Oxford Parliament (1681)

[1] Summoning Parliament to meet in Oxford, a Royalist stronghold which had been Charles I's capital during the Civil War, was designed to deprive the Whig opposition of the grassroots support from the London masses, which was an important factor in earlier stages of the Exclusion Crisis.

The Oxford Parliament was dismissed after another Exclusion Bill was presented with popular support.

Charles dissolved it after securing the necessary funds from King Louis XIV of France.

During the Glorious Revolution, surviving members of the Oxford Parliament met again in December 1688, following the flight of King James II – leading to the election of the irregular Convention Parliament (1689), which conferred the throne jointly on William III and Mary II.

The events of the Oxford Parliament are described in the final part of Robert Neill's historical novel The Golden Days.