This talk examines the nature of anti-Catholic riots in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, in the 1680s. Anti-Catholic activities included pope-burning processions by Edinburgh University students in 1680 and 1688 and full-scale rioting in 1686 and 1688. The 1688 'Holyrood Riot' was pivotal to the collapse of James VII's regime in Scotland, but the anti-Catholic riots of 1686 are less well known. The talk will discuss the nature of the riots, who the rioters were, and who was attacked. Recorded depositions in the Privy Council records and a full Privy Council report to King James provide a rich amount of important historical information on the riots. The 1686 riots took place about four months before the 1686 Scottish parliamentary session formally rejected the policy of King James for religious toleration for Roman Catholics in Scotland. More widely, these riots should be looked at in the context of the role played by the Edinburgh mob in Scottish history, such as in the anti-Union riot of 23 October 1706. For Scotland's history, the Edinburgh mob was just as important as the Paris mob to the history of France and the London mob to the history of England/Britain.

Tickets are available on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1997442027875?aff=oddtdtcreator