Talk:Absalom and Achitophel

There seems to be an inconsistency in this page. At the top it states that the poem was written in 1681/2 but concerns Monmouth's rebellion. The latter didn't take place till 1685 (as correctly stated lower down the page), and against James II, in fact. Doesn't the poem relate solely to the exclusion crisis and Monmouth's role in it, rather than the later rebellion?

Correct
You're right. The fact is that there were two "Monmouth rebellions." There was the one that resulted in bloodshed. However, there was a Monmouth rising (that didn't go to arms) earlier. The latter was the subject of the poem. The inconsistency bugged me no end when I was doing the writing of the article, and I was frustrated by awful online references and hadn't my own books at hand. Geogre 02:57, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Corrected! Yeah!
Ok, finally got it straight. I knew that there were two rebellions by Monmouth. I didn't know the name for the first one, because we've always called them both the Monmouth Rebellion. We just used to say there was the rebellion and the other rebellion. Finally, I know the name of that first one: it was called the meal-tub plot, and it has been corrected in the text. Geogre 14:24, 6 Oct 2004

Chronology + Minor Error
The article says that the poem refers to the Bloody Assizes, which makes no sense if the poem was published in 1681 and the Bloody Assizes did not take place until after Monmouth's actual rebellion in 1685.

Also, in 1681, James wasn't suspected of being a Roman Catholic; he was known to be one. He confirmed everyone's suspicions when he stopped taking Protestant communion and resigned from his post as Lord High Admiral in 1673.

In addition, and this is more of a technicality, but I don't think that Shaftesbury was actually acquitted, because there was no real trial. A bill of accusations was brought before a grand jury, which reviewed the charges, and then threw them out because there wasn't enough evidence, hence the Ignoramus result. He wasn't acquitted because he wasn't tried.69.253.236.23 00:41, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Rachel

improvements
With cited sources and sections, this could be a great article. If anyone would like to take the time to clean it up, please let me know. Otherwise, I will put it on my to-do listMrathel (talk) 20:35, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Achitophel: what is the Vulgate spelling?
From the 'Biblical background' section:

"When David's renowned advisor, Achitophel (Achitophel in the Vulgate) joins Absalom's rebellion.."

Plainly, this is an error. I believe the name in the Vulgate is actually "Ahithophel", but perhaps someone with a copy to hand would like to confirm that. Harfarhs (talk) 21:29, 17 December 2017 (UTC)