Incumbents

Monarch – Charles II
Parliament – Exclusion Bill (until 18 January), Oxford of 1681 (starting 21 March, until 28 March)

Events

18 January – 'Exclusion Bill Parliament' dissolved.^[1]
4 March – William Penn receives a royal charter to establish a sectarian colony in the Americas.^[2]
21–28 March – the Oxford Parliament meets and debates the Exclusion Bill.^[3] The Bill is rejected by the House of Lords. No further sessions of parliament are held until after the death of Charles II in 1685.
1 July – Oliver Plunkett, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, falsely convicted of treason, is hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London, the last Catholic martyr to die in England.^[4] Catholic intriguer Edward Fitzharris is executed on the same day.
2 July – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury charged with treason, and imprisoned in the Tower of London, but subsequently acquitted.^[1]^[2]
31 August
- Perjurer Titus Oates is told to leave his state apartments in Whitehall; his fame begins to wane, and he is soon arrested and imprisoned for sedition.
- Protestant activist Stephen College, convicted of treason, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Oxford.
22 December – King Charles II issues a warrant for the building of the Royal Hospital Chelsea for wounded and retired soldiers.^[3]

John Dryden's political satire Absalom and Achitophel.^[3]
Nahum Tate's play The History of King Lear, adapted from Shakespeare's King Lear with a happy ending (first performed this year at the Duke's Theatre, London).

January – William Walwyn, Leveller (born c. 1600)
28 January – Richard Allestree, royalist churchman (born c. 1621)
c. 30 January – John Watling, buccaneer (year of birth unknown)
5 March – Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 2nd Baronet, Member of Parliament (born c. 1623)
14 April – Sir Thomas Littleton, 2nd Baronet, Member of Parliament (born c. 1621)
18 April – John Loosemore, pipe organ builder (born 1616)
9 June – William Lilly, astrologer and occultist (born 1602)
26 July – Sir Thomas Isham, 3rd Baronet, aristocrat and diarist (born 1657)
14 September (bur.) – Hezekiah Burton, theologian (born 1632)
15 December – James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton, soldier and politician (born 1622)
22 December – Richard Alleine, Puritan clergyman (born 1611)
Elizabeth Knepp, actress (year of birth unknown)

^ ^a ^b Harris, Tim (2004). "Cooper, Anthony Ashley, first earl of Shaftesbury (1621–1683)'". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6208. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ ^a ^b Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 194–196. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 280. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ "Blessed Oliver Plunket". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. Retrieved 22 March 2011.

Years in England (927–present)

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v t e 1681 in Europe
Sovereign states	Andorra Austria Denmark–Norway Denmark Norway England France Holy Roman Empire Hungary Ireland Malta Monaco Netherlands Ottoman Empire Papal States Portugal Prussia Russia San Marino Scotland Spain Sweden Switzerland
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey