Popish Plot Fabricated

1678

The disgraced Anglican cleric Titus Oates concocted a tale of a Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and place his brother on the throne. London panicked; fifteen innocent Catholics were hanged on Oates's perjury before the fraud was exposed. The hysteria scarred English politics for a generation and gave birth to the Whig and Tory parties that would define parliamentary life.