James Scott, Duke of Monmouth

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, called James Fitzroy and James Crofts (1649-1685), illegitimate son of King Charles II and pretender to the British throne. Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and reared on the Continent, James was brought to England in 1662, where Charles subsequently acknowledged him as his son and created him duke of Monmouth. In 1663 he married Anne Scott, countess of Buccleuch, and took her surname and the title duke of Buccleuch. Captain of the king's troops in 1668, Monmouth was appointed captain general of all English forces in 1678. He defeated the Scottish Covenanters at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679 (see Covenanters).

Charles II had no legitimate heirs. The English Protestant leaders tried to force the king to name Monmouth, also a Protestant, as successor, but Charles instead named his brother James, a Roman Catholic, and banished Monmouth from England. The initial success of the Exclusion Bill, a measure barring James from succession, permitted Monmouth to return to London, but he fled again in 1683 after the disclosure of the Rye House Plot. On his father's death in 1685, Monmouth returned to England to claim the Crown. He gathered followers and succeeded in capturing Axminster and Taunton, but was defeated by the English soldier John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough. He was captured and executed for treason.