BOOK REVIEW 'The Duke of Monmouth-Life and Rebellion'

                 Monmouth biography by Laura Brennan, Pen & Sword Books

                    

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 it 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 is 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 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 eventually  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 1680s 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 and let his supporters carry 'No Popery' banners.

But I 'd like to have known does the author view Monmouth ?  Idealist or  opportunist or dupe of the Whig faction if one doesn't accept that he was the rightful heir ? 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 made in his name in 1685 claimed that his uncle James II was a usurper, had murdered his brother Charles II, and  had caused the Fire of London, this just seems 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 view 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 or just another squabble concerning succession? 

And a point that the author makes several times in her work.....that if Monmouth had achieved military success in the Summer of 1685, , that 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  probably would have revived Titus Oates anti-Catholic hysteria. 

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. Hopefully this book will not be overlooked .

A longer version of this piece can be found at my new project; 

Monmouth Rebellion 1685

Other blogs by Michael Bully

World War 2 Poetry  No longer updated. 

13th century history No longer updated. 

Thank you for visiting. Hope that all blog readers remain safe and healthy during these times. 

Michael Bully

1st July 2021