William Petre, 4th Baron Petre

rdf:langString William Petre, 4th Baron Petre

rdf:langString William Petre, 4th Baron Petre (1626 – 5 January 1684) was an English peer and victim of the Popish Plot. Petre was the eldest son of Robert Petre, third Baron Petre (1599–1638), and Mary (1603–1685), daughter of Anthony-Maria Browne, second Viscount Montagu, who had been arrested in connection with the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. Petre was openly a Roman Catholic. A political storm broke in 1678, when Titus Oates alleged, with the support of Lord Shaftesbury, that Petre was involved in the mythical Popish Plot to murder Charles II, was part of a conspiracy to reimpose the Catholic faith on England, and that he had been appointed by the Jesuits as lieutenant-general of a Catholic army of invasion. Petre was arrested and charged with high treason, together with four other Roman Catholic peers, Lord Arundel of Wardour, the Earl of Powis, Lord Stafford, and Lord Bellasyse. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London and entered a plea of not guilty, but no trial was ever held. In November 1678, Charles II gave the royal assent to the second Test Act which removed all Catholic peers, including Petre, from the House of Lords. However, the paucity of evidence to substantiate the charge of high treason, and the weakening of the Whigs in 1681–82, lessened the chances of Petre being convicted, and he continued to be held without trial. In August 1683, Petre predicted that he would be "cleared by about next spring", but then his health broke down. In December, Lady Petre petitioned Charles II unsuccessfully to release her husband on medical grounds. Expecting death, Petre wrote a final declaration to defend the Roman Catholics against the 'Popish Plot' charges. He died on 5 January 1683/84.