#theyear1649

On This Day In Royal History . 9 April 1649 . James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was born . About James; . . ◼ James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, was an English nobleman. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland and his mistress, Lucy Walter. . ◼ He served in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and commanded English troops taking part in the Third Anglo-Dutch War before commanding the Anglo-Dutch brigade fighting in the Franco-Dutch War. . ◼ In 1685 he led the unsuccessful Monmouth Rebellion, an attempt to depose his uncle, King James II and VII. After one of his officers declared Monmouth the legitimate King in the town of Taunton in Somerset, Monmouth attempted to capitalise on his position as the son of Charles II, and his Protestantism, in opposition to James, who was a Roman Catholic. . ◼ The rebellion failed, and Monmouth was beheaded for treason on 15 July 1685. . ◼ His marriage to Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch resulted in the birth of six children