Popish Plot - Godfrey Murder

Godfrey Murder

The allegations gained little credence until the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a member of Parliament and strong supporter of Protestantism. His disappearance on 12 October 1678, the finding of his body on 17 October, and the subsequent failure to solve his murder sent the Protestant population into an uproar. He had been strangled and run through with his own sword. Many of his supporters blamed the murder on Catholics. As Kenyon commented, “Next day, the 18th, James wrote to William of Orange that Godfrey’s death was already ‘laid against the Catholics’, and even he, never the most realistic of men, feared that ‘all these things happening together will cause a great flame in the Parliament.’” The Lords asked King Charles to banish all Catholics from a radius of 20 miles around London, which Charles granted on October 30th, 1678, but it was too late because London was already in a panic.

Oates seized on this murder as proof that the Plot was true. The murder of Godfrey and the discovery of Edward Coleman’s letters provided a solid basis of facts for the lies of Oates and the other informers who followed him. Oates was called to testify before the House of Lords and the House of Commons on October 23, 1678. He testified that he had seen a number of contracts signed by the Superior General of the Jesuits. The contracts appointed officers that would command an army of Catholic supporters to kill Charles II and establish a Catholic monarch. To this day, no one is certain who killed Sir Edmund Godfrey, and most historians regard the mystery as insoluble.

King Charles, aware of the unrest, returned to London and summoned Parliament. He remained unconvinced by Oates' accusations, but Parliament and public opinion forced him to order an investigation. Parliament truly believed that this plot was real, declaring, “ This House is of opinion that there hath been and still is a damnable and hellish plot contrived and carried out by the popish recusants for assigning and murdering the King.” Tonge was called to testify on October 25th, 1678 where he gave evidence on the Great Fire and, later, rumours of another similar plot. On November 1st, both Houses ordered an investigation in which a Frenchman, Choqueux, was discovered to be storing gunpowder in a house nearby. It was later uncovered that he was simply the King’s firework maker.