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Cabal Ministry in Power

Type Event Region Europe Time 1669–1674

Around 1669, after Clarendon's fall, Charles II formed a ministry known as the "Cabal" (CABAL), named after the initials of five Privy Councillors: C…

Timeline

  1. 1667–1669London · LondonAfter the defeat in the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667 and the Great Fire of London in 1666, Clarendon was impeached by Parliament and went into exile. Charles II instead relied on a group of less conventional Privy Councillors closer to the court, clearing the way for the formation of the Cabal Ministry.
  2. 1669–1672Privy Council at Whitehall · LondonAround 1669, Thomas Clifford, Henry Bennet (Arlington), George Villiers (Buckingham), Anthony Ashley Cooper (Ashley), and John Maitland (Lauderdale) jointly dominated Privy Council decision-making. The name CABAL was formed from the initials of their surnames, making it the first ministry in English history named after an acronym.
  3. 1670–1672England · EnglandThe Cabal Ministry pushed the 1672 Declaration of Indulgence, attempting to trade limited toleration for parliamentary support on foreign and financial policy; at the same time it secretly negotiated the Treaty of Dover with Louis XIV of France, seeking an alliance in the war against the Dutch and a royal pension, but both the religious and foreign policies ultimately foundered amid parliamentary backlash.

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