The trial of William Lord Russel in the Odl Bailey 1683.

Title

The trial of William Lord Russel in the Odl Bailey 1683.

Description

Illustration depicts the trial of William Lord Russell at the Old Bailey in 1683. After George Hyter.

ca. 1830

Artist

Harwitz

Historical Description

William Lord Russell (1639–1683) was an influential English politician and a leading member of the Whig opposition to King Charles II. In 1683 he was accused of involvement in the so-called Rye House Plot, a conspiracy against the king and his brother James, Duke of York. Russell was arrested and tried for high treason at the Old Bailey in London on 13 July 1683. The prosecution argued that his participation in meetings with other opposition figures amounted to a conspiracy to raise a rebellion and ultimately overthrow or kill the king. Russell denied that he had agreed to assassinate Charles II. He was nevertheless found guilty and sentenced to death. Because of his noble status, Russell was beheaded on 21 July 1683 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields rather than subjected to the usual punishment for treason. The trial became politically significant because many contemporaries and later historians regarded Russell as a victim of the Crown’s campaign against its opponents. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the judgment against him was reversed by Parliament in 1689. Russell subsequently became remembered as a Whig martyr and symbol of resistance to arbitrary royal power.