trial of the Seven Bishops (1688)

E52909

historical event legal case political trial

The trial of the Seven Bishops (1688) was a landmark English legal and political case in which seven Anglican bishops were prosecuted for seditious libel after petitioning against King James II’s Declaration of Indulgence, becoming a key event leading to the Glorious Revolution.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Trial of the Seven Bishops	8
trial of the Seven Bishops	2
King's Bench trial of 1688	1
Petition against the Declaration of Indulgence	1
trial of the Seven Bishops (1688) canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T416974 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: trial of the Seven Bishops (1688)
Context triple: [William Sancroft, participantIn, trial of the Seven Bishops (1688)]

A. Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge was the 1648 military intervention in the English Parliament, led by Colonel Thomas Pride, that forcibly removed MPs opposed to trying King Charles I and paved the way for his execution and the establishment of the Commonwealth.
B. Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution was the 1688–1689 overthrow of King James II of England that brought William III and Mary II to the throne and established parliamentary supremacy and constitutional monarchy in Britain.
C. Trial of the Sixteen
The Trial of the Sixteen was a 1936 Soviet show trial in Moscow in which prominent Old Bolsheviks were accused of treason and summarily condemned, marking a key early stage of Stalin’s Great Purge.
D. Monmouth Rebellion
The Monmouth Rebellion was a 1685 uprising in England led by James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, attempting to overthrow the Catholic King James II and resulting in a swift defeat and harsh reprisals.
E. Grand Remonstrance
The Grand Remonstrance was a 1641 petition by the English Parliament listing grievances against King Charles I and his government, helping to precipitate the English Civil War.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: trial of the Seven Bishops (1688)
Target entity description: The trial of the Seven Bishops (1688) was a landmark English legal and political case in which seven Anglican bishops were prosecuted for seditious libel after petitioning against King James II’s Declaration of Indulgence, becoming a key event leading to the Glorious Revolution.

A. Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge was the 1648 military intervention in the English Parliament, led by Colonel Thomas Pride, that forcibly removed MPs opposed to trying King Charles I and paved the way for his execution and the establishment of the Commonwealth.
B. Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution was the 1688–1689 overthrow of King James II of England that brought William III and Mary II to the throne and established parliamentary supremacy and constitutional monarchy in Britain.
C. Trial of the Sixteen
The Trial of the Sixteen was a 1936 Soviet show trial in Moscow in which prominent Old Bolsheviks were accused of treason and summarily condemned, marking a key early stage of Stalin’s Great Purge.
D. Monmouth Rebellion
The Monmouth Rebellion was a 1685 uprising in England led by James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, attempting to overthrow the Catholic King James II and resulting in a swift defeat and harsh reprisals.
E. Grand Remonstrance
The Grand Remonstrance was a 1641 petition by the English Parliament listing grievances against King Charles I and his government, helping to precipitate the English Civil War.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical event ⓘ legal case ⓘ political trial ⓘ
charge	seditious libel ⓘ
chronologicalContext	reign of James II (1685–1688) ⓘ
country	Kingdom of England ⓘ
defendant	Francis Turner ⓘ John Lake ⓘ Jonathan Trelawny ⓘ Thomas Ken ⓘ Thomas White ⓘ William Lloyd ⓘ Archbishop William Sancroft ⓘ surface form: William Sancroft
describedIn	contemporary pamphlets and broadsides ⓘ later histories of the Glorious Revolution ⓘ
followedBy	Glorious Revolution ⓘ overthrow of James II ⓘ
hasCause	attempt by James II to enforce reading of the Declaration of Indulgence in churches ⓘ petition against the Declaration of Indulgence ⓘ
hasPart	arrest of the Seven Bishops ⓘ imprisonment in the Tower of London ⓘ jury trial and acquittal ⓘ
impact	contributed to invitation to William of Orange ⓘ strengthened public support for the Church of England ⓘ undermined political authority of James II ⓘ
legalSignificance	affirmed importance of jury independence in political trials ⓘ limited use of seditious libel charges against political petitioning ⓘ
location	Court of King’s Bench ⓘ Palace of Westminster ⓘ surface form: Westminster Hall
mainSubject	Declaration of Indulgence ⓘ religious toleration in England ⓘ royal dispensing power ⓘ seditious libel ⓘ
opposed	exercise of royal dispensing power by James II ⓘ
outcome	acquittal of all seven bishops ⓘ
partOf	constitutional conflict between Crown and Parliament in late 17th‑century England ⓘ
pointInTime	1688 ⓘ
precededBy	issuance of the Declaration of Indulgence (1687–1688) ⓘ order to have the Declaration of Indulgence read in churches ⓘ
presidedOverBy	Sir Robert Wright ⓘ
prosecutedBy	Crown of England ⓘ
prosecutor	Attorney General for England and Wales ⓘ surface form: Attorney General of England and Wales
religiousContext	debates over toleration for Catholics and Protestant Dissenters ⓘ tensions between Anglican establishment and Catholic monarchy ⓘ
significantEventFor	Church of England ⓘ Glorious Revolution ⓘ history of English constitutional law ⓘ reign of James II of England ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Archbishop William Sancroft → participantIn → trial of the Seven Bishops (1688) ⓘ

subject surface form: William Sancroft

Declaration of Indulgence → relatedEvent → trial of the Seven Bishops (1688) ⓘ