Executions following Monmouth's rebellion: a missing link

Author: Timmons S.A.

Source: Historical Research, Volume 76, Number 192, May 2003 , pp. 286-291(6)

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Abstract:

The number of executions that the royal army carried out immediately following Monmouth's rebellion in July 1685 has always puzzled scholars. Contemporary sources offer little assistance: loyalist tories largely ignored the problem, while opposition whigs exaggerated both the number of hangings and the degree of sadism involved. A comparison between parish burial records in Somerset and a hitherto unnoticed document in the British Library (Additional MS. 32000 fos. 91–2) indicates that Colonel Kirke of the First Tangiers Regiment precisely followed orders given by Lieutenant-General Lord Feversham, and even offered mercy to some victims.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.00176

Affiliations: 1: London, Ohio

Publication date: 2003-05-01