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The King and the Catholics : England, Ireland, and the fight for religious freedom, 1780-1829 / Antonia Fraser.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, [2018]Edition: First American editionDescription: xiv, 319 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780385544528
  • 0385544529
Subject(s):
Contents:
That fallen Catholic worship -- Nothing to fear in England -- The royal conscience -- Green shores of liberty -- Cardinal tempter -- Grattan the Great -- Serving Ireland royally -- Millstone round English necks -- A protestant king -- Noise of no popery -- Mr. Canning -- O'Connell's boldest step -- Brunswickers -- Boot-and-spur work -- From peel to repeal -- The duel -- Tale of two MPs -- Bloodless revolution.
Summary: "In the summer of 1780, mob violence swept through London. Nearly one thousand people were killed, looting was widespread, and torch-bearing protestors marched on the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. These were the Gordon Riots: the worst civil disturbance in British history, triggered by an act of Parliament designed to loosen two centuries of systemic oppression of Catholics in the British Isles. While many Londoners saw their homes ransacked and chapels desecrated that summer, the riots marked a crucial turning point in the Catholics' campaign to return to public life. Over the next fifty years, factions battled one another to reform the laws of the land: wealthy English Catholics yearned to rejoin the political elite; the protestant aristocracy in Ireland feared an empowered Catholic populace; and the priesthood coveted old authority that royal decree had forbidden. Kings George III and George IV stubbornly refused to address the "Catholic Question" even when pressed by their prime ministers--governments fell over it--and events in America and Europe made many skeptical of disrupting the social order. But in 1829, through the dogged work of charismatic Irish lawyer Daniel O'Connell and with the support of the Duke of Wellington, the Roman Catholic Relief Act finally passed. It was a watershed moment, opening the door to future social reform and the radical transformation of the Victorian age. The King and the Catholics is a gripping example of narrative history at its best. It is also a distant mirror of our own times, reflecting the dire consequences of state-sanctioned intolerance and showing how collective action and the political process can triumph over wrongheaded legislation"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: Summer, 1780. Nearly one thousand people were killed, looting was widespread, and torch-bearing protestors marched on the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. These were the Gordon Riots: the worst civil disturbance in British history, triggered by an act of Parliament designed to loosen two centuries of systemic oppression of Catholics in the British Isles. While many Londoners saw their homes ransacked and chapels desecrated that summer, the riots marked a crucial turning point in the Catholics' campaign to return to public life. Fraser shows how this was a watershed moment, opening the door to future social reform and the radical transformation of the Victorian age. -- adapted from publisher info
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 941.073 F841 Available 33111009273521
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 941.073 F841 Available 33111008217883
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In the eighteenth century, the Catholics of England lacked many basic freedoms under the law: they could not serve in political office, buy or inherit land, or be married by the rites of their own religion. So virulent was the sentiment against Catholics that, in 1780, violent riots erupted in London--incited by the anti-Papist Lord George Gordon--in response to the Act for Relief that had been passed to loosen some of these restrictions.

The Gordon Riots marked a crucial turning point in the fight for Catholic emancipation. Over the next fifty years, factions battled to reform the laws of the land. Kings George III and George IV refused to address the "Catholic Question," even when pressed by their prime ministers. But in 1829, through the dogged work of charismatic Irish lawyer Daniel O'Connell and the support of the great Duke of Wellington, the watershed Roman Catholic Relief Act finally passed, opening the door to the radical transformation of the Victorian age. Gripping, spirited, and incisive, The King and the Catholics is character-driven narrative history at its best, reflecting the dire consequences of state-sanctioned oppression--and showing how sustained political action can triumph over injustice.

"In the summer of 1780, mob violence swept through London. Nearly one thousand people were killed, looting was widespread, and torch-bearing protestors marched on the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. These were the Gordon Riots: the worst civil disturbance in British history, triggered by an act of Parliament designed to loosen two centuries of systemic oppression of Catholics in the British Isles. While many Londoners saw their homes ransacked and chapels desecrated that summer, the riots marked a crucial turning point in the Catholics' campaign to return to public life. Over the next fifty years, factions battled one another to reform the laws of the land: wealthy English Catholics yearned to rejoin the political elite; the protestant aristocracy in Ireland feared an empowered Catholic populace; and the priesthood coveted old authority that royal decree had forbidden. Kings George III and George IV stubbornly refused to address the "Catholic Question" even when pressed by their prime ministers--governments fell over it--and events in America and Europe made many skeptical of disrupting the social order. But in 1829, through the dogged work of charismatic Irish lawyer Daniel O'Connell and with the support of the Duke of Wellington, the Roman Catholic Relief Act finally passed. It was a watershed moment, opening the door to future social reform and the radical transformation of the Victorian age. The King and the Catholics is a gripping example of narrative history at its best. It is also a distant mirror of our own times, reflecting the dire consequences of state-sanctioned intolerance and showing how collective action and the political process can triumph over wrongheaded legislation"-- Provided by publisher.

Summer, 1780. Nearly one thousand people were killed, looting was widespread, and torch-bearing protestors marched on the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. These were the Gordon Riots: the worst civil disturbance in British history, triggered by an act of Parliament designed to loosen two centuries of systemic oppression of Catholics in the British Isles. While many Londoners saw their homes ransacked and chapels desecrated that summer, the riots marked a crucial turning point in the Catholics' campaign to return to public life. Fraser shows how this was a watershed moment, opening the door to future social reform and the radical transformation of the Victorian age. -- adapted from publisher info

Includes bibliographical references (pages [283]-304) and index.

That fallen Catholic worship -- Nothing to fear in England -- The royal conscience -- Green shores of liberty -- Cardinal tempter -- Grattan the Great -- Serving Ireland royally -- Millstone round English necks -- A protestant king -- Noise of no popery -- Mr. Canning -- O'Connell's boldest step -- Brunswickers -- Boot-and-spur work -- From peel to repeal -- The duel -- Tale of two MPs -- Bloodless revolution.

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