'A True Narrative of the Horrid Hellish Popish-Plot...The Second Part'
7 of 20 portraits of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
© National Portrait Gallery, London
'A True Narrative of the Horrid Hellish Popish-Plot...The Second Part'
after Unknown artist
line engraving and letterpress, 1682
21 3/8 in. x 16 1/2 in. (543 mm x 420 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D23016
Sittersback to top
- William Bedloe (1650-1680), Informer and adventurer. Sitter associated with 9 portraits.
- King Charles II (1630-1685), Reigned 1660-85. Sitter associated with 295 portraits.
- John Grove (died 1679), Catholic priest. Sitter in 2 portraits.
- Titus Oates (1649-1705), Informer. Sitter in 23 portraits.
- Thomas Pickering (1621?-1679), Benedictine monk and victim of the Popish Plot. Sitter in 6 portraits.
- Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), Statesman. Sitter in 20 portraits.
- Richard Tasborough (Tasbrough) (active 1678). Sitter associated with 1 portrait.
- Thomas Whitbread (Thomas Harcourt) (circa 1618-1679), Jesuit. Sitter in 8 portraits.
This portraitback to top
The second part of the True Narrative was published two weeks after the first. It continues the same vein of mocking Titus Oates and his outlandish and fatal accusations. The iconographic programme and verse may well have been devised by Roger L'Estrange. He was a key Tory propagandist known as the 'Bloodhound of the Press' for his energetic suppression of anti-Royalist publications.
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Plots, Intrigue and Murder from 1580 - 1700 (25 May 2013 - 8 December 2013)
Events of 1682back to top
Current affairs
Whig politician, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the case of high treason dropped against him, attempts to co-ordinate uprisings around the country over the exclusion crisis; he is ultimately forced to flee to the Netherlands.Bideford Witch Trial condemns three women to death, the last to be hanged for witchcraft in England.
Art and science
Dramatist Thomas Otway's play, Venice Preserv'd, is first staged. Dedicated to the king's influential French mistress, Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, it becomes one of the most popular Restoration plays.Naturalist, John Ray, publishes Methodus plantarum nova, expounding his classification of plant species.
International
King of France, Louis XIV's determination to seize Spanish Luxembourg, and mobilization of French troops to the area, threatens the treaty of Nijmegen and security of the Dutch. Pressured by William of Orange and George Savile, Marquess of Halifax to take military action, the king opts for informal mediation.Comments back to top
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