WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Crown, Parliament and the Catholic Question
The central political tension of Restoration England was the relationship between a king who wanted royal prerogative and religious tolerance, and a Parliament that wanted to uphold Anglicanism and restrict the crown. At the heart of this tension was the Catholic Question: Charles II had secret Catholic sympathies and a Catholic brother (James, Duke of York) as heir to the throne. When the Popish Plot hysteria of 1678 convinced many people that Catholics were plotting to murder the king and put James on the throne, Parliament attempted to exclude James from the succession. The Exclusion Crisis brought England to the brink of civil war for the second time in forty years.
The Clarendon Code and religious conflict
The Restoration brought back the Church of England — but what about the Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, Congregationalists, and other Nonconformists who had flourished during the Interregnum? The Cavalier Parliament (1661–1679) was fiercely Anglican and passed a series of laws known as the Clarendon Code (named after Charles's chief minister, the Earl of Clarendon):
- Corporation Act (1661): Required all town officials to take Anglican communion — removing Nonconformists from local government.
- Act of Uniformity (1662): Clergy had to accept the revised Book of Common Prayer or lose their positions. About 2,000 Nonconformist ministers were ejected — the "Great Ejection."
- Conventicle Act (1664): Banned gatherings of more than five people for non-Anglican religious worship.
- Five Mile Act (1665): Banned ejected ministers from coming within five miles of their former parish.
The Clarendon Code was not what Charles wanted — he had promised religious toleration in the Declaration of Breda. But Parliament was determined, and Charles needed Parliament's financial support more than he needed to protect Nonconformists.
The Declaration of Indulgence and constitutional crisis
Charles tried twice to use royal prerogative to suspend the penal laws against Catholics and Nonconformists:
- Declaration of Indulgence (1662): Charles attempted to suspend the Clarendon Code by royal prerogative. Parliament objected that the king could not suspend statute law unilaterally; Charles backed down.
- Declaration of Indulgence (1672): Charles tried again, this time as part of the Stop of the Exchequer (suspending repayment of government debt) and the Third Dutch War. Parliament again refused to accept that the king could suspend statute law, passing the Test Act (1673), which required all officeholders to deny Catholic doctrine and take Anglican communion. This forced James, Duke of York (Charles's brother and heir) to resign as Lord High Admiral — publicly confirming his Catholicism.
The Test Act was politically devastating. James's Catholicism was now public knowledge, and his position as heir to the throne made this a constitutional crisis rather than merely a personal matter.
Key concept
Royal prerogative vs parliamentary sovereignty
The constitutional conflict of the Restoration period was fundamentally about the limits of royal power. Charles II believed he had inherent "prerogative" powers — things the king could do without Parliament's permission, including suspending laws in emergencies. Parliament argued that only Parliament could suspend statute law — the king could not override what Parliament had enacted. This conflict had caused the Civil War; it continued under Charles II and would eventually produce the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Bill of Rights (1689), which formally settled the question in Parliament's favour. For the exam, the Test Act controversy shows how the Catholic Question and the constitutional question were intertwined.
The Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, 1678–1681
In 1678, a clergyman named Titus Oates claimed to have uncovered a Catholic conspiracy — the "Popish Plot" — to murder Charles II, massacre Protestants, and put James on the throne. The plot was entirely fabricated. But in the febrile atmosphere of 1678, with genuine concern about Catholic France and the real knowledge of James's Catholicism, the allegations were widely believed.
Lord Chief Justice Godfrey, who had taken Oates's initial deposition, was found murdered in mysterious circumstances — which seemed to confirm the plot was real. A panic swept England. About 22 Catholics were executed on perjured testimony before the hysteria began to subside.
Parliament responded by attempting to exclude James from the succession — replacing him with Charles's illegitimate (but Protestant) son, the Duke of Monmouth. The Exclusion Bills were introduced in Parliament in 1679, 1680, and 1681 — and Charles blocked all three, dissolving Parliament rather than allow them to pass.
Key individual
Titus Oates (1649–1705)
Titus Oates was one of the most remarkable liars in English history. A failed clergyman, he infiltrated Jesuit seminaries in Spain and Belgium, invented a massive conspiracy, and convinced a House of Commons committee — in a period of genuine anti-Catholic anxiety — that he had real evidence. His testimony sent innocent men to their deaths. When the panic subsided, he was tried for perjury in 1685 (under James II), sentenced to flogging and life imprisonment, and pardoned after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. His story illustrates how political hysteria can override rational judgement — and how the Catholic Question was a genuinely explosive issue in Restoration England.
Whigs and Tories: the birth of political parties
The Exclusion Crisis produced something new in English politics: recognisable political parties.
- Whigs: Supported Exclusion — excluding the Catholic James from the throne. Led by the Earl of Shaftesbury. Their power base was merchants, Nonconformists, and those who remembered the Civil War as a fight against royal tyranny.
- Tories: Opposed Exclusion — supported the hereditary succession, even if that meant a Catholic king. Their power base was the Anglican gentry and clergy who believed in the divine right of kings and the importance of the Church of England.
The names were originally insults: "Whig" was a Scottish term for Presbyterian rebels; "Tory" was an Irish term for Catholic outlaws. Both stuck.
The Whig-Tory division shaped English (and later British) politics for the next two centuries. The modern Conservative Party traces its heritage to the Tories; the Liberal Democrats trace theirs (via the Liberal Party) to the Whigs.
Charles II's victory: the Tory Reaction, 1681–1685
Charles outmanoeuvred the Exclusionists. In 1681, he called Parliament to Oxford — away from the Whig mob in London — and dissolved it. With the support of French subsidy from Louis XIV (paid secretly in return for English neutrality), he no longer needed to call Parliament for money. He used the legal system to destroy Whig power: Shaftesbury fled into exile; the Rye House Plot (1683), a Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles and James, gave the crown the excuse to execute several Whig leaders.
By the time Charles II died in February 1685 — having converted to Catholicism on his deathbed — the Tories were dominant, Whig opposition had been crushed, and James II succeeded without significant opposition.
Why this matters for the exam
The Catholic Question as a constitutional crisis
AQA questions on this topic often ask about the relationship between crown and Parliament, or about the significance of the Catholic Question. Key arguments: the Catholic Question was not just about religion — it was about who would rule, and what kind of monarchy England would have; the Exclusion Crisis came closer than any event since the Civil War to producing another breakdown; Charles II's survival depended on French money, shrewd political tactics, and the Tories' belief in legitimate succession; and the birth of the Whig and Tory parties shows that the conflict was institutionalising itself into recognisable political forms. These patterns — constitutional conflict, religious anxiety, the power of Parliament — all feed directly into the Glorious Revolution three years after Charles II's death.
Revision checklist
Before moving on, make sure you can answer:
- What was the Clarendon Code? Name at least three acts and describe what each did.
- What was the Declaration of Indulgence (1672)? Why did Parliament oppose it?
- What was the Test Act (1673)? What was its impact on James, Duke of York?
- Who was Titus Oates? What was the Popish Plot?
- What was the Exclusion Crisis? Why did Parliament want to exclude James?
- How did Charles II defeat the Exclusion movement?
- What were the Whigs and Tories? What did each side stand for?
- What happened to Charles II at the end of his life?
What's New snippet
Article slug: gcse-history-restoration-england-crown-parliament-catholic-question
Title: Whigs, Tories, and the Catholic heir — England's near-revolution of 1678–1681
The Exclusion Crisis came closer to a second civil war than anything since the first one. Parliament twice tried to exclude the Catholic Duke of York from the succession; Charles II dissolved Parliament rather than allow it. Titus Oates's fabricated Popish Plot sent innocent men to the gallows and produced England's first recognisable political parties. Charles survived — but only by taking French money and destroying his opponents through the courts.