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When Charles II returned to the throne, his political stability depended on striking a balance between his own Catholic sympathies and the Protestant Church of England. Charles succeeded, for the most part, though his lack of a legitimate heir caused worries among the populace. The clear heir, James, Duke of York, was an open Catholic. Charles was under some pressure to name his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, as his legitimate heir. Public concern was heightened after the exposure of the supposed "Popish Plot." Titus
Oates (a renegade Catholic convert) swore that there was a Jesuit plot
to assassinate the king, burn London, massacre Protestants, and
reestablish the Roman church.. In
short, he lied. But a series of incidents lent credence to the hysteria--the
official who was holding a copy of Oates' testimony for safekeeping was
murdered (supposedly by Catholics, but the crime was never solved).
The public panicked; the Duke of York's papers were seized and it
was discovered he was in collusion with people associated with Louis XIV
(a Catholic). This
hysteria was exploited by the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Duke of
Buckingham, and other Whigs who wanted to dump Duke of York as the heir
presumptive. Now,
the truth is that Charles WAS a secret Catholic, and he WAS in collusion
with Louis XIV (he took cash from Louis as a way of freeing himself of
Parliament). But the public wasn't aware of this, and Charles needed to
keep public opinion on his side--and public opinion was anti-Catholic
and anti-French. Despite Dryden's early association with Cromwell, Dryden's sympathies are solidly on the side of Charles II and James II. (Dryden will follow James II into exile after the Glorious Revolution). He is attempting to strengthen Charles' and James' position without seeming to harm the popular Duke of Monmouth. Monmouth will not be designated as Charles' heir, but he will raise an abortive rebellion against James II in 1685. Monmouth is defeated in the battle of Sedgemoor (Daniel Defoe is thought to be a member of Monmouth's army and one of the few to escape the slaughter). Monmouth was captured and executed for treason on Tower Hill in London.
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