1993/03/01 by Mark Knights · 45 citations
Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Historical Economic and Social Studies #History #Law #Monster #Opposition (politics) #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Public opinion #Reformation and Early Modern Christianity #Sociology #Unrest
paper · doi:10.1017/s0018246x00016101
published in The Historical Journal 36(1), 39-67 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 1993/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
ABSTRACT The unrest in London during the ‘Exclusion Crisis’ filled Charles II with fear and foreboding of a new civil war. Yet although recent research has highlighted the important role played by the capital's inhabitants in the period, the evidence available for studying the groups of radicals involved has been sketchy and fragmentary. This article uses a new source, in the form of a mass petition, signed by almost 16,000 citizens, which was presented to the king in January 1680. It offers a unique opportunity to measure public opinion during one of the most turbulent periods of the Restoration, and to test assumptions about the character of the opposition to the king. After a discussion of the aims and conduct of the campaign, a prosopographical study of some of the most readily identifiable signatories provides the basis for a detailed examination of the political, religious, geographical, economic and social dimension of the petition. Finally, London's popular reaction to national politics is considered in terms of its effectiveness in altering royal policy, and its impact on the rest of the country.