Oates, Titus 1649-1705
English conspirator

Born in Oakham, the son of an Anabaptist preacher, he took Anglican orders, but was dismissed from his curacy for misconduct. In 1677 he concocted the 'Popish Plot', in which he infiltrated Jesuit seminaries pretending to be Catholic. In 1678 he told a magistrate, later found dead, of a Catholic plot to massacre Protestants, burn London, and assassinate Charles II, replacing him with his brother James, Duke of York (James VII and II). Oates was considered a hero, and his evidence led to 35 judicial murders. But after two years a reaction set in. In 1683 Oates was fined �100,000 for calling the Duke of York a traitor, was imprisoned, and in May 1685 found guilty of perjury and imprisoned for life. He was set free in the Revolution of 1688.