Seven Bishops - Trial

Trial

The trial took place at the Court of King's Bench on 29 June, with Sir Thomas Powys the Attorney General and William Williams the Solicitor General prosecuting and Sir Robert Wright, the Lord Chief Justice as the presiding judge, sitting with John Powell, Richard Holloway and Richard Allibond. The bishops had a formidable team of defence counsel, headed by Francis Pemberton, a former Lord Chief Justice, and including Sir Robert Sawyer, a former Attorney General, and John Somers, a future Lord Chancellor. The jury deliberated all night and the bishops were found not guilty on the morning of 30 June. There was great rejoicing; those opposed to Toleration had gained their victory. The verdict was a disaster for the Government ,but was largely due to its own ineptitude. Of the four judges only Allibond, a Roman Catholic, showed any real desire for a conviction. The Attorney General almost caused the case to collapse at the outset by failing to prove that the Petition had been presented at all; and while Williams, the Solicitor General, handled the case with greater skill his bitter personal feud with the Lord Chief Justice did nothing assist the prosecution's case. A modern historian remarked that the trial " had a strong element of the grotesque"

The Seven Bishops were:

Despite their petition and their trial, five of these bishops (all but Lloyd and Trelawny) remained loyal to James II after the Revolution of 1688 and were among the nine bishops who became non-jurors, refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and losing their bishoprics as a result.