Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
James Crofts, later James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and 1st Duke of Buccleuch (April 9, 1649 – July 15, 1685), was an English nobleman who was executed in 1685 after making an unsuccessful attempt to claim the British throne, the Monmouth Rebellion. He was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress, Lucy Walter, who had followed him into continental exile after the execution of Charles II's father, King Charles I.
Lucy Walter had almost as bad a reputation as the prince himself, and it is not at all certain that Charles was the natural father of James.[citation needed] There were rumours that Charles and Lucy did marry, secretly, which would have made James the true and legitimate heir to the throne.[1] Whatever the truth, Charles recognised James as his son, but did not make him his heir. After succeeding to the throne, Charles married the Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Braganza; by this time Lucy Walter was dead.
In 1663, at the age of 14, shortly after having been brought to England, James was created Duke of Monmouth with the subsidiary titles of Earl of Doncaster and Baron Scott of Tynedale, all three in the Peerage of England, and married off to the wealthy Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. The day after his marriage, they were made Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Although he showed no aptitude for government, James was popular, particularly since he was a Protestant, whereas the official heir to the throne, the brother of Charles II, James, Duke of York, was a Roman Catholic.
In 1665, at the age of 16, Monmouth served in the English fleet under his uncle the Duke of York in the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Later in the war, he returned to England to assume his first military command as commander of a troop of cavalry. In 1669 he was made colonel of the King's Life Guards, one of the most senior appointments in the army. When the Captain General of the army, George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, died in 1670, Monmouth became the senior officer in the army at the age of 21. At the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672, a brigade of 6,000 British troops was sent to serve as part of the French army (in return for money paid to King Charles), with Monmouth as its commander. In the campaign of 1673 and in particular at the Siege of Maastricht, Monmouth gained a considerable reputation as one of Britain's finest soldiers.
In 1678 Monmouth was commander of the Anglo-Dutch brigade, now fighting for the United Provinces against the French. He distinguished himself at the battle of St Denis, further increasing his reputation. The following year, after his return to Britain, he commanded the small army raised to put down the rebellion of the Scottish Covenanters. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he decisively defeated the (admittedly poorly equipped) Covenanter rebels at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge on June 22, 1679. By this time it was becoming apparent that Charles II would have no legitimate heir, and Monmouth was regarded by many as preferable to the Duke of York.
Following the discovery of the so-called Rye House Plot in 1683, Monmouth was obliged to go into exile in the Dutch United Provinces. (Although Violet Wyndham gives the date of his exile as 1679). On his father's death Monmouth led the "Monmouth Rebellion", an attempt to take the throne from his uncle. He declared himself King and was crowned in Chard[2] and was the subject of more coronations in Taunton June 20, 1685 and Bridgwater. On July 6, 1685 the two armies met at the Battle of Sedgemoor, the second last to be fought on English soil. Monmouth's makeshift force could not compete with the regular army, and was soundly defeated. Monmouth himself was captured and arrested in Dorset. Following this, Parliament passed an Act of Attainder, 1 Ja. II c. 2.[3] Despite begging for mercy, he was executed by Jack Ketch on July 15, 1685, on Tower Hill. It is said that it took multiple blows of the axe to sever his head (though some sources say it took eight blows, the official Tower of London website says it took five blows,[4] while Charles Spencer, in his book Blenheim, claims it was seven[5]). One of his co-conspirators was Thomas Chamberlain of Oddington, from the family of Tankerville, Glouchestershire, and Barons of Wychkham: in lieu of beheading he was transported to Virginia and there served in the Army.
His dukedoms of Monmouth and Buccleuch were forfeited, but the subsidiary titles of the dukedom of Monmouth were restored to the Duke of Buccleuch.
According to legend[6], a portrait was painted of Monmouth after his execution. The tradition states that it was realised after the execution that there was no official portrait of the Duke—for a son of a King, and someone who had claimed the throne, albeit in vain, this was unheard of. So his body was exhumed, the head stitched back on the body, and it was sat for its portrait to be painted. However, there is at least one formal portrait of Monmouth[7] tentatively dated to before his death currently in the National Portrait Gallery in London, and another painting once identified with Monmouth[8] that shows a sleeping or dead man that could have given rise to the story.
The theory that the Duke of Monmouth was in fact The Man in the Iron Mask seems to be based on the reasoning that James II would not execute his own nephew; someone else was executed instead; and James II arranged for Monmouth to be taken to France and put in the custody of his cousin Louis XIV of France.[9]
His marriage to Anne Scott resulted in the birth of seven children:
His affair with mistress Eleanor Needham, daughter of Sir Robert Needham of Lambeth resulted in the birth of three children:
Toward the end of his life he conducted an affair with Henrietta, Baroness Wentworth.
Monmouth rebellion sets the stage for the premise of a classic adventure novel Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini.
The Duke of Monmouth in a minor character in The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers.
Duke of Monmouth is one of the secondary characters in Neal Stephenson's work Quicksilver.
Joe Frank performed a 1985 radio broadcast "Pretender" based on the life of Monmouth.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Duke of Buckingham |
Master of the Horse 1674 – 1679 |
In commission
Title next held by
The Duke of Richmond |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl of Oxford |
Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1673 – 1679 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Chesterfield |
| Military offices | ||
| Vacant
Title last held by
Duke of Albemarle |
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1674 – 1686 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Earl of Feversham |
| Vacant | Captain-General 1678 – 1679 |
Vacant |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Belasyse |
Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire 1673 – 1679 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Mulgrave |
| Preceded by The Lord Brooke |
Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire 1677 – 1679 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Sunderland |
| Preceded by The Lord Paget |
Custos Rotulorum of Staffordshire 1678 – 1680 |
|
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Duke of Monmouth 1663 – 1685 |
Forfeit |
| Earl of Doncaster 1663 – 1685 |
Vacant
Title forfeit
Title next held by
The Duke of Buccleuch |
|
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| New creation | Duke of Buccleuch 1st creation 1663 – 1685 |
Forfeit |
James, the son of Charles II. by Lucy Walter, daughter of William Walter, of Roch Castle, co. Pembroke. He was born April 9th, 1649, and landed in England with the Queen-Mother, July 28th, 1662, when he bore the name of Crofts, after Lord Crofts, his governor. He was created Duke of Monmouth, February 14th, 1663, and married Lady Anne Scott, daughter and heiress of Francis, second Earl of Buccleuch, on April 20th following. In 1673 he took the name of Scott, and was created Duke of Buccleuch.
Married at the age of 14
I checked other authorities to see if there was an error in the dates, but the entry is correct.
More information on Monmouth
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/j/ja/james_scott,_1st_duke_of_monmouth.htm
http://www.thedorsetpage.com/history/Monmouth_Rebellion/Monmouth_Rebellion.htm
http://www.biographybase.com/biography/James_Scott_1st_Duke_of_Monmouth.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/M/MonmthJ1S1.asp
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?linkID=mp03129&role=sit&page=2
Grammont’s notes on Monmouth
These events take place after the diary ends —see note 156
Miniature by Samuel Cooper, c. 1664-5
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/object.asp?maker=COOPERS&object=420645&row=2