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Historical person
1649–1685
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II. Raised partly on the Continent, he became a prominent courtier and soldier, commanded English forces in several campaigns and acquired the English dukedom of Monmouth and the Scottish dukedom of Buccleuch.
After Charles II’s death, Monmouth landed in south-west England and claimed the crown against James II. His supporters were defeated at Sedgemoor, and he was captured and executed on Tower Hill in July 1685. The rebellion and the reprisals that followed became major tests of the new king’s authority.
In G. A. Henty’s John Hawke's Fortune, Historical figures including James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and James II of England connect the fictional action directly to the documented events. In Angus Donald’s Blood’s Revolution, at the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, his guns help destroy the rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth, but the Bloody Assizes and the king’s increasingly authoritarian government persuade influential Protestants that another settlement must be found. Holcroft is drawn towards the conspiracy inviting William of Orange to intervene while the French agent Narrey pursues him across England. Further fictional perspectives on James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth can be found in Philippa Gregory’s Dawnlands, Jean Plaidy’s Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord, and Geoffrey Trease’s Trumpets in the West.
Series
The Holcroft Blood trilogy follows a mathematically gifted gunner through the political and military crises of Restoration Britain. Blood’s Game begins with his service to the Duke of Buckingham and his father Colonel Blood’s attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. Blood’s Revolution moves through Sedgemoor and the conspiracy…
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The Fairmile series follows Alinor and the generations descended from her through the English Civil War, the Restoration and the Monmouth Rebellion. Beginning in a poor Sussex marshland community, the story expands to London, Venice, New England and Barbados as the family moves through trade, migration, marriage and…
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The Stuart novels explore the dynasty from the restoration of Charles II through the Revolution of 1688 and the early eighteenth-century struggle over succession. Court intrigue, royal favourites, hidden marriages and confessional rivalry reveal a monarchy repeatedly threatened by its own family divisions.
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The English Commonwealth Sequence follows connected lives across the upheavals that began with civil war and continued through the Restoration and the succession crisis of 1685. Silver Guard opens amid the First English Civil War, Grey Adventurer follows the consequences of the Stuart return in London and colonial…
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Standalone books
