Rye House Plot, 1683, conspiracy to assassinate Charles II of England and his brother James, duke of York (later James II), as they passed by Rumbold's Rye House in Hertfordshire on the road from Newmarket to London. However, the king did not make the journey on the expected day; the plot, an offshoot of earlier insurrection plots hatched by the 1st earl of Shaftesbury Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of, 1621–83, English statesman. In the English civil war he supported the crown until 1644 but then joined the parliamentarians.
..... Click the link for more information. , was revealed. Although the actual conspirators were only minor figures, the great Whig leaders Lord William Russell Russell, Lord William, 1639–83, English statesman; younger son of the 1st duke of Bedford. He entered Parliament in 1660. Contempt for the dissolute court and fear of Roman Catholicism and of France led him to join the opposition to Charles II.
..... Click the link for more information. and Algernon Sidney Sidney or Sydney, Algernon, 1622–83, English politician; son of Robert Sidney, earl of Leicester.
..... Click the link for more information. were executed on flimsy evidence of guilt by association.

Rye House Plot

(1683) In English history, an alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II because of his pro-Catholic policies. The plot drew its name from Rye House at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, near the road where Charles was supposed to be killed as he traveled from a horse meet. The king's unexpected early departure supposedly foiled the plot, which was later revealed by an informer. The facts remained cloudy, but the main plotters included the duke of Monmouth, Lord William Russell, Algernon Sidney (1622–83), and Sir Thomas Armstrong. The last three were tried, convicted of treason, and beheaded.