Britain in the late-17th Century remained a nation scarred by civil war and fearful of a Catholic uprising - something which undercover-agent Titus Oates pounced upon to imagine-up an assassination plot against King Charles II. Oates had been dismissed from the Anglican Church so instead befriended some important Catholics, and even feigned conversion across Christianity. After infiltrating two Catholic seminaries, Oates was eventually suspended from both but had gained enough insider knowledge to pretend he had learned of the plot. Supposedly, the Jesuits were going to kill Charles II and then replace him with his brother James, who was a staunch Catholic, in 1678. However, it appears no such plot ever existed - yet 35 Catholics were executed over the next three years as nationwide panic ensued. James (II) was elevated to the throne once Charles II died in 1685 and the new king immediately had Oates convicted of perjury - for which the fraudster spent three years in jail before being pardoned during the Glorious Revolution.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.