During Charles II's reign, relations between King and
Parliament were generally successful - with both sides
willing to compromise to preserve the status quo. The
only major challenge to Charles' authority came in the
form of the Exclusion Crisis of 1678-81 - a full-scale
attempt to go against Charles' wishes and keep his
Catholic brother James, Duke of York, from the
succession.
The crisis was triggered by the Popish Plot - in which Titus
Oates alleged that Charles was to be assassinated and replaced by
James. Although a fiction, the plot provoked a wave of anti-Catholicism, in which Parliament, led by the Earl of Shaftesbury, attempted three times to introduce a bill to exclude James from the succession. Charles' response was to dissolve Parliament every time the bill was presented.
