Review : The Duke of Monmouth- Life and Rebellion

                Duke of Monmouth biography by Laura Brennan , published by 'Pen & Sword'  

This biography came out in 2018 and now available on kindle. Only two years after Anna Keay's extensive biography 'The Duke of Monmouth- The Last Royal Rebel'. I treated myself to the hardback version and noticed straight away that the book seems quite short, 133 pages text  ( excluding index and bibliography). The book has attracted some criticism due to errors, typos and poor editing. Which is a shame, because there are some valuable questions raised about the Duke of Monmouth and the 1685 Rebellion. 

 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 also seems have been written in a hurry, and questionable. 

The author makes it clear that  whilst 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 experiences- 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 principles associated 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 once 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 and let his supporters carried 'No Popery' banners.

 But I 'd like to have known, how does the author view Monmouth ? 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 1685 Rebellion declaration in his name claimed that James II was a usurper, had murdered his brother, had caused the Fire of London.  This just seems to have been pure theatre.  

There is also an attempt to look at the  Monmouth Rebellion as a continuation of 'The Good Old Cause' . In a relatively short book there is a whole chapter on the Civil War. An interesting approach to have adopted,  but would like to have known more what connection is being made. In other words does this uprising belong in some sort cannon of English radical history? 

And a point that the author makes several times in her work.....that if Monmouth had achieved military success in the Summer of 1685, then  this could have been the start of a prolonged and quite ghastly civil war, got me cheering. A stance that Aphra Behn and John Dryden took at the time. Could be added that if the rebels had ever got to London they would probably have revived Titus Oates anti-Catholic hysteria. 

Another piece of useful analysis is that the author makes is that the whole Succession Crisis, as well as having a religious and quite sectarian aspect, was also concerned with letting Parliament have an input into the naming of an heir. Charles II eventually ruled without Parliament   due to receiving a 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 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. 

A couple of minor niggles. The author insists that the Levellers believed in Universal (male)  Suffrage and religious freedom. Hmm, I 'd like to see her source material for this claim. She also keeps quoting John Dryden's 'Absaolm and Achitophel' , a poem that is magnificent , but not published until 1682 and very much rooted in the events of 1680-1681. Monmouth allegedly lands at Lyme Regis with 150 men according to this book , it was more likely to be 82, which makes the brashness of the whole enterprise even more evident. When I first read the book, I thought that Elizabeth Gaunt had been executed twice, once after the Rye House plot was discovered and again after the Monmouth Rebellion. 

One personal angle I take is tying to square the fact that Monmouth was so popular during Exclusion Crisis but somehow this did not transfer into something greater. Something that this book doesn't seem to address. Perhaps it is unfair to single Laura Brennan out as other Monmouth biographies seem to neglect what appears to be a huge disconnect between Monmouth's popularity in certain regions during the early 1680's and those who would take up arms on his behalf in 1685.

So though in some respect this book is quite under-developed in argument and presentation, the author makes some quite valuable points. I hope that the biography will not be overlooked in the future. 

Other Blogs by Michael Bully

A Burnt Ship  17th century warfare and related literature.

 Currently working on Bleak Chesney Wold  Charles Dickens /'dark' Victoriana blog , Monmouth Rebellion research on hold for the present. Michael Bully , March 2023

World War 2 poetry  No longer updated on a regular basis 

13th century history  No longer updated