Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Domains

Attempts, Assassinations, Executions

Dates

Date of occurrence 1678-10-17

Places

England (Location)

Resources

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Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a London magistrate who had listened to the claims of Titus Oates about a Popish Plot, is found murdered. This mysterious occurence persuades people to take the conspiracy theory seriously. Oates claims that the Pope has ordered the Jesuits to overthrow Charles II with French and Spanish aid. Eventually the entire plot is revealed to be little more than a fictional concoction, but in the meantime, anti-Catholic panic precipitates the Exclusion Crisis aimed at removing James Duke of York from the succession.

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86 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 April 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=16664, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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