The Oxford Parliament, also known as the Third Exclusion Parliament, was an English Parliament assembled in the city of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
for one week from 21 March 1681 until 28 March 1681 during the reign of
Charles II of England.
Summoning Parliament to meet in Oxford, a Royalist stronghold which had been Charles I's capital during the Civil War, was designed to deprive the Whig opposition of the grassroots support from the London masses, which was an important factor in earlier stages of the Exclusion Crisis.
Succeeding the
Exclusion Bill Parliament
The Exclusion Bill Parliament was a Parliament of England during the reign of Charles II of England, named after the long saga of the Exclusion Bill. Summoned on 24 July 1679, but prorogued by the king so that it did not assemble until 21 Octob ...
, this was the fifth and last parliament of the King's reign. Both Houses of Parliament met and the King delivered a speech to them on the first day. The
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
was
William Williams, who had been the Speaker in the previous Parliament. He was elected unanimously and delivered a speech on 22 March. The Oxford Parliament was dismissed after another Exclusion Bill was presented with popular support. Charles dissolved it after securing the necessary funds from King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
.
In the Glorious Revolution
During the Glorious Revolution, surviving members of the Oxford Parliament met again in December 1688, following the flight of King James II - leading to the election of the irregular Convention Parliament which conferred the Throne jointly on William III and Mary II.
In literature
The events of the Oxford Parliament are described in the final part of Robert Neil's historical novel "The Golden Days".
See also
*
List of parliaments of England
This is a list of parliaments of England from the reign of King Henry III, when the '' Curia Regis'' developed into a body known as Parliament, until the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707.
For later parliaments, see the Lis ...
*
1681 English general election
The 1681 English general election returned members to the last parliament of Charles II. Dubbed the Oxford Parliament, the body elected sat for one week from 21 March 1681 until 28 March 1681. Party strengths are an approximation, with many MPs ...
*
Oxford Parliament (1258)
The Oxford Parliament (1258), also known as the Mad Parliament and the First English Parliament, assembled during the reign of Henry III of England. It is best known for the Provisions of Oxford, a set of constitutional reforms that forced the kin ...
*
Oxford Parliament (1644)
The Oxford Parliament, also known as the Mongrel Parliament, was the Parliament assembled by Charles I of England for the first time on 22 January 1644 and adjourned for the last time on 10 March 1645, with the purpose of being an instrument of ...
External links
British History Online information
1681 in England
Parliament (1681)
Political history of England
Parliaments of Charles II of England
1681 in politics
17th century in Oxfordshire
The Restoration
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