144-458: The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York . The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the return journey on 1 April 1683, but because there was a major fire in Newmarket on 22 March (which destroyed half the town), the races were cancelled, and
288-780: A liberty , it functions largely as an independent local government authority. During the 12th and early 13th centuries the law was taught, in the City of London , primarily by the clergy. But a papal bull in 1218 prohibited the clergy from practising in the secular courts (where the English common law system operated, as opposed to the Roman civil law favoured by the Church). As a result, law began to be practised and taught by laymen instead of by clerics. To protect their schools from competition, first Henry II and later Henry III issued proclamations prohibiting
432-555: A " Popish Plot " to assassinate the king, even accusing the queen of complicity. Charles did not believe the allegations, but ordered his chief minister Lord Danby to investigate. While Danby seems to have been rightly sceptical about Oates's claims, the Cavalier Parliament took them seriously. The people were seized with an anti-Catholic hysteria; judges and juries across the land condemned the supposed conspirators; numerous innocent individuals were executed. Later in 1678, Danby
576-612: A Catholic, being next in line to the throne. The prospect of a Catholic monarch was vehemently opposed by the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (a former member of the Cabal, which had fallen apart in 1673). Lord Shaftesbury's power base was strengthened when the House of Commons of 1679 introduced the Exclusion Bill , which sought to exclude the Duke of York from the line of succession . Some even sought to confer
720-439: A copy by Peter Lely of the original by Anthony van Dyck , and also portraits of Charles II, James II, William III, Elizabeth I, Queen Anne and George I. On the walls are panels bearing the coats of arms of Readers (senior members ) dating back to 1597. The first recorded performance of Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night occurred in the hall on 2 February 1602. Shakespeare himself was probably present. The hall survived
864-632: A foolish thing, And never did a wise one To which Charles is reputed to have replied "that the matter was easily accounted for: For that his discourse was his own, his actions were the ministry's". In 1665, the Great Plague of London began, peaking in September with up to 7,000 deaths per week. Charles, his family, and the court fled London in July to Salisbury ; Parliament met in Oxford . Plague cases ebbed over
1008-456: A formal society in 1660 to give a more academic and learned approach to science and to conduct experiments in physics and mathematics. Sir Robert Moray , a member of Charles's court, played an important part in achieving this outcome, and he was to be the first president of this new Royal Society . Over the years, Moray was an important go-between for Charles and the Society, and his standing with
1152-564: A group that was convened in 1682–1683 by Robert West of the Middle Temple , a Green Ribbon Club member: it is now often called the Rye House cabal . West had participated in one of the cases that wound up the Popish Plot allegations, that of the false witness Stephen College . Through that association he made contact with Aaron Smith and William Hone , both to be plotters though aside from
1296-663: A larger group the prospects for raising a force of several thousand men around London. The interpretation of actual Whig intentions at this time is complicated by colonial schemes in America. West had a stake in East Jersey . Shaftesbury was heavily involved in the Province of Carolina . In April 1683, some Scottish contacts of the Whigs arrived in London, as briefed by Smith, meeting Essex and Russell of
1440-645: A life of leisure at Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, living on a grant from Louis XIV of 600 livres a month. Charles could not obtain sufficient finance or support to mount a serious challenge to Cromwell's government. Despite the Stuart family connections through Henrietta Maria and the Princess of Orange, France and the Dutch Republic allied themselves with Cromwell's government from 1654, forcing Charles to leave France and turn to Spain for aid, which at that time ruled
1584-517: A member of the Inn, Robert Ashley , died and left his collection of books and £300 to the Inn. This library was demolished in 1830. After an interval of three decades, a new library was built, in a Gothic style designed by architect H. R. Abraham. It was opened by The Prince of Wales on 31 October 1861. This Victorian library was badly damaged during the London Blitz in 1940, and was demolished following
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#17328449668541728-524: A message that reached Charles at Breda on 8 May 1660. In Ireland, a convention had been called earlier in the year and had already declared for Charles. On 14 May, he was proclaimed king in Dublin. Charles set out for England from Scheveningen , arrived in Dover on 25 May 1660 and reached London on 29 May, his 30th birthday. Although Charles and Parliament granted amnesty to nearly all of Cromwell's supporters in
1872-403: A much-used film location, as has Middle Temple generally, because of its cobbled streets, historic buildings and gas lighting. Little is known about the original library, which was probably just a room in a barristers' chambers. All the books were stolen prior to the reign of Henry VIII. In 1625 a new library was established at the site of what is now Garden Court, and in 1641 it was enlarged when
2016-602: A pardon. It also started a lengthy process of incriminated persons confessing, in the hope of clemency. Using his brother, Keeling was able to get further direct evidence of conspiracy, and Jenkins brought in Rumsey and West, who told him what they knew, from 23 June; West had volunteered information via Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester , on the 22nd. Over several days West explained the Rye House plot and his part in purchasing arms, supposed to be for America. He did little to incriminate
2160-711: A policy of religious tolerance . The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War . In 1670, he entered into the Treaty of Dover , an alliance with his cousin, King Louis XIV of France . Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, and Charles secretly promised to convert to Catholicism at an unspecified future date. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence , but
2304-529: A public Anglican service. The same year, in an unpopular move, Charles sold Dunkirk to King Louis XIV of France for about £375,000. The channel port, although a valuable strategic outpost, was a drain on Charles's limited finances, as it cost the Treasury £321,000 per year. Before Charles's restoration, the Navigation Acts of 1650 had hurt Dutch trade by giving English vessels a monopoly, and had started
2448-429: A recognisable genre. Theatre licences granted by Charles required that female parts be played by "their natural performers", rather than by boys as was often the practice before; and Restoration literature celebrated or reacted to the restored court, which included libertines such as Lord Rochester . Of Charles II, Rochester supposedly said: We have a pretty, witty king, Whose word no man relies on, He never said
2592-445: A reputation for moral laxity. Charles's marriage to Catherine of Braganza produced no surviving children, but the king acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James. Charles was born at St James's Palace on 29 May 1630, eldest surviving son of Charles I , king of England , Scotland and Ireland , and his wife Henrietta Maria , sister of Louis XIII of France . Charles
2736-604: A series of state trials, accompanied with repressive measures and widespread searches for arms. The plot presaged, and may have hastened, the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion and Argyll's Rising . After the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660, there was concern among some members of Parliament, former republicans, and sections of the Protestant population of England, that the King's relationship with France under Louis XIV and
2880-552: A time a-dying", and expressed regret at his treatment of his wife. On the last evening of his life he was received into the Catholic Church, in the presence of Father John Huddleston , though the extent to which he was fully conscious or committed, and with whom the idea originated, is unclear. He was buried in Westminster Abbey "without any manner of pomp" on 14 February. Middle Temple The Honourable Society of
3024-699: A victory at the Battle of Lowestoft , but in 1667 the Dutch launched a surprise attack on England (the Raid on the Medway ) when they sailed up the River Thames to where a major part of the English fleet was docked. Almost all of the ships were sunk except for the flagship, Royal Charles , which was taken back to the Netherlands as a prize . The Second Dutch War ended with the signing of
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#17328449668543168-487: Is buried in the Temple Church. Blackstone, living on the floor below Goldsmith's chambers, complained about the noise made by Goldsmith's raucous parties, which were attended by many celebrities of the time, including Samuel Johnson . Blackstone later moved to Pump Court; whether because of the parties or for some other reason is unknown. Next to Brick Court are the buildings called Essex Court, which actually form part of
3312-691: Is still part of the arms of Middle Temple today. All of the Inn's records were burned during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. After Henry VIII seized the Temple from the Knights Hospitaller in 1540, each Inn continued to hold its share of the Temple as tenants of the Crown for £10 a year, until it was granted to them jointly in 1608 by James I , to be held in perpetuity so long as they continue to provide education and accommodation to lawyers and students and maintain
3456-527: The 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France . After Charles I's execution at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War , the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on 5 February 1649. However, England entered the period known as
3600-468: The Act of Indemnity and Oblivion , 50 people were specifically excluded. In the end nine of the regicides were executed: they were hanged, drawn and quartered , whereas others were given life imprisonment or excluded from office for life. The bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw were subjected to posthumous decapitations . The English Parliament granted Charles an annual income to run
3744-615: The Act of Uniformity 1662 made the use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer compulsory; the Conventicle Act 1664 prohibited religious assemblies of more than five people, except under the auspices of the Church of England; and the Five Mile Act 1665 prohibited expelled non-conforming clergymen from coming within five miles (8 km) of a parish from which they had been banished. The Conventicle and Five Mile Acts remained in effect for
3888-594: The Court of Common Pleas , held at Middle Temple, had to be resolved by an act of Parliament, the Records of Fires Burnt, etc. Act 1679 ( 31 Cha. 2 . c. 3) The first woman to be admitted to any Inn was Helena Florence Normanton , who joined Middle Temple as a student member on 24 December 1919. Olive Clapham , who joined Middle Temple on 17 January 1920, became the first woman to pass the bar finals examinations in May 1921. The Temple
4032-549: The Dean of Christ Church, Oxford , was his tutor. Neither man thought that the study of science subjects was appropriate for a future king, and Newcastle even advised against studying any subject too seriously. However, as Charles grew older, the renowned surgeon William Harvey was appointed his tutor. He was famous for his work on blood circulation in the human body and already held the position of physician to Charles I; his studies were to influence Charles's own attitude to science. As
4176-504: The Declaration of Breda , in which Charles promised lenience and tolerance. There would be liberty of conscience, and Anglican church policy would not be harsh. He would not exile past enemies nor confiscate their wealth. There would be pardons for nearly all his opponents except the regicides . Above all, Charles promised to rule in cooperation with Parliament. The English Parliament resolved to proclaim Charles king and invite him to return,
4320-500: The Earl of Essex , Algernon Sydney , Lord Russell and the Duke of Monmouth were implicated in the plot. Essex slit his own throat while imprisoned in the Tower of London; Sydney and Russell were executed for high treason on very flimsy evidence; and the Duke of Monmouth went into exile at the court of William of Orange. Lord Danby and the surviving Catholic lords held in the Tower were released and
4464-575: The East Indies , religious and commercial freedom in Portugal and two million Portuguese crowns (equivalent to £300,000 then ); while Portugal obtained military and naval support against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. Catherine journeyed from Portugal to Portsmouth on 13–14 May 1662, but was not visited by Charles there until 20 May. The next day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies—a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by
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4608-708: The English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth , with a republican government eventually led by Oliver Cromwell . Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe . Cromwell became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands . A political crisis after Cromwell's death in 1658 resulted in
4752-574: The English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oates 's fabrication of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles's brother and heir presumptive , James, Duke of York , had become a Catholic. The crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories and, after the discovery of
4896-701: The First Dutch War (1652–1654). To lay foundations for a new beginning, envoys of the States General appeared in November 1660 with the Dutch Gift . The Second Dutch War (1665–1667) was started by English attempts to muscle in on Dutch possessions in Africa and North America. The conflict began well for the English, with the capture of New Amsterdam (renamed New York in honour of Charles's brother James, Duke of York) and
5040-577: The Palace of Whitehall , at 11:45 am, aged 54. The suddenness of his illness and death led to suspicion of poison in the minds of many, including one of the royal doctors, but a more modern medical analysis has held that the symptoms of his final illness are similar to those of uraemia , a clinical syndrome due to kidney dysfunction. Charles had a laboratory among his many interests where, prior to his illness, he had been experimenting with mercury . Mercuric poisoning can produce irreversible kidney damage, but
5184-580: The Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile. Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685. Following his restoration, Charles became known for his affability and friendliness, and for allowing his subjects easy access to his person. However, he also showed an almost impenetrable reserve, especially concerning his political agendas. His court gained
5328-533: The Southern Netherlands . Charles made the Treaty of Brussels with Spain in 1656. This gathered Spanish support for a restoration in return for Charles's contribution to the war against France. Charles raised a ragtag army from his exiled subjects; this small, underpaid, poorly-equipped and ill-disciplined force formed the nucleus of the post-Restoration army. The Commonwealth made the Treaty of Paris with France in 1657 to join them in war against Spain in
5472-683: The Temples Order 1971 . It geographically falls within the boundaries and wards of the City. Some of the Inn's buildings (those along Essex Street, Devereux Court and the Queen Elizabeth Building near the Embankment) lie just outside the liberty of the Middle Temple and the City's boundary, and are actually situated in the City of Westminster . Quadrant House (7–15 Fleet Street) was acquired by
5616-567: The Third Anglo-Dutch War . The Cavalier Parliament opposed the Declaration of Indulgence on constitutional grounds by claiming that the king had no right to arbitrarily suspend laws passed by Parliament. Charles withdrew the Declaration, and also agreed to the Test Act , which not only required public officials to receive the sacrament under the forms prescribed by the Church of England, but also later forced them to denounce transubstantiation and
5760-646: The Treaty of Breda . As a result of the Second Dutch War, Charles dismissed Lord Clarendon, whom he used as a scapegoat for the war. Clarendon fled to France when impeached for high treason (which carried the penalty of death). Power passed to five politicians known collectively by a whimsical acronym as the Cabal —the Baron Clifford , Earl of Arlington , Duke of Buckingham , Baron Ashley (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury) and Duke of Lauderdale . In fact,
5904-578: The Weekly Pacquet which was a leading anti-Catholic and Whig paper of the time; Care ceased publishing the Pacquet on 13 July, and began co-operating with the court. Among those later informing against Walcott was Zachary Bourne. Bourne was a conspirator, arrested trying to leave the country with the nonconformist ministers Matthew Meade , for whom an arrest warrant was issued on 27 June, and Walter Cross; he informed against another minister, Stephen Lobb , who
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6048-532: The restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents stating a regnal year did so as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charles's English Parliament enacted the Clarendon Code , to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England . Charles acquiesced to these new laws even though he favoured
6192-563: The state religion in all three of his kingdoms. When negotiations with the Scots stalled, Charles authorised Lord Montrose to land in the Orkney Islands with a small army to threaten the Scots with invasion, in the hope of forcing an agreement more to his liking. Montrose feared that Charles would accept a compromise, and so chose to invade mainland Scotland anyway. He was captured and executed. Charles reluctantly promised that he would abide by
6336-562: The "villainy" and "hypocrisy" of the Covenanters. Charles was provided with a Scottish court, and the record of his food and household expenses at Falkland Palace and Perth survives. Charles's alliance with the Scots led to the Anglo-Scottish War of 1650 to 1652. On 3 September 1650, the Covenanters were defeated at Dunbar by a much smaller force commanded by Oliver Cromwell . The Scots were divided between moderate Engagers and
6480-417: The 1682 municipal elections, and in 1683 the London charter was forfeited. In retrospect, the use of the judicial system by Charles (and later his brother and heir James) as a tool against opposition, helped establish the idea of separation of powers between the judiciary and the Crown in Whig thought. Charles suffered a sudden apoplectic fit on the morning of 2 February 1685, and died four days later at
6624-449: The 16th century. (There is a list here , showing the dates of construction, architect, and listed status.) The Inn is also jointly responsible, with Inner Temple, for Temple Church and the Master's House next to the church, a Georgian townhouse built in 1764. Construction of Middle Temple Hall began in 1562 and was completed in the early 1570s. Its hammerbeam roof has been said to be the best in London. Queen Elizabeth I visited
6768-477: The 400th anniversary of the charter of James I was celebrated by Elizabeth II issuing new letters patent confirming the original grant. The Middle Temple owns 43 buildings, many of which are listed buildings . The ones in the Temple itself are still held under the 1608 letters patent of James I, but some others just outside the Temple were bought subsequently. Some buildings are modern, replacing ones which were destroyed in The Blitz , but others date back to
6912-402: The Cabal rarely acted in concert, and the court was often divided between two factions led by Arlington and Buckingham, with Arlington the more successful. In 1668, England allied itself with Sweden, and with its former enemy the Netherlands, to oppose Louis XIV in the War of Devolution . Louis made peace with the Triple Alliance , but he continued to maintain his aggressive intentions towards
7056-437: The Catholic Mass as "superstitious and idolatrous". Clifford, who had converted to Catholicism, resigned rather than take the oath, and died shortly after, possibly from suicide. By 1674, England had gained nothing from the Anglo-Dutch War, and the Cavalier Parliament refused to provide further funds, forcing Charles to make peace. The power of the Cabal waned, and that of Clifford's replacement Lord Danby grew. Queen Catherine
7200-405: The Commons thought too mild—the impeachment became stalled between the two Houses. As he had been required to do so many times during his reign, Charles bowed to the wishes of his opponents, committing Danby to the Tower of London , in which he was held for another five years. In Charles's early childhood, William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle , was governor of the royal household and Brian Duppa,
7344-411: The Covenanter John Nisbet , and may well have known of the plans for a rebellion. William Carstares , a Church of Scotland minister and intermediary with the Whig grandees, was found in Kent on 23 July. The final trial on the Rye House charges was that of Charles Bateman, in 1685. Witnesses against him were the conspirators Keeling, who had nothing specific to say, Thomas Lee, and Richard Goodenough. He
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#17328449668547488-426: The Crown on the Protestant Duke of Monmouth , the eldest of Charles's illegitimate children. The Abhorrers —those who thought the Exclusion Bill was abhorrent—were named Tories (after a term for dispossessed Irish Catholic bandits), while the Petitioners —those who supported a petitioning campaign in favour of the Exclusion Bill—were called Whigs (after a term for rebellious Scottish Presbyterians). Fearing that
7632-474: The English court, was astonished by the extent of the king's knowledge. The king freely indulged in his many interests, including astronomy, which had been stimulated by a visit to Gresham College , in October 1660, to see the telescopes made by the astronomer Sir Paul Neile . Charles was so impressed by what he saw that he ordered his own 36' telescope which he had installed in the Privy Garden at Whitehall . He would invite his friends and acquaintances to view
7776-429: The Exclusion Bill angered some Protestants. Protestant conspirators formulated the Rye House Plot , a plan to murder him and the Duke of York as they returned to London after horse races in Newmarket . A great fire, however, destroyed Charles's lodgings at Newmarket, which forced him to leave the races early, thus inadvertently avoiding the planned attack. News of the failed plot was leaked. Protestant politicians such as
7920-416: The Exclusion Bill would be passed, and bolstered by some acquittals in the continuing Plot trials, which seemed to him to indicate a more favourable public mood towards Catholicism, Charles dissolved the English Parliament, for a second time that year, in mid-1679. Charles's hopes for a more moderate Parliament were not fulfilled; within a few months he had dissolved Parliament yet again, after it sought to pass
8064-478: The Exclusion Bill. When a new Parliament assembled at Oxford in March 1681, Charles dissolved it for a fourth time after just a few days. During the 1680s, however, popular support for the Exclusion Bill ebbed, and Charles experienced a nationwide surge of loyalty. Lord Shaftesbury was prosecuted (albeit unsuccessfully) for treason in 1681 and later fled to Holland, where he died. For the remainder of his reign, Charles ruled without Parliament. Charles's opposition to
8208-412: The Governor of Scotland, was concerned that the nation would descend into anarchy. Monck and his army marched into the City of London , and forced the Rump Parliament to re-admit members of the Long Parliament who had been excluded in December 1648, during Pride's Purge . Parliament dissolved itself, and there was a general election for the first time in almost 20 years. The outgoing Parliament defined
8352-416: The Great Fire of London in 1666, but was damaged by bombing in the Second World War. Middle Temple Hall is at the heart of the Inn, hosting several events per year for members of the Inn (and sometimes their guests), some of which also count as qualifying sessions for student members. Middle Temple Hall is also a popular venue for banqueting, weddings, receptions and parties. In recent years, it has become
8496-508: The House of Commons failed to view him as a reluctant participant in the scandal, instead believing that he was the author of the policy. To save Danby from the impeachment trial, Charles dissolved the Cavalier Parliament in January 1679. The new English Parliament, which met in March of the same year, was quite hostile to Charles. Many members feared that he had intended to use the standing army to suppress dissent or impose Catholicism. However, with insufficient funds voted by Parliament, Charles
8640-454: The Indies. Earlier in 1668 he leased the islands of Bombay to the company for a nominal sum of £10 paid in gold. The Portuguese territories that Catherine brought with her as a dowry proved too expensive to maintain; Tangier was abandoned in 1684. In 1670, Charles granted control of the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin to the Hudson's Bay Company by royal charter, and named the territory Rupert's Land , after his cousin Prince Rupert of
8784-452: The Inn is occupied by barristers' offices, known as barristers' chambers . One of the Middle Temple's main functions now is to provide education and support to new members of the profession. This is done through advocacy training, the provision of scholarships (over £1 million in 2011), subsidised accommodation both in the Temple and in Clapham, and by providing events where junior members may meet senior colleagues for help and advice. In 2008
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#17328449668548928-415: The Inner Temple) is one of the few remaining liberties , an old name for a geographic division. It is an independent extra-parochial area , historically not governed by the City of London Corporation (and is today regarded as a local authority for most purposes) and equally outside the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London . The Middle Temple's functions as a local council are set out in
9072-412: The King and the Duke returned to London early. As a result, the planned attack never took place. Historians vary in their assessment of the degree to which details of the conspiracy were finalised. Whatever the state of the assassination plot, plans to mount a rebellion against the Stuart monarchy were being entertained by some opposition leaders in England. The government cracked down hard on those in
9216-426: The Mathematical School at Christ's Hospital in 1673 and, two years later, following concerns over French advances in astronomy, he founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. He maintained an interest in chemistry and regularly visited his private laboratory. There, dissections were occasionally carried out, and observed by the king. Pepys noted in his diary that on the morning of Friday, 15 January 1669, while he
9360-399: The Middle Temple , commonly known simply as Middle Temple , is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers , the others being the Inner Temple (with which it shares Temple Church ), Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn . It is located in the wider Temple area of London, near the Royal Courts of Justice , and within the City of London . As
9504-402: The Middle Temple in 1999, and after five years of conversion is now a barristers' chambers. This lies outside the liberty (though immediately adjacent to it) but is within the City of London. The badge of the Middle Temple consists of the Lamb of God with a flag bearing the Saint George's Cross . This symbol appears in the centre of the Inn's coat of arms , against a background consisting of
9648-488: The Monmouth cabal. They were under the impression that the matter concerned Carolina, or they gave that out as a pretext for their presence. They included Sir George Campbell of Cessnock, John Cochrane , and William Carstares. The Earl of Argyll had left London for the Netherlands in August 1682 but kept in touch with Whig notables through couriers and ciphered correspondence. Two of them, William Spence (alias Butler) and Abraham Holmes , were arrested in June 1683. News of
9792-425: The Monmouth group; his testimony was later used against Walcott and Sidney. West received a pardon in December 1684. Thomas Walcott was arrested on 8 July, and was the first conspirator to go to trial. A meeting of the plotters had been held at his house on 18 June; but rather than escape, he chose to write to Jenkins, with the offer of a full confession in return for a pardon. Among the plotters, John Row from Bristol
9936-440: The Netherlands. In 1670, Charles, seeking to solve his financial troubles, agreed to the Treaty of Dover , under which Louis would pay him £160,000 each year. In exchange, Charles agreed to supply Louis with troops and to announce his conversion to Catholicism "as soon as the welfare of his kingdom will permit". Louis was to provide him with 6,000 troops to suppress those who opposed the conversion. Charles endeavoured to ensure that
10080-428: The Netherlands. Royalist supporters in the Spanish force were led by Charles's younger brother James, Duke of York . At the Battle of the Dunes in 1658, as part of the larger Spanish force, Charles's army of around 2,000 clashed with Commonwealth troops fighting with the French. By the end of the battle Charles's force was about 1,000 and with Dunkirk given to the English the prospect of a Royalist expedition to England
10224-436: The Parliament. The Executive Committee consists of nine voting members (including the Treasurer and the Deputy Treasurer) and six non-voting members (including the Under Treasurer). The Treasurer for 2024 was Paul Darling OBE KC, who died on 2 August 2024; he is succeeded by the former Deputy Treasurer, Dame Kathryn Thirlwall DBE. The Chief Executive and Under Treasurer is Christopher Ghika KCVO CBE. Middle Temple (like
10368-627: The Parliamentarian fleet defected, it did not reach Scotland in time to join up with the Royalist Engager army led by the Duke of Hamilton before it was defeated at Preston by the New Model Army . At The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter , who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married. Her son, James Crofts (afterwards Duke of Monmouth and Duke of Buccleuch ),
10512-523: The Rhine , the company's first governor. Although previously favourable to the Crown, the Cavalier Parliament was alienated by the king's wars and religious policies during the 1670s. In 1672, Charles issued the Royal Declaration of Indulgence , in which he purported to suspend all penal laws against Catholics and other religious dissenters. In the same year, he openly supported Catholic France and started
10656-551: The Temple Church and its Master. The Temple Church , consecrated in 1185, still stands as a " Royal Peculiar " (extra-diocesan) church of the Inner and Middle Temples. Much of the Middle Temple was destroyed in a fire in January 1679, which caused more damage to the Inn than the Great Fire of 1666 . The Thames being frozen over, beer from the Temple cellars was used to fight the fire, which
10800-535: The Temple since 1320, when they were the tenants of the Earl of Lancaster , who had held the Temple since 1315. The Temple later belonged to the Knights Hospitaller . In 1346 the knights again leased the premises to the lawyers – the eastern part (which became Inner Temple ) to lawyers from Thavie's Inn , an Inn of Chancery in Holborn, and the western part to lawyers from St George's Inn. The Cross of St George
10944-455: The Temple), and Middle Temple Hall. The current buildings of Garden Court, which lie along the western edge of the Temple, were constructed in 1883. South of Garden Court are Blackstone House, Queen Elizabeth Building, and a gate leading out of the Temple (and a short distance from Temple tube station ). South of the hall, and east of the gardens, are Plowden Buildings, built in 1831, which contain
11088-496: The Temple. Most of the buildings here belong to Middle Temple, except those in the north west corner. Further east are Middle Temple's cloisters , leading to Church Court between Temple Church and Inner Temple Hall. North of Pump Court is Inner Temple's Hare Court, and then more buildings belonging to Middle Temple, until the lane ends at the gate to Fleet Street. Parallel with and to the east of Middle Temple Lane lies Inner Temple Lane, which runs from Fleet Street to Church Court. On
11232-697: The Treasurer who is elected annually. Parliament approves the Inn's budget and authorises Call of qualified student members to the Bar. Members of the British royal family who are made honorary benchers are known as "Royal Benchers". The first of these was the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII , who was made a Royal Bencher when he opened the newly constructed library in 1861. The Inn is run from day to day by an Executive Committee and five Standing Committees, which are accountable to
11376-453: The Treasurer's office. South of that is the current library, and then, at the end of Middle Temple Lane, are the buildings called Temple Gardens, built on both sides of the lane by both Inns in 1861. The western part belongs to Middle Temple, and the eastern part is Inner Temple's. The lane passes through the middle of Temple Gardens via an archway and leads out of the Temple. Along the east side of Middle Temple Lane (proceeding northwards from
11520-571: The Treaty—especially the conversion clause—remained secret. It remains unclear if Charles ever seriously intended to convert. Meanwhile, by a series of five charters, Charles granted the East India Company the rights to autonomous government of its territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops, to form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over its possessions in
11664-539: The Whig side of the factional division of British politics. The form it should take was uncertain, and discussions of the seizing of control of cities other than London, such as Bristol , and a Scottish uprising, were in the air. The subsequent historiography of the Plot was largely partisan, and scholars are still clarifying who was closely involved in the planning of violent and revolutionary measures. The assassination plot centred on
11808-493: The attack on the royal guards, but he was another of the plotters who drew the line at assassination. During the spring of 1683 there were further contacts between the Monmouth cabal and West's group about drafting a manifesto, through Sir Thomas Armstrong in particular, there being disagreements about whether a republican or monarchical constitution should result from revolutionary measures. In May 1683 West and Walcott discussed with
11952-550: The case for that being a cause of his death is unproven. In the days between his collapse and his death, Charles endured a variety of torturous treatments, including bloodletting , purging and cupping , in the hope of effecting a recovery, which may have exacerbated his uraemia through dehydration, rather than helping to alleviate it. On his deathbed, Charles asked his brother, James, to look after his mistresses: "be well to Portsmouth , and let not poor Nelly starve". He told his courtiers, "I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such
12096-542: The cleric John Earle , well known for his satirical book Microcosmographie , with whom he studied Latin and Greek, and Thomas Hobbes , the philosopher and author of Leviathan , with whom he studied mathematics. In France, Charles assisted his childhood friend, the Earl of Buckingham , with his experiments in chemistry and alchemy , with the Earl convinced he was close to producing the philosopher's stone . Although some of Charles's studies, while abroad, may have helped to pass
12240-606: The east belong to one Inn or the other. Proceeding south from the Fleet Street gatehouse, Middle Temple Lane passes Brick Court to the west, so called because it is said to consist of the first brick buildings to be built in the Temple, in the reign of Elizabeth I. Sir William Blackstone worked here before becoming the first professor to lecture in law at Oxford University. The poet and playwright Oliver Goldsmith also lived here from 1765 (having earlier resided in Garden Court), and
12384-587: The east side of Inner Temple Lane, and opposite Hare Court, is Goldsmith Building, so named because of its proximity to Goldsmith's tomb in the adjacent Temple Church. Despite its location in the Inner Temple, Goldsmith Building actually belongs to Middle Temple, for reasons which are no longer remembered. It was built in 1861. The Inn's supreme body is its Parliament, which is made up of the Benchers (judges and senior barristers), who are elected for life, and headed by
12528-451: The efforts of the Society members "to weigh air". He seemed unable to grasp the significance of the basic laws of physics being established at that time, including Boyle's Law and Hooke's Law and the concept of atmospheric pressure and the barometer and the importance of air for the support of life. Although Charles lost interest in the activities of the society, he continued to support scientific and commercial endeavours. He founded
12672-474: The electoral qualifications intending to bring about the return of a Presbyterian majority. The restrictions against royalist candidates and voters were widely ignored, and the elections resulted in a House of Commons that was fairly evenly divided on political grounds between Royalists and Parliamentarians and on religious grounds between Anglicans and Presbyterians. The so-called Convention Parliament assembled on 25 April 1660, and soon afterwards welcomed
12816-409: The fire, and which had belonged to Inner Temple. The Lamb of God is the symbol of Middle Temple and is engraved above the entrances to the building. Behind Lamb Buildings, further east, is Elm Court, built in 1880. The buildings on the south and east sides of Elm Court are part of Inner Temple; the west and north buildings are Middle Temple. Further north is Pump Court , one of the oldest courts in
12960-544: The firefighting effort. The public blamed Catholic conspirators for the fire. Since 1640, Portugal had been fighting a war against Spain to restore its independence after a dynastic union of sixty years between the crowns of Spain and Portugal. Portugal had been helped by France, but in the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 Portugal was abandoned by its French ally. Negotiations with Portugal for Charles's marriage to Catherine of Braganza began during his father's reign and upon
13104-400: The government of £1.2 million, generated largely from customs and excise duties. The grant, however, proved to be insufficient for most of Charles's reign. For the most part, the actual revenue was much lower, which led to attempts to economise at court by reducing the size and expenses of the royal household and raising money through unpopular innovations such as the hearth tax . In
13248-551: The group around West. The "cabal" was later named as the "council of six", which took form after the Tory successes in summer 1682 in the struggle to control the City of London . A significant aspect was the intention to employ Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll for a military rebellion in Scotland. Smith in January 1683 was sent to contact supporters in Scotland, for the "six", with a view to summoning them to London; but apparently botched
13392-492: The hall in 1578, unannounced, to inspect the new building and listen to a debate between barristers. This is the earliest known visit of a reigning monarch to an Inn of Court. One of the tables at the end of the hall is traditionally said to have been made from the timbers of the Golden Hinde , the ship used by Sir Francis Drake to circumnavigate the world. Above the table is a massive painting of King Charles I thought to be
13536-545: The heavens through his new telescope and, in May 1661, Evelyn describes his visit to the Garden, with several other scientists, to view Saturn's rings . Charles also had a laboratory installed, in Whitehall, within easy access to his bedroom. From the beginning of his reign, Charles appointed experts to assist him in his scientific pursuits. These included: Timothy Clarke , a celebrated anatomist, who performed some dissections for
13680-404: The journey on 1 April 1683, but there was a major fire in Newmarket on 22 March, which destroyed half of the town. The races were cancelled, and the King and the Duke returned to London early. As a result, the planned attack never took place. The conspirators of this period were numerous, and the resort to some sort of armed resistance was widely debated from the early 1680s, on what was becoming
13824-603: The king was so high that he was given access to the royal laboratory to perform his own experiments there. Charles never attended a Society meeting, but he remained aware of the activities there from his discussions with Society members, especially Moray. In addition, Robert Boyle gave him a private viewing of the Boyle/Hooke air-pump , which was used at many of the Wednesday meetings. However, Charles preferred experiments that had an immediate practical outcome and he laughed at
13968-581: The king's Catholic brother, James, acquired greater influence at court. Titus Oates was convicted and imprisoned for defamation. Thus through the last years of Charles's reign, his approach towards his opponents changed, and he was compared by Whigs to the contemporary Louis XIV of France, with his form of government in those years termed "slavery". Many of them were prosecuted and their estates seized, with Charles replacing judges and sheriffs at will and packing juries to achieve conviction. To destroy opposition in London, Charles first disenfranchised many Whigs in
14112-554: The king's chief physician, Harvey accompanied Charles I to the Battle of Edgehill and, although some details are uncertain, he had charge of Prince Charles and the Duke of York in the morning, but the two boys were back with the king for the start of battle. Later in the afternoon, with their father concerned for their safety, the two princes left the battlefield accompanied by Sir W. Howard and his pensioners. During his exile, in France, Charles continued his education, including physics, chemistry and mathematics. His tutors included
14256-463: The king's household. Evelyn visited his laboratory with the king. In addition to his many other interests, the king was fascinated by clock mechanisms and had clocks distributed all around Whitehall, including seven of them in his bedroom. Robert Bruce (later Earl of Ailesbury), a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, complained that the continual noise of the clocks chiming disturbed his sleep, whenever it
14400-464: The king; Robert Morison as his chief botanist (Charles had his own botanical garden); Edmund Dickinson , a chemist and alchemist, who was tasked with carrying out experiments in the king's laboratory; Sir Thomas Williams , who was skillful in compounding and inventing medicines, some of which were prepared in the royal presence; and Nicasius le Febure (or Nicolas LeFevre), who was invited to England as royal professor of chemistry and apothecary to
14544-514: The latter half of 1660, Charles's joy at the Restoration was tempered by the deaths of his siblings Henry and Mary of smallpox . At around the same time, Anne Hyde , the daughter of Lord Chancellor Edward Hyde , revealed that she was pregnant by Charles's brother James, whom she had secretly married. Edward Hyde, who had not known of either the marriage or the pregnancy, was created Earl of Clarendon and his position as Charles's favourite minister
14688-584: The main group. John Locke had arranged accommodation for West in Oxford at that time and had other associations in the group of revolutionary activists (Smith, John Ayloffe , Christopher Battiscombe and Israel Hayes), of whom Ayloffe was certainly implicated in the Rye House Plot, leaving Locke vulnerable. Rumbold was introduced to West's group by John Wildman , but when the plot was discovered, both had distanced themselves, Wildman by refusing to finance Rumbold in
14832-506: The mission by indiscretions. In fact West's contacts with the Monmouth cabal, and knowledge of their intentions, were in part quite indirect. Thomas Walcot and Robert Ferguson had accompanied Shaftesbury to the Netherlands in his self-imposed exile of November 1682. They then both returned to London and associated with West, who learned from Walcott of Shaftesbury's own plan for a general rebellion. Walcott went on to say that he would lead
14976-622: The more radical Kirk Party , who even fought each other. Disillusioned by these divisions, Charles rode north to join an Engager force in October, an event which became known as "the Start", but within two days members of the Kirk Party had recovered him. Nevertheless, the Scots remained Charles's best hope of restoration, and he was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Abbey on 1 January 1651. With Cromwell's forces threatening Charles's position in Scotland, it
15120-572: The next two years based in the Royalist capital of Oxford . In January 1645, Charles was given his own Council and made titular head of Royalist forces in the West Country . By spring 1646, most of the region had been occupied by Parliamentarian forces and Charles went into exile to avoid capture. From Falmouth , he went first to the Isles of Scilly , then to Jersey , and finally to France, where his mother
15264-473: The northern boundary of the Inn, was built in 1684 by Sir Christopher Wren . It replaced an earlier one which had been allowed to decay until it had to be demolished. It leads into Middle Temple Lane, which proceeds southwards through the Inn to end at gates on the Victoria Embankment , south of the Temple. All of the buildings in the Temple lying west of the lane belong to Middle Temple; the buildings to
15408-422: The opposition to Charles's rule, fled to Holland where Shaftesbury soon died. Many well-known members of Parliament and noblemen of the "country party" would soon be known as Whigs , a faction name that stuck. Rye House , located north-east of Hoddesdon , Hertfordshire, was a fortified mediaeval mansion surrounded by a moat . The house was leased by a republican and Civil War veteran, Richard Rumbold . The plan
15552-517: The opposition-invented Popish Plot , the Exclusion Bill was introduced in the House of Commons, which would have excluded James from the succession. Charles outmanoeuvred his opponents and dissolved the Oxford Parliament . This left his opponents with no lawful method of preventing James's succession, and rumours of plots and conspiracies abounded. With the "country party" in disarray, Lord Melville , Lord Leven , and Lord Shaftesbury , leader of
15696-453: The other Catholic rulers of Europe was too close. Anti-Catholic sentiment, which associated Roman Catholicism with absolutism , was widespread, and focused particular attention on the succession to the English throne. While Charles was publicly Anglican , he and his brother were known to have Catholic sympathies. These suspicions were confirmed in 1673 when James was discovered to have converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1681, triggered by
15840-402: The plot leaked when Josiah Keeling gave information on it to Sir Leoline Jenkins , and the plot was publicly discovered 12 June 1683. Keeling had contacted a courtier, who put him in touch with George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth , and Dartmouth had brought him to Jenkins, Secretary of State. Keeling's testimony was used at the trials of Walcott, Hone, Sidney, and Charles Bateman; and it earned him
15984-474: The possessor of several other associated titles. At or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales , though he was never formally invested. In August 1642, the long-running dispute between Charles I and Parliament culminated in the outbreak of the First English Civil War . In October, Prince Charles and his younger brother James were present at the Battle of Edgehill and spent
16128-516: The purchase of arms and Rumbold by losing his earlier enthusiasm. Cabal members such as Richard Nelthorpe favoured a rebellion rather than an assassination, aligning much of the West group's discussion with the plans of Algernon Sidney , in particular, and the more aristocratic country party members making up the so-called Monmouth cabal . There were discussions in the group around Monmouth in September 1682 of an uprising, having participants in common with
16272-468: The remainder of Charles's reign. The Acts became known as the Clarendon Code , after Lord Clarendon, even though he was not directly responsible for them and even spoke against the Five Mile Act. The Restoration was accompanied by social change. Puritanism lost its momentum. Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell, and bawdy " Restoration comedy " became
16416-671: The restoration, Queen Luísa of Portugal , acting as regent, reopened negotiations with England that resulted in an alliance. On 23 June 1661, a marriage treaty was signed; England acquired Catherine's dowry of the port of Tangier in North Africa, the Seven Islands of Bombay in India (which had a major influence on the development of the British Empire ), valuable trading privileges in Brazil and
16560-544: The same courtyard. The earliest record of Essex Court is from 1640, but the original buildings were replaced in 1656 and 1677. Today Essex Court and Brick Court are occupied by barristers' chambers. Through a passageway to the west is New Court, built by Wren, and a gate leading out of the Temple into Devereux Court and Essex Street. (Another passageway to the north leads through Outer Temple to Fleet Street.) South of New Court and Essex Court lies Fountain Court. The fountain there
16704-486: The same cross (a red cross on a white field). The cross, and the lamb with the flag, each were symbols of the Knights Templar . The Inn's student members are required to attend a minimum of 10 qualifying sessions, 6 of which must be attended in person, either at the Inn or "on circuit" (outside London) . Qualifying sessions, formerly known as "dinners", combine collegiate and educational elements and will usually combine
16848-458: The southern archway), the buildings belong to Inner Temple, until the lane reaches Lamb Buildings. Lamb Buildings belong to Middle Temple, which bought the land from Inner Temple after the Great Fire of 1666. Inner Temple needed the money because it found itself short of funds due to the extensive property destruction. Lamb Buildings are built on the site of Caesar's Buildings, which were destroyed in
16992-501: The teaching of the civil law within the City of London. The common law lawyers migrated to the hamlet of Holborn , as it was easy to get to the law courts at Westminster Hall and was just outside the City. They were based in guilds , which in time became the Inns of Court. The Middle Temple is the western part of " The Temple ", which was the headquarters of the Knights Templar until they were dissolved in 1312. There have been lawyers in
17136-648: The terms of a treaty agreed between him and the Scots Parliament at Breda , and support the Solemn League and Covenant , which authorised Presbyterian church governance across Britain. Upon his arrival in Scotland on 23 June 1650, he formally agreed to the Covenant; his abandonment of Episcopal church governance, although winning him support in Scotland, left him unpopular in England. Charles himself soon came to despise
17280-506: The time, on his return to England he was already knowledgeable in the mathematics of navigation and was a competent chemist. Such was his knowledge of naval architecture that he was able to participate in technical discussions on the subject with Samuel Pepys , William Petty and John Evelyn . The new concepts and discoveries being found at this time fascinated Charles, not only in science and medicine, but in topics such as botany and gardening. A French traveller, Sorbier, while visiting
17424-572: The war. A new Library was constructed in the 1950s to a design by Edward Maufe and opened by the Queen Mother in 1958. The building still houses the Inn's library and archives as well as various administrative offices, and is now known as the Ashley Building. Middle Temple Library possesses Emery Molyneux 's terrestrial and celestial globes , which are of particular historical cartographical value. The present gatehouse, on Fleet Street on
17568-513: The winter, and Charles returned to London in February 1666. After a long spell of hot and dry weather through mid-1666, the Great Fire of London started on 2 September 1666 in Pudding Lane . Fanned by strong winds and fed by wood and fuel stockpiled for winter, the fire destroyed about 13,200 houses and 87 churches, including St Paul's Cathedral . Charles and his brother James joined and directed
17712-506: Was hanged, drawn and quartered . Having fled abroad the previous year, Sir William Waller moved to Bremen in 1683. While he was there he became a central figure in a group of the erstwhile conspirators who were in political exile. Lord Preston , the English ambassador at Paris, called him "the governor" and wrote that "They style Waller, by way of commendation, a second Cromwell ". Waller would accompany William of Orange to England in 1688 but William chose to overlook him when his government
17856-531: Was a reward of £1,000 on his head, anyone caught helping him was at risk of being put to death, and he was difficult to disguise, being over 6 ft (1.8 m), which was unusually tall for the time. Under the Instrument of Government passed by Parliament, Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1653, effectively placing the British Isles under military rule. Charles lived
18000-541: Was actually plotted than in the public perception of it and the uses made of it by the government. Popular reaction to the Tories' reactive excesses, sometimes known as the "Stuart Revenge" though that term is contested, led to the discontent expressed decisively in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England , Scotland, and Ireland from
18144-540: Was already living under the protection of his first cousin, the eight-year-old Louis XIV . Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646. During the Second English Civil War in 1648, Charles moved to The Hague , where his sister Mary and his brother-in-law William II, Prince of Orange , seemed more likely to provide substantial aid to the Royalist cause than his mother's French relations. Although part of
18288-444: Was considered particularly unreliable, and he had a direct connection to the Monmouth household to offer as information; a number of steps were taken to silence him, and his life was under threat more than once. After the meeting Nelthorpe and Edward Norton called on William Russell, Lord Russell, with an appeal to take up arms immediately; when Russell was unwilling, Nelthorpe left the country. Walcott named Henry Care , publisher of
18432-673: Was damaged extensively during the Blitz (1940–1944). The Library was destroyed, much of the Church was destroyed, the Master's House burned down, and the Hall was badly damaged. 112 chambers were destroyed, out of a pre-war total of 285 (39%). The Inns served as colleges for the education of lawyers until they stopped being responsible for legal education in 1852, although they continue to provide training in areas such as advocacy and ethics for students, pupil barristers and newly qualified barristers. Most of
18576-481: Was dashed. After the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Charles's initial chances of regaining the Crown seemed slim; Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard . However, the new Lord Protector had little experience of either military or civil administration. In 1659, the Rump Parliament was recalled and Richard Cromwell resigned. During the civil and military unrest that followed, George Monck ,
18720-551: Was decided to mount an attack on England, but many of their most experienced soldiers had been excluded on religious grounds by the Kirk Party, whose leaders also refused to participate, among them Lord Argyll . Opposition to what was primarily a Scottish army meant few English Royalists joined as it moved south, and the invasion ended in defeat at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Charles managed to escape and landed in Normandy six weeks later on 16 October, even though there
18864-475: Was described by Charles Dickens in Martin Chuzzlewit . In her notes to her poem The Middle Temple Gardens , Letitia Elizabeth Landon says of it: 'it is the poetry of the place, or, rather, the voice of the poetry with which it is filled'. To the south of Fountain Court are, from west to east, Garden Court (where the old library used to be), Middle Temple Gardens (which extend to the southern perimeter of
19008-528: Was eventually only contained by blowing up some buildings with gunpowder. The Lord Mayor of London tried to exploit the occasion to assert his own jurisdiction over the Temple – which was independent of the City – and on being thwarted in this endeavour, he turned back a fire engine which was on its way to the fire from the City. Issues related to the destruction of records of the Office of the Chirographer of Fines of
19152-474: Was forced to gradually disband his troops. Having lost the support of Parliament, Danby resigned his post of Lord High Treasurer , but received a pardon from the king. In defiance of the royal will, the House of Commons declared that the dissolution of Parliament did not interrupt impeachment proceedings, and that the pardon was therefore invalid. When the House of Lords attempted to impose the punishment of exile—which
19296-453: Was formed. Historians have suggested the story of the plot may have been largely manufactured by Charles or his supporters to allow the removal of most of his strongest political opponents. Richard Greaves cites as proof that there was a plot in 1683, the 1685 armed rebellions of the fugitive Earl of Argyll and Charles' Protestant illegitimate son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth . Doreen Milne asserts that its importance lies less in what
19440-413: Was impeached by the House of Commons on the charge of high treason . Although much of the nation had sought war with Catholic France, Charles had secretly negotiated with Louis XIV, trying to reach an agreement under which England would remain neutral in return for money. Danby had publicly professed that he was hostile to France, but had reservedly agreed to abide by Charles's wishes. Unfortunately for him,
19584-464: Was necessary for him to stay close by to the king. Also, Charles had a sundial installed in the Privy Garden, by which he could set his personal pocket watch . (For a while, the king personally recorded the performance of the latest spring-balance watch, presented to him by Robert Hooke . ) In 1662, Charles was pleased to grant a royal charter to a group of scientists and others who had established
19728-651: Was one of Charles's many illegitimate children who became prominent in British society. Despite his son's diplomatic efforts to save him, the execution of Charles I took place in January 1649, and England became a republic . On 5 February, the Covenanter Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II as "King of Great Britain, France and Ireland" at the Mercat Cross, Edinburgh , but refused to allow him to enter Scotland unless he agreed to establish Presbyterianism as
19872-424: Was particularly interested in alchemy, which he had first encountered many years earlier, during his exile with the Duke of Buckingham. Charles resumed his experiments with mercury and would spend whole mornings attempting to distill it. Heating mercury in an open crucible releases mercury vapour, which is toxic and may have contributed to his later ill health. Charles faced a political storm over his brother James,
20016-518: Was prepared to help recruiting for an uprising. On 6 July the arrest of Lobb was ordered, and he was picked up in August. A royal declaration of the heinous nature of the plot was issued on 27 July. Many more were arrested. Although the principal conspirators were minor figures, and not directly concerned in the Monmouth cabal, the court party made no distinction between the groups. The ministers involved may have known Ferguson but not West; Meade had sheltered
20160-625: Was strengthened. The Convention Parliament was dissolved in December 1660, and, shortly after Charles's English coronation , the second English Parliament of the reign assembled. Dubbed the Cavalier Parliament , it was overwhelmingly Royalist and Anglican. It sought to discourage non-conformity to the Church of England and passed several acts to secure Anglican dominance. The Corporation Act 1661 required municipal officeholders to swear allegiance;
20304-700: Was their second child (the first being a son born about a year before, who had died within a day). He was baptised on 27 June in the Chapel Royal by William Laud , a future archbishop of Canterbury , and during his infancy was supervised by the Protestant Countess of Dorset . His godparents included his maternal uncle Louis XIII and maternal grandmother, Marie de' Medici , the Dowager Queen of France, both of whom were Catholics. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay , and
20448-499: Was to conceal a force of men in the grounds of the house and ambush the King and the Duke as they passed by on their way back to London from the horse races at Newmarket . The "Rye House plotters", an extremist Whig group who are now named after this plot, allegedly adopted the plan out of a number of possibilities, having decided that it gave tactical advantages and could be carried out with a relatively small force operating with guns from good cover. The royal party were expected to make
20592-571: Was unable to produce an heir; her four pregnancies had ended in miscarriages and stillbirths in 1662, February 1666, May 1668, and June 1669. Charles's heir presumptive was therefore his unpopular Catholic brother, James, Duke of York. Partly to assuage public fears that the royal family was too Catholic, Charles agreed that James's daughter, Mary , should marry the Protestant William of Orange . In 1678, Titus Oates , who had been alternately an Anglican and Jesuit priest, falsely warned of
20736-422: Was walking to Whitehall, he met the king who invited him to view his chemistry laboratory. Pepys confessed to finding what he saw there beyond him. Charles developed painful gout in later life which limited the daily walks that he took regularly when younger. His keenness was now channelled to his laboratory where he would devote himself to his experiments, for hours at a time, sometimes helped by Moray. Charles
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