Rye House plot, 1683. This quasi-republican plot, the plans for which were never finalized, was directed against the persons if not the lives of Charles II and James, duke of York. Disclosed to the crown in June 1683, it would have involved intercepting the royal brothers at the Rye House (near Hoddesdon, Herts.) on their return from Newmarket. This return had in fact been brought forward owing to a fire at Newmarket, and hence the plot was forestalled. Charles II could now be quite relentless in upholding James's succession rights after ‘Exclusion's’ failure, and such opponents as Russell and Sidney suffered through a wide application of treason law.

David Denis Aldridge

Rye House Plot a conspiracy in 1683 to murder Charles II and his heir, his brother James, duke of York as they passed the Rye House, near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, on their way back from Newmarket to London. The plan was not in fact put into action, and one of the conspirators revealed its existence to the government in June 1683. Several of those involved, including Algernon Sidney and William Russell, were executed.