James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch

Sitter associated with 42 portraits
The eldest of Charles II's fourteen illegitimate children, Monmouth was the son of Lucy Walter. He fought in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars gaining a considerable reputation as one of Britain's finest soldiers. Charming and ambitious, he was put forward as a Protestant candidate for the throne at the time of the 'Popish Plot' in 1678. On his father's death in 1685 he led the 'Monmouth Rebellion', an attempt to take the throne from his uncle, James II. He landed in England with a small Protestant army and issued a declaration in which he accused James of poisoning the late king, usurping the throne and ruling against the law. He was defeated at Sedgemoor and was tried and executed.