The king and the Catholics : the fight for rights, 1829 / Antonia Fraser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fraser, Antonia, 1932- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830.

George.

Catholic Church--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Catholic Church.

Church and state--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Church and state.

History.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1800-1837.

Great Britain.

Politics and government.

Great Britain--History--George IV, 1820-1830.

Physical Description:

xvi, 319 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24cm

Place of Publication:

London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2018.

Summary:

The story of Catholic Emancipation begins with blood: the violent Anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in 1780, fuelled by the reduction in Penal Laws against the Roman Catholics harking back to the sixteenth century. Some fifty years later, the passing of the Emancipation Bill was hailed as a 'bloodless revolution'. However, some jobs remained barred to Catholics, and the King (or Queen) would always be a Protestant. Had the Irish Catholics been a 'millstone', as described by an English aristocrat, or were they the prime movers? While the English Catholic aristocracy and the Irish peasants and merchants approached the Catholic Question in very different ways, they manifestly shared the same objective. "The King and the Catholics" is a gripping character-driven narrative history at its very best; the story of individuals who are by turns flawed and admirable: George III, who opposed Emancipation on the basis of the Coronation Oath; his son, the indulgent Prince of Wales, who was enamoured with the Catholic Maria Fitzherbert before the voluptuous Lady Conyngham; Wellington and the 'born Tory' Peel vying for leadership; 'roaring' Lord Winchilsea; the heroic Daniel O'Connell.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-305) and index.

ISBN:

1474601936

9781474601931

9781474609661

147460966X

OCLC:

958098774