What political conflict inspired Absalom and Achitophel?

John Dryden’s 1681 verse satire, Absalom and Achitophel, was inspired by the Exclusion Crisis. This political conflict centered on efforts by the Whig Party, led by the earl of Shaftesbury, to bar James, duke of York—the Roman Catholic brother of King Charles II—from the line of succession.12

The Whigs sought to replace James with the king’s illegitimate but Protestant son, the duke of Monmouth. Dryden, serving as poet laureate, wrote the poem to support the king and his Tory ministers. He utilized the biblical story of King David and his rebellious son Absalom to allegorize the crisis, casting Charles II as David, Monmouth as Absalom, and Shaftesbury as the manipulative Achitophel. By dissecting the motives of the political opposition, the poem served as a powerful piece of pro-Tory propaganda that helped preserve the duke of York’s position in the succession.12