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Protestant nonconformists and Catholics; a year later political pressure
forced 
him to rescind the unpopular measure. The third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674),
which occurred during a period of British naval and commercial superiority,
was somewhat more popular. 
   Catherine, the queen consort, brought to her marriage important political
concessions and an infusion of money into the royal treasury. The couple
remained childless and, based on repeated rumors of impending divorce, appar-
ently loveless. The date 1681 on a delftware portrait dish (no. D14) that
depicts 
the queen places its manufacture during a resurgence of support for Charles
and Catherine following the "Popish Plot," or "Titus Oates
Conspiracy," which 
alleged, among other atrocities, a Jesuit plot instigated in Rome against
the 
monarchs' lives (see discussion under nos. D16, D417, D418). 
   Charles II, like his ancestors, increased the royal art collections; his
pur- 
chases include an important collection of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci.
Supportive of scientific research, he sponsored the establishment of the
Royal 
Society and was responsible for the building of the Greenwich Observatory.
Also 
with the king's support, Christopher Wren designed Chelsea Hospital and,
after 
the Great Fire, assisted in rebuilding Saint Paul's Cathedral. 
JAMES II AND MARY OF MODENA 
S4, DII -D13, D18-D21 
Catholic Mary Beatrice. Also known as Mary of Modena (1658-1718), the new
queen was the sister of Francis II. 
   James commanded the Royal Navy with honor from 1660 until the Test Act
of 1673, aimed at excluding Catholics from high office, forced him to resign
as 
Lord High Admiral and brought to the forefront issues regarding his suitability
as future king. In the late 1670s James was implicated in the fictitious
Popish 
Plot (see preceding entry), and he followed suggestions to remove himself,
at 
least temporarily, from Court. Several times Parliament attempted to block
James's succession, but his coronation in 1685 at age fifty-one appears to
have 
been relatively uneventful. The same year James's superior forces easily
put 
down an invasion by James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, who attempted to claim
the throne for himself. James's pro-Catholic policies, aggressive personality,
and 
resistance to compromising with Parliament, however, gained him no friends.
   The king angered his subjects by accelerating his policy of granting military
and other important appointments to Catholics and dismissing six judges who
opposed him. In 1688 he issued a second Declaration of Indulgence along with
the order that it be read in all churches. Bishops who asked him to reconsider
were charged with seditious libel. In the same year Mary of Modena finally
gave 
birth to an heir, an event that drove Protestants, who had anticipated a
non- 
Catholic succession, to desperation. Soon afterward James II's reign was
cut 
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