1678 in England
List of events
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Incumbents
- Monarch â Charles II
Events
- 10 January â England and the Dutch Republic sign a mutual alliance against France.[1]
- 21 March â Thomas Shadwell's comedy A True Widow is given its first performance, at The Duke's Theatre in London, staged by the Duke's Company.
- 31 May â the Godiva Procession, a commemoration held in honour of Lady Godiva's legendary 11th century naked horseback ride through the streets of Coventry in protest against her husband's treatment of the citizens, begins.
- 6 September â Titus Oates first presents sworn allegations of the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II.[2] On 28 September before the Privy Council he makes allegations against numerous Jesuits and Catholic nobles. Oates applies the term Tory to those who disbelieve his allegations.
- 17 October â magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered in Primrose Hill, London. Titus Oates claims it as a proof of his allegations.[2]
- 25 October â five Catholic peers accused of involvement in the "Popish Plot" are arrested at the instance of the House of Commons and committed to the Tower of London. On 1 November, impeachment proceedings begin.
- 26 November â William Staley, a Catholic banker, becomes the first person to be executed in connection with the "Popish Plot".
- 3 December â the Test Act provides that members of both the House of Lords and House of Commons must swear an anti-Catholic oath before taking office.
- Second Burying in Woollen Act, to support the home textile industry, more rigidly enforced.[3]
Publications
- 18 February â John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.[4]
- John Dryden's play All for Love.[2]
Births
- July â Thomas Hearne, antiquarian (died 1735)
- 16 September â Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, statesman and philosopher (died 1751)
- 8 December â Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, diplomat (died 1757)
- 14 December â Daniel Neal, historian (died 1743)
- 30 December â William Croft, composer (died 1727)
Deaths
- 12 April â Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick, courtier and diarist (born 1625 in Ireland)
- 16 August â Andrew Marvell, writer (born 1621)
- 28 August â John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, soldier (born 1602)
- 12 October â Edmund Berry Godfrey, magistrate (born 1621)
- 1 November â William Coddington, first Governor of Rhode Island (born 1601)