Aftermath: From Retribution to Toleration
Zoom
This popular account of the Plot in verse was originally published
in Latin in 1606, but translated into English in 1610 and
republished in 1617 and 1641. Its author, Francis Herring,
was a doctor who also published books on the prevention of
the Plague. Francis Herring, The Quintessence of Cruelty (1640).
By Permission of the British Library.For English Catholics,
the plot was a disaster, tainting all with the treason of
a handful; and when Parliament met in January 1606, there
were calls for action against Catholics from strongly Protestant
MPs.
James I argued that the majority of Catholics were loyal.
However he supported legislation which made them swear an
oath affirming loyalty to the King and denying the power of
the Pope.
The Gunpowder Plot seems to have marked the end of active
Catholic conspiracy in England, Wales and Scotland but Protestant
suspicion lived on. Catholic life remained uncomfortable even
though there was no widespread 'witchhunt' of Catholics.
For English Protestants, the failure of the Plot was truly
miraculous. Many took it as confirmation of their belief in
an international Catholic conspiracy against England, and
in God's special protection of the country.
Hostility to Catholicism formed an important part of the
political crises of the seventeenth century. In the 1620s,
many strongly religious Protestants were worried by a resurgence
of religious war in Europe and horrified at the possibilities,
which were explored by James I, of alliance with Catholic
powers.
Zoom
Originally published in 1612; this version is a reprint from
1679, when once again the country was obsessed with the fear
of a major Catholic conspiracy, known as the 'Popish Plot'.
'The Papists' Powder Treason', 1679. Trustees of Lambeth Palace
Library.In the 1630s Protestants thought that Charles
I's religious policies were leading the English church too
close to Catholicism and their belief in a Catholic plot helped
to draw Parliament into war with the King in 1642.
From the late 1660s onwards, during the reign of Charles
II, many people thought that Catholics were planning to take
over the government of the country. Their fears became intense
when it was known that the heir to the throne, Charles's brother
James, had converted to Catholicism.
From 1678 to 1681 the idea of 'The Popish Plot' obsessed
the country. The Plot, which this time was entirely fictional,
was supposed to have been designed to assassinate Charles
in order to bring James to the throne.
It helped to spark off a series of attempts to exclude James
from the throne during the 'exclusion crisis' of the same
period.
The deposition of James II in the 'Glorious Revolution' of
1688 and his replacement by King William III and Queen Mary
II was seen as rescuing Protestantism in England from the Catholic
threat.
With the final defeat of James's heirs in the Rebellion of
1745, politicians no longer saw Catholicism as a danger. The
penalties against Catholics exercising their religion were
rarely enforced, and in 1778 a Catholic Relief Act was passed
removing some of the penalties against them.
Although 'Popery' was still capable of raising powerful
popular emotions throughout the eighteenth and into the nineteenth
century, Roman Catholics were increasingly accepted in English
politics and society.
Zoom
A widespread belief that Catholic numbers were growing during
the 1760s led to a parliamentary inquiry in 1767, which produced
a relatively accurate estimate of the size of the Catholic
population in England as around 70,000. Parliamentary Archives.However,
in 1780 the MP, Lord George Gordon, initiated a campaign against
the Catholic Relief Act. Around 60,000 people marched on the
Houses of Parliament to present a petition against the Act.
The crowd turned into a riot, which went on for more than
a week, and was suppressed by the army. 285 people were killed
in the worst outbreak of rioting ever experienced in Britain.
In 1829 the remaining legal disabilities placed on Catholics
- except for those which prevented a Catholic from succeeding
to the Crown, which remain in force - were finally removed
by Parliament in the Catholic Emancipation Act.
When an accidental fire almost destroyed all of the old Palace
of Westminster except the Hall in 1834, it was a Roman Catholic
convert, Augustus Welby Pugin, who was responsible for creating
the interiors of the new Palace which replaced it:
His collaboration with the architect, Charles Barry, showed
how Catholics could now be accepted in the professions and
society after two and a half centuries of isolation.
Zoom
The print compares the attack of the Spanish Armada and
the failure of the Gunpowder Plot with the negotiations
that were under way for the marriage of King James's son,
Prince Charles (later Charles I) to the daughter of the
Catholic King of Spain. Ward got into severe trouble about
the print, and for a while was put in prison because of
it. 'The Double Deliverance' by Samuel Ward, 1621. Copyright,
Trustees of the British Museum. |
Zoom
This march led to the 'Gordon Riots', which resulted in
the deaths of 285 people. 'Peaceful Procession of the
Members of the Protestant Association to the House of
Commons on Friday 2nd June 1780'. Palace of Westminster
Collection. |
Back to Plot
|
