1678 in England
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 1678 in England: |
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| 1676 1676 in England Events from the year 1676 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 18 February - Isaac Newton observes to Robert Hooke that "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants".... | 1677 1677 in England Events from the year 1677 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 16 February - Politicians the Earl of Shaftesbury, Duke of Buckingham, Lord Wharton and the Earl of Salisbury are arrested and sent to the Tower of London.... | 1678 | 1679 1679 in England Events from the year 1679 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 24 January - King Charles II dismisses the Cavalier Parliament over the Exclusion crisis.* 6 March - Charles II's third Parliament assembles and is led by the Privy Council Ministry.... | 1680 1680 in England Events from the year 1680 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 4 November - A second Exclusion Bill is proposed to exclude the Catholic James, Duke of York from inheriting the throne.* 15 November - The Exclusion Bill is defeated in the House of Lords.... |
Events from the year 1678 in the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
.
Events
- 31 May - The Godiva Procession, a commemoration held in honour of Lady GodivaLady GodivaGodiva , often referred to as Lady Godiva , was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants...
's legendary naked ride on horseback through the streets of CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
in protest against her husband's treatment of the citizens, begins. - 6 September - Titus OatesTitus OatesTitus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:...
first presents sworn allegations of the "Popish PlotPopish PlotThe Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...
", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles IICharles II of EnglandCharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. On 28 September before the Privy CouncilPrivy Council of the United KingdomHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
he makes allegations against numerous Jesuits and Catholic nobles. - 17 October - Magistrate Sir Edmund Berry GodfreyEdmund Berry GodfreySir Edmund Berry Godfrey was an English magistrate whose mysterious death caused anti-Catholic uproar in England...
is found murdered in Primrose HillPrimrose HillPrimrose Hill is a hill of located on the north side of Regent's Park in London, England, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London to the south-east, as well as Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Titus Oates claims it as a proof of his allegations. - 25 October - Five Catholic peers accused of involvement in the "Popish Plot" are arrested at the instance of the House of CommonsHouse of Commons of EnglandThe House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
and committed to the Tower of LondonTower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. - Test ActTest ActThe Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists...
provides that members of both the House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and House of Commons must swear an anti-CatholicAnti-CatholicismAnti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
oath before taking office. - Second Burying in Woollen Act, more rigidly enforced.
Publications
- 18 February - John BunyanJohn BunyanJohn Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
's The Pilgrim's ProgressThe Pilgrim's ProgressThe Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been...
. - John DrydenJohn DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
's play All for Love.
Births
- July - Thomas HearneThomas HearneThomas Hearne or Hearn , English antiquary, was born at Littlefield Green in the parish of White Waltham, Berkshire.-Life:...
, antiquarian (died 17351735 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1735 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* 8 January - Premiere of George Frideric Handel's opera Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden....
) - 16 September - Henry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the...
, statesman and philosopher (died 17511751 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1751 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:* 31 March - Frederick, Prince of Wales dies and is succeeded by his son the future George III of the United Kingdom as Prince of Wales.* April - The Gin Act requires...
) - 8 December - Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of WoltertonHoratio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of WoltertonHoratio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole, PC , English diplomatist, was a son of Robert Walpole of Houghton, Norfolk, and a younger brother of the Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir Robert Walpole....
, diplomat (died 17571757 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1757 in Great Britain.- Events :* 2 January - Robert Clive captures Calcutta, India.* 14 March - Seven Years' War: Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard for breach of the Articles of War....
) - 14 December - Daniel NealDaniel NealDaniel Neal was an English historian.Born in London, he was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, and at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden...
, historian (died 17431743 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1743 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, Whig , Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:...
) - 30 December - William CroftWilliam CroftWilliam Croft was an English composer and organist.Croft was born at the Manor House, Nether Ettington, Warwickshire. He was educated at the Chapel Royal, under the instruction of John Blow, and remained there until 1698. Two years after this departure, he became organist of St. Anne's Church, Soho...
, composer (died 17271727 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1727 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George I , King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* February - Spain besieges Gibraltar in order to recapture the territory....
)
Deaths
- 16 August - Andrew MarvellAndrew MarvellAndrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...
, writer (born 1621) - 28 August - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of StrattonJohn Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of StrattonJohn Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton was an English royalist soldier. From 1648 he was closely associated with James, Duke of York, and rose to prominence, fortune and fame.-First English Civil War:...
, soldier (born 1602) - 12 October - Edmund Berry GodfreyEdmund Berry GodfreySir Edmund Berry Godfrey was an English magistrate whose mysterious death caused anti-Catholic uproar in England...
, magistrate (born 1621) - 1 November - William CoddingtonWilliam CoddingtonWilliam Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving as the Judge of Portsmouth, Judge of Newport, Governor of Portsmouth and Newport, Deputy Governor of the entire colony, and then Governor of the...
, first Governor of Rhode Island (born 1601)