a supposed conspiracy (1678) to murder Charles II of England and replace him with his Catholic brother James: in reality a fabrication by the informer Titus Oates
Popish Plot in American English
see Oates
Popish Plot in American English
noun
an imaginary conspiracy against the crown of Great Britain on the part of English Roman Catholics, fabricated in 1678 by Titus Oates as a means of gaining power