Popish Plot Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the executions of at least 22 men and precipitated the Exclusion Bill Crisis. Eventually Oates's intricate web of accusations fell apart, leading to his arrest and conviction for perjury. The fictitious Popish Plot must be understood against the background of the English Reformation and the subsequent development of a strong anti-Catholic sentiment among the mostly
A Ballad upon the Popish Plot circumstances that brought him to instigate the plot: financial difficulty, lack of public approval, and ultimately a bribe (“Some Whisperers fix’d him / Upon this design” [3.5-6]). The other participants include a vicious, imprisoned “Knave” (4.1) complicit with another plotter who will “[Relieve] his Invention, and [quicken] his Pace” (4.9); an imprisoned thief and murderer; a perjurer who twice lied about the occurrences of the plot, bribed with money the second time; a professional in the Court who encouraged rumors of the plot with a fellow guilty court-member; and a dull-witted, ill-dressed merchant who supports the plot by writing about