Prologue : The death of William Staley, November 1678 -- 1. Politics and Popery, 1675 to summer 1678 -- 2. Hand 'Granadoes', summer 1678 -- 3. Godfrey days, September-October 1678 -- 4. The investigation, autumn 1678 -- 5. Knavish tricks : attacking Queen Catherine, the Test Act and the fall of Lord Danby, November-December 1678 -- 6. The first trials, November 1678-January 1679 -- 7. Confounding politics, winter and spring 1679 -- 8. Turning point? Spring and summer 1679 -- 9. Battle royal, July 1679-July 1680 -- 10. Counter-attack, summer 1680-summer 1681 -- Epilogue.
Summary:
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.
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