Popish Plot and led to conflict with parliament during the 1670s. In December 1677 an anonymous pamphlet (possibly by Andrew Marvell) spread alarm in London by suggesting that the Pope planned to change the lawful government of England. The fictitious Popish Plot unfolded in a very peculiar fashion. Oates and Israel Tonge, a fanatically anti-Catholic clergyman (who was widely believed to be insane), had written a large manuscript that accused the Catholic Church authorities of approving the assassination of Charles II. The Jesuits in England were to carry out the task. The manuscript also named nearly 100 Jesuits and their supporters who
A Ballad upon the Popish Plot lives of the common people, and especially that part of their inner lives that was emotionally engaged by tumultuous political events such as the Popish Plot, these ballads provide a counterweight to, or throw into relief, other ballads in the collection that merely depict the social life of the Stuart kings, thus enriching our contemporary understanding of the social and political dynamics of the era. They also serve as a relevant reminder—and warning—of the power religious bigotry can exercise over a general population when allowed to develop unchecked. A Ballad upon the Popish Plot A Ballad upon the Popish Plot