The year 1687 in the Kingdom of England was marked by political, religious, and scientific developments during the reign of King James II.
Incumbent
- Monarch – James II
Key events
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27 January – Mary Hobry, a French‑born Catholic midwife, murdered her husband Denis Hobry, dismembered his body, and concealed the remains in London. She was later tried, convicted of murder, and executed by burning at the stake on 2 March.
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4 April – James II issued the Declaration of Indulgence (also known as the Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience), temporarily suspending statutes that penalised Roman Catholics and Protestant non‑conformists. The proclamation aimed to promote religious tolerance but provoked opposition from Parliament and the Anglican establishment.
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1 May – The king attended the consecration of Ferdinando d’Adda as Papal Nuncio to London, granting him the titular archbishopric of Amasia in the Royal Chapel of St James’s Palace.
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4 September – James II attempted to expel the Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford, after they resisted efforts to impose Catholic practices on the college. The episode intensified tensions between the crown and the university community.
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5 July – Isaac Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (the Principia) was published by the Royal Society of London, presenting the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion. The work became a foundational text of classical physics.
Publications
- Isaac Newton – Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (published 5 July).
Births
- c. 26 August – Henry Carey, poet, dramatist and songwriter (d. 1743).
- 7 November – William Stukeley, antiquarian and archaeologist (d. 1765).
Deaths
- 16 April – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, statesman (b. 1628).
- 1 September – Henry More, philosopher (b. 1614).
- 12 September – John Alden, Mayflower pilgrim (b. c. 1599).
- 21 October – Edmund Waller, poet (b. 1606).
- 14 November – Nell Gwynne, actress and mistress of Charles II (b. 1650).
- 10 December – Robert Venables, Parliamentarian soldier (b. c. 1613).
- 16 December – Sir William Petty, philosopher, scientist and economist (b. 1623).
Context
The events of 1687 reflected the mounting religious conflict between the Catholic‑leaning monarchy and the Protestant establishment, foreshadowing the Glorious Revolution of 1688‑89. Newton’s Principia represented a major advance in scientific thought, establishing England as a centre of Enlightenment scholarship.