Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of (1621–83) British statesman. Shaftesbury was a member of the Commonwealth council of state under Oliver Cromwell. Dismayed by the autocracy of the Protectorate, he supported the Restoration of Charles II (1660), and was rewarded with the chancellorship. Opposed to the Earl of Clarendon, Shaftesbury became lord chancellor (1672) but was soon dismissed. His determination to prevent the succession of the Catholic James II drove him to found (1673) the Whigs in opposition to the Earl of Danby. Shaftesbury's support for the Duke of Monmouth led to his exile (1682) in Holland.
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Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of
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