Key Terms You Must Know

📖 Key Terms You Must Know

Exclusion Crisis (1679-81)

The constitutional conflict in which three successive Parliaments attempted to pass legislation (Exclusion Bills) barring James, Duke of York, from inheriting the throne because of his Catholicism. The first bill (May 1679) passed the Commons but Charles dissolved Parliament before the Lords could vote. The second (November 1680) was defeated in the Lords. The third (March 1681, Oxford Parliament) was ended when Charles dissolved Parliament after one week. Charles ruled without Parliament from 1681 until his death in 1685. The crisis gave birth to organised party politics — Whigs and Tories.

Oxford Parliament (March 1681)

The third and final Parliament of the Exclusion Crisis, summoned to meet in Oxford rather than London. Charles chose Oxford deliberately to remove Parliament from the volatile London crowds who supported the Whigs. After only one week, Charles dissolved it — reportedly arriving at the Lords disguised in a sedan chair to prevent advance warning. This dissolution ended the Exclusion Crisis and ushered in Charles's four years of personal rule (1681-85), funded by French subsidies.

Earl of Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1621-83)

The leading Whig politician and principal architect of the Exclusion campaign. A former member of the CABAL ministry, he had turned against Charles and became the most determined opponent of a Catholic succession. He organised the Whig campaign, promoted Titus Oates's allegations, and proposed the Duke of Monmouth as Protestant alternative king. He was prosecuted for treason in 1681 (the jury refused to indict him) and fled to Holland, where he died in 1683. His political ally was philosopher John Locke, whose Two Treatises of Government provided theoretical justification for limiting royal power.

Rye House Plot (1683)

An alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and his brother James as their coach passed Rye House in Hertfordshire on the way back from Newmarket races. The plot was exposed after a fire at Newmarket caused the royal party to return early. Several prominent Whigs were arrested; Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney were executed. Whether the plot was a genuine conspiracy or a government fabrication to destroy the Whig leadership is still debated by historians. It destroyed the Whigs as an organised political force.

Duke of Monmouth (James Scott, 1649-85)

Charles II's eldest illegitimate son by his mistress Lucy Walter. He was Protestant, popular, and military — he had won glory at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge (1679) suppressing a Scottish rebellion. Whigs promoted him as a Protestant alternative to James, claiming (falsely) that Charles had secretly married his mother, making Monmouth legitimate. Charles refused to legitimise him. After Charles died, Monmouth led the Monmouth Rebellion (1685) against James II — it was crushed at Sedgemoor, and Monmouth was executed on Tower Hill in July 1685.

Personal rule (1681-85)

The final four years of Charles II's reign, during which he governed without Parliament — funded by French subsidies and customs revenue. It was a demonstration that a financially independent monarch could survive without Parliament. Charles used this period to suppress the Whigs, remodel town charters (removing Whig councillors), and prepare the ground for James's smooth succession. It is sometimes compared to his father's Personal Rule of 1629-40 — though Charles was more successful precisely because he had foreign income his father lacked.