2-705-904 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Duke of Monmouth exchanging Cloaths with a Shepherd to conceal himself after his defeat at the battle of Sedgeley-moor' (1792). James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685), was pretender to throne of Scotland and England. Monmouth, the illegitimate son of Charles II, launched a rebellion in 1685. Claiming to be Charles' rightful heir, he attempted to overthrow the Roman Catholic King James II. His revolt ended in defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor, Somerset, on 6 July 1685, and Monmouth was subsequently beheaded on Tower Hill. [W. & J. Stratford, London, 1792]