1678 in England

Centuries:	15th; 16th; 17th; 18th; 19th;
Decades:	1650s; 1660s; 1670s; 1680s; 1690s;
See also:	Other events of 1678

List of events

Events from the year 1678 in England.

Incumbents

Monarch – Charles II

Events

10 January – England and the Dutch Republic sign a mutual alliance against France.^[1]
21 March – Thomas Shadwell's comedy A True Widow is given its first performance, at The Duke's Theatre in London, staged by the Duke's Company.
31 May – the Godiva Procession, a commemoration held in honour of Lady Godiva's legendary 11th century naked horseback ride through the streets of Coventry in protest against her husband's treatment of the citizens, begins.
6 September – Titus Oates first presents sworn allegations of the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II.^[2] On 28 September before the Privy Council he makes allegations against numerous Jesuits and Catholic nobles. Oates applies the term Tory to those who disbelieve his allegations.
17 October – magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered in Primrose Hill, London. Titus Oates claims it as a proof of his allegations.^[2]
25 October – five Catholic peers accused of involvement in the "Popish Plot" are arrested at the instance of the House of Commons and committed to the Tower of London. On 1 November, impeachment proceedings begin.
26 November – William Staley, a Catholic banker, becomes the first person to be executed in connection with the "Popish Plot".
3 December – the Test Act provides that members of both the House of Lords and House of Commons must swear an anti-Catholic oath before taking office.
Second Burying in Woollen Act, to support the home textile industry, more rigidly enforced.^[3]

Publications

18 February – John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.^[4]
John Dryden's play All for Love.^[2]

Births

July – Thomas Hearne, antiquarian (died 1735)
16 September – Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, statesman and philosopher (died 1751)
8 December – Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, diplomat (died 1757)
14 December – Daniel Neal, historian (died 1743)
30 December – William Croft, composer (died 1727)

Deaths

12 April – Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick, courtier and diarist (born 1625 in Ireland)
16 August – Andrew Marvell, writer (born 1621)
28 August – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, soldier (born 1602)
12 October – Edmund Berry Godfrey, magistrate (born 1621)
1 November – William Coddington, first Governor of Rhode Island (born 1601)

References

^ Grose, C. L. (1924). "The Anglo-Dutch Alliance of 1678". The English Historical Review. 39: 349–372.
^ a b c Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 193–194. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ "Charles II, 1677 & 1678: An Act for burying in Woollen". British History Online. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.

[1] Grose, C. L. (1924). "The Anglo-Dutch Alliance of 1678". The English Historical Review. 39: 349–372.

[CBH-2] Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 193–194. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.

[3] "Charles II, 1677 & 1678: An Act for burying in Woollen". British History Online. Retrieved 2011-08-18.

[Pocket_On_This_Day-4] Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.