The Duke of Monmouth: Life and Rebellion

by Laura Brennan

He was the illegitimate son of a king, a gallant and brave military hero, charming, handsome and well loved both within the court and with women; James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, had the life many would have envied in the seventeenth century.

Monmouth lived in an age that was on the cusp of modernity. He lived through some of the biggest events and scandals of seventeenth century British history, the Restoration of his father, King Charles II; The Great Fire of London in 1666 and the last great plague to sweep through London killing thousands.

James also experienced the political scandal of the Popish Plot; became embroiled in the foiled Rye House Plot, and was at the centre of the Exclusion Crisis, which was a major catalyst for the modern creation of our party political system.

But what would turn the beloved darling of the Restoration court into a leading rebel?

Genres: History

176 pages, Hardcover

Published August 29, 2018

Reviews

[J'aime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I’m friends with the author and that certainly impacted my reason for choosing this. However, like many Americans, I love the intrigues and scandals of British royal history, so I was eager to learn about an historical figure I was unfamiliar with.

This book is very readable, and comparatively short for an historical biography. The writing is economical - only the critical things needed to put Monmouth in perspective are addressed. There is not a lot of unnecessary background on the various monarchs before Charles II. In addition to Monmouth’s parentage and upbringing, a lot of time is devoted to the political atmosphere following Cromwell’s Commonwealth (a period with no monarchy, after the execution of Charles I). I found this part fascinating. The author introduces and gives some context for the major players who will shape Monmouth, such as Shaftesbury, but also the early development of the Whig and Tory political parties.

Though the author, like any good historian, tries to be impartial, some bias creeps through. And I was honestly delighted (as an outsider looking in). The author has an obvious affection for Monmouth, as mentioned in the introduction, but doesn’t have such a favorable view of Cromwell, or James II: "James 11 was a vain, petty, frivolous, mean man and such behaviour would not have been beneath him." Since James was the very reason for the Exclusion Crisis and rebellion, it’s not unsurprising that he is viewed this way by primary sources of the time, and contemporary historians. It made me interested to read a biography of James II.

One challenge of this book was that the author assumes the audience has a basic familiarity of major events of the time period. Some things are referenced as if common knowledge, but not fully explained until much later. The “Secret Treaty of Dover”, the “Rye House Plot” and the “Exclusion Crisis” are all mentioned multiple times as having an impact on Monmouth but are not explained until late in the book. This is not uncommon for American authors writing about events surrounding the Civil War, so I would recommend that non-UK readers pop into Wikipedia for a quick overview before reading.

One downside to the economical writing style is that some things are not expanded on that really should have been. It is never explained how the “Popish Plot” was revealed as fake, which I found very dissatisfying. An entire chapter discusses the plot, and its impact on Monmouth’s upcoming rebellion, but nothing as to how it was later discredited. I also would have liked to see a final chapter on the fallout for James II. The book ended with Monmouth’s execution (which I know makes sense), but James II was later deposed. As replacing him was the rebellion’s purpose, it would have made a nice wrap up to have that included.

Overall, this was an excellent biography that made me eager to learn more about this time of history. I look forward to more from Laura Brennan.

[Sarah Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a good look at Monmouth’s life. The illegitimate son of Charles II, he rose high and fell as fast. The author has packed her book full of information and has researched her subject well. It does lean more to the political rather than the personal but gives a good overview of the rebel duke.

[Michael Bully · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although titled 'Life and Rebellion' , the book is not a standard biography. The life of James, born in Rotterdam in 1649, to Lucy Walter, mistress to the young Charles II in exile and uncrowned, his initial promotion and rise to a leading Restoration figure, even as illegitimate son to the king, only to be executed by his Uncle James II after leading a doomed rebellion, is extraordinary. Yet Monmouth's early life is dispatched with fairly quickly. At the other end of the book, the explanation of the 1685 Rebellion in the West Country is very rushed though there is some useful analysis of the Duke of Argyll's supporting rebellion in south west Scotland, and its failure. The account of the Battle of Sedgemoor seems rushed, and questionable.

The author makes it clear that she does not believe for a moment that Lucy Walter and Charles were ever married she recognises that as from 1662 onward, Charles indulged young James with titles by making him Duke of Monmouth, Earl of Doncaster, later Master of the Kings Horse, and ensured that he was married to a Scottish heiress Anna Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch in 1663. But would be interesting to know what Charles' motives were for promoting his eldest illegitimate son, and whether or not the author thought that Monmouth himself believed himself to be legitimate.

The more gossipy tales of Restoration Court life are left out, though it is made clear that Monmouth's last mistress -Lady Henrietta Wenworth- was really his great love from 1680 onward.

One chapter is really concerned with Monmouth's experience as from the age of 16 in combat which is helpful, but even more of the book looks at how Monmouth became the 'Protestant Duke' as from around 1679, reaching the very edge of rebellion. By the time of the Rye House Plot conspiracy against the lives of Charles II and James Duke of York, Monmouth was on the fringes of treason, though it is accepted that he did not wish to threaten the lives of his farther and uncle. It became apparent that Charles had no choice but to exile Monmouth.

And Laura Brennan makes some very important points. Firstly stressing how Monmouth was essentially pro-French, even fighting for Louis XIV in 1672 and 1675. He put down a Presbyterian Rebellion in 1679. Such stances are not in keeping with the Protestant Whig faction. But by the start of the 1680's Monmouth transformed into wanting to be the Protestant candidate for the succession now that James Duke of York's conversion to the Catholic faith was known. There seems little evidence that Monmouth was fervently anti -Catholic until he landed in 1685. But again it have been interesting to raise the question of why the change in allegiance.

But I 'd like to have known did Monmouth genuinely believe .....was it opportunism? He turned against his father and his uncle who treated him so well. but never quite understood from Laura Brennan what his motives really were. The declaration of his name claimed that James II was a usurper, had murdered his brother, had caused the Fire of London, this seems pure theatre.

Another piece of useful analysis is that the author raises the question that the whole Succession Crisis, as well as the religious aspect, was also concerned with letting Parliament have an input into the naming of an heir. Charles II managed to rule without Parliament as from due to secret subsidy from Louis XIV. If he had not managed this feat, Parliament might had demanded further powers in exchange for raising money for the crown. The author makes a useful attempt is made to envisage what sort of king Monmouth would have made. Suggesting that Monmouth , not William of Orange could have been the founder of a constitutional monarchy.

So though in some respect this book is quite under-developed in argument and presentation, the author makes some quite valuable points.