Lancashire and the exclusion crisis

Abstract

Recent research has concentrated upon studies of local communities in the earlier part of the 17th Century. Historians
have tended to close their studies by 1660. Furthermore research has tended to concentrate upon Southern counties.
Therefore, a fundamental objective of this thesis is to examine the local community of a Northern county after the Restoration.
The thesis covers the years 1660 to 1681 with special reference to the Exclusion Crisis of 1679 to 1681.
The first three chaot.ers concern the socio-econom:Lc religious and political framework of Restoration Lancashire up to the era of the alleged "Plot" and the consequent Exclusion Crisis. The fourth and fifth chapters examine the impact the Crisis had upon the county. In particular the reaction of the authorities to religious deviancy between 1678 to 1681 which is examined in Chapter Four. 5hapter Five examines the impact of the question of the Succession upon the political community. The final chapter attempts to analyse the problem of "Lancashire and the Exclusion Crisis".