Titus Oates
Titus Oates, (1649-1705). English clergyman and perjurer. He began obtaining money or other advantages by bringing false charges against people early in his career. Having converted to Roman Catholicism in 1677, he went to Spain and France, pretending to study for the priesthood. He returned to England and with an ally invented the ‘popish plot’, a supposed Jesuit conspiracy to murder Charles II. At least 35 innocent people were executed because of his false accusations. In 1685 he was convicted of perjury, flogged almost to death, and imprisoned. Although he was released in 1688, the House of Lords refused to quash his conviction.
