Monmouth, James

James (1649-1685), an English duke. He was the son of Charles II and Lucy Walters. During the rule of the Commonwealth he was educated in France. On the restoration of the Stuarts his father called him to England and recognized him as his son, making him Duke of Monmouth. He commanded the English forces at Bothwell Bridge in 1679. He was a Protestant by sympathy and was regarded as an available candidate for the throne. The Protestants aimed to raise him to the throne instead of the legal heir, James, Duke of York, but failed. During the reign of James II, Monmouth, at the instigation of William of Orange, organized what is known as Monmouth's Rebellion. The uprising is described vividly in Blackmore's Lorna Doone and in Conan Doyle's Micah Clarke. Monmouth, never a strong character, pleaded for his life but was executed. See Jeffreys