Titus oates

Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12 July 1705) was an English informer and shady character, who had a large share in the Popish Plot.

Titus Oates was born in Hastings as son of Samuel Oates, a baptist preacher and rector of All Saints Church, and Lucy, midwife from Hastings. He had an elder brother, Samuel, and two sisters, Hannah and Anne. His father Samuel was considered to be a radical preacher, as well as a son of the Church of England. Titus' years of childhood were characterised by his father's temper and dislike for his second son.

Oates attended schools like Merchant Taylor in London (under William Scott, whom he later accused of playing a part in the Popish Plot), Seddlescombe near Hastings, Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge. Particularly during his time in Cambridge he gained reputation as being stupid and a “Canting fanatical way”. Besides he was engaged in several homosexual incidents, which were forbidden in that time. After Oates changed to St. John's College in 1669, he left without a degree in the same year.

Nonetheless, Oates' tendency towards lies and plots became visible when he claimed to hold a Bachelor degree in order to get a licence to preach from the Bishop of London. However, his lifestyle and crude temper caused disputes with the parishioners, so that Oates got dismissed and returned to Hastings. Already in 1675 he planned his first 'local plot', when he accused the local schoolmaster William Parker of sodomy, because he wanted his position. These false accusations led to a trial of perjury, from which Oates fled to London and joined the Ship 'Adventure'. Here he heard the first rumours regarding the Popish Plot to which he later became one of the main characters. He got dismissed from the ship in 1676 due to homosexual incidents.

Oates later got arrested and returned to Hastings in order to await his trial for perjury. Once more, he fled to London and interestingly became a member of the Roman Catholic Church, which he later left for turning towards the society of Jesuits. Being in favour of Father Richard Strange, Oates was offered the opportunity to attend the English Jesuit College in Vallodolid, Spain in 1677. Why he was offered the place remains unclear; however it may be Oates' lies that seemed authentic or the supposed homosexuality of Father Strange. Any way, Oates attended the college under a false name and after his return to London in 1678 he claimed to have received a doctorate from the University of Salamanca, which was needless to say, a lie.

In 1678 Oates met Israel Tonge, who later became his partner in the Popish Plot, which was initiated quickly after they met. During the Popish Plot, Oates impressed everyone, especially the House of Commons, with his stories and his confident delivery due to his talent to create new lies when they were needed.

After coming to the throne in 1685, Jacob II brought Oates to trial and was convicted to perjury, hence imprisoned for life. Besides he had to endure regular public humiliations, where he was whipped or could be pelted with eggs by townsfolk. Oates was pardoned in 1689 under William of Orange and Mary II. In his late years he moved to a house in Axe Yard, Westminster and made his living by writing pamphlets and re-telling the story of the Popish Plot. Moreover he made plans for new plots just as a Franco-Jacobite plot, which remained unfinished. He died 12 July 1705 in Axe Yard.

Sources: Elliot, Adam. A modest vindication of Titus Oates, the Salamanca doctor from perjury. Proquest, 2011.

Korthals, Eckehard. Die antipapistische Bewegung in England während der Restaurationszeit , 1970.

Marshall, Allan. Oates, Titus (1649–1705). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004.