HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Miles Prance (''fl.'' 1678) was an English
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
craftsman who was caught up in and perjured himself during the
Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...
and the resulting anti-Catholic hysteria in London during the reign of Charles II.


Life

Prance was born on the
Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to ...
, the son of a Roman Catholic, and he rose quickly from his humble origins as an apprentice
goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...
to servant-in-ordinary to
Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza (; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, King Charles II, which la ...
, Charles II's queen. He was married with a family, living in
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
at the time of his arrest.


Popish Plot

Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey died in October 1678; he disappeared from his home and was found dead at
Primrose Hill Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of t ...
, having apparently been strangled and run through with a sword some days before his death. Godfrey, though normally tolerant in matters of religion, had been militating against the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
around the time of the
Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinat ...
, the great wave of anti-Catholic hysteria which swept across England in 1678 due to the lies of
Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father was the Baptis ...
about a Catholic conspiracy to assassinate the Royal Family. Godfrey's death brought the hysteria to boiling point: the next few weeks were long remembered as "Godfrey's Autumn". Prance was known to be a Roman Catholic and suspicion fell upon him for Godfrey's death, even though it was thought by many of those who knew him best to be suicide.


Arrest and interrogation

Prance unwisely drew attention to himself by attending one of the Popish Plot trials, and then publicly defending the accused as "very honest men". William Bedloe, a notorious confidence trickster and later a Popish Plot accuser, investigated Prance's movements during the relevant period and interrogated one John Wren, Prance's Protestant lodger, who owed him rent. Wren stated that Prance had been out of the house on the night of the murder (this was later found to be untrue, although another Protestant lodger in Prance's house, Joseph Hale, told the same story). Bedloe, with the assistance of Wren and Hale, evidently decided to enhance his public standing as a "discoverer" of the Plot by denouncing Prance, who as a Catholic of rather humble social background, without influential friends to protect him, was particularly vulnerable to such an accusation. Prance was arrested and sent to
Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...
. He was confined to the notoriously uncomfortable " Little Ease" cell (not to be confused with the better known "Little Ease" in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
) where he was put in chains. He was denied a fire, despite the bitter winter weather, and nearly froze to death as a result. So anxious was the Government for him to confess that he was even threatened with the rack, the use of which had been illegal for fifty years. In prison, Prance confessed and then recanted. He then confessed to a different version of the crime and recanted that. Finally, after being visited by three leading clergymen, William Boys,
Gilbert Burnet Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish people, Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch language, Dutch, French language, French, Latin language, Latin, Greek language, Gree ...
, and William Lloyd, who prayed with him and urged him to confess his part in the crime, he settled on the story to which he stuck throughout the Plot trials. He said that two Irish priests, "Fitzgerald" and "Kelly", told him of a plot to kill Godfrey, and that two workmen, Henry Berry and Robert Green, together with the Queen's chaplain Thomas Godden and Godden's servant, Lawrence Hill, followed and strangled Godfrey while Prance kept watch. They then hid Godfrey's body in nearby
Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
(this detail seems to have been an attempt to implicate the Queen, whose private residence it was, in the murder). They waited before placing it in a ditch and running it through with Godfrey's own sword, to discredit the theory of death by suicide (Godfrey suffered from depression and after the Popish Plot hysteria died down some of his friends and relatives admitted that they suspected that his death was suicide). Prance later admitted that all of this was pure invention: it is not even clear if the priest called Father Kelly existed, though Father Fitzgerald did. Prance could produce no credible motive for the murder, merely saying vaguely that Godfrey had offended the two Irish priests in some way. He never explained why he had accused Berry, Green and Hill, who were unquestionably innocent, nor why they should wish Godfrey dead, apart from the vague reference to a quarrel between Godfrey and the Irish priests, in which Hill's employer Father Godden sided with his fellow priests. Kenyon argues that the lack of a plausible motive is the central flaw with all theories about Godfrey's murder; none of the named suspects, on careful analysis, had a sufficient reason to kill him. Only the deranged Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke, who was apparently not suspected at the time, now seems to have had a strong enough motive for the murder, since he had a bitter personal grievance against Godfrey.


Perjury

Berry, Green, and Hill were arrested, and Fr. Godden fled the country. Fr. Fitzgerald, whom the others admitted to knowing, was apparently left in peace, probably because he was a member of the household of the
envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of Diplomatic rank#Special envoy, diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an au ...
from
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
and could thus claim
diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.
, while Fr. Kelly, if he existed at all, simply disappeared. Prance perjured himself at the trial, but came across as a convincing witness and made a good impression on the jury: Mrs. Hill bravely protested in open court that "Prance knows all these things to be as false as God is true" and she rightly predicted that "the truth shall be declared after, when it is too late". Sir
William Scroggs Sir William Scroggs (c. 162325 October 1683) was Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Chief Justice of England from 1678 to 1681. He is best remembered for presiding over the Popish Plot trials, where he was accused of showing bias agai ...
, the
Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...
, replied that he could not believe that Prance would swear three men to their deaths for nothing, even though he presumably knew that threats of torture had been used to make Prance confess. All three men were executed. Prance then split the reward for finding the killers with Bedloe. Bedloe and
Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father was the Baptis ...
used Prance to inform on several Roman Catholics during the Popish Plot. He offered evidence against Thomas Whitbread (alias Harcourt) and John Fenwick, two of the leading Jesuit priests, in June 1679 and received a £50 pension from the King in January 1680. He also helped Oates attack
Roger L'Estrange Sir Roger L'Estrange (17 December 1616 – 11 December 1704) was an English pamphleteer, author, courtier and press censor. Throughout his life L'Estrange was frequently mired in controversy and acted as a staunch ideological defender of King ...
and wrote pamphlets defending himself against charges of multiple contradictions. After the breaking of the Plot, he assumed a lower public profile. The fact that he had been ill-treated and possibly tortured to make him confess became widely known (
Elizabeth Cellier Elizabeth Cellier, commonly known as the "Popish Midwife" (), was a notable Catholic midwife in seventeenth-century England. She stood trial for treason in 1679 for her alleged part in the "Meal-Tub Plot" against the future King James II, but ...
published a pamphlet on the case, and was prosecuted for
seditious libel Seditious libel is a criminal offence under common law of printing written material with seditious purposethat is, the purpose of bringing contempt upon a political authority. It remains an offence in Canada but has been abolished in England and ...
as a result) and caused his credit to sink further.


Recantation

However, when James II came to the throne, Prance was tried for his part in the Plot. He was found guilty of
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
in 1686 and was fined £100, ordered to stand in the
pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...
, and to be whipped. Queen Catherine interceded on his behalf to prevent the last of these punishments, arguing that he had returned to the Roman Catholic faith and was truly repentant. He said that only fear for his life had compelled him to lie and inform and that his mistreatment in prison had coerced his testimony. As Mrs Hill had correctly predicted, he admitted that her husband was wholly innocent, as well as Godden, Green and Berry.Kenyon p.295 In 1688, he tried to flee to France. He was captured, questioned before the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, and then permitted to leave England.


References


Sources

*Marshall, Alan. "Miles Prance" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
.'' vol. 45, pp. 208–9. London:
OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2004. *Kenyon, J.P. ''The Popish Plot'' Phoenix Press Reissue 2000


External links

* On the perjury. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prance, Miles English people convicted of perjury English Roman Catholics History of Catholicism in the United Kingdom People associated with the Popish Plot Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown