Walking Through History - West Country

Good morning, and I hope your teachers are enjoying your summer off.  Tony is continuing his walks across England.  Today, he is walking in the “most rebellious corner of England.”  The year is 1685 and the Duke of Monmouth is attempting to overthrow the British monarchy.  It had been 25 years since the restoration and James II ascended the throne.  The problem was that he was Catholic and so Tony explores this little-known rebellion in English History. The run time for this episode is 47:34.  The episode is called England’s Last Battle: The West Country.

Today’s walk will show the beauty of the Western country while exploring its place in English history.  Chares II had been restored to the throne and should have secured a stable future.  However, his marriage did not produce any children and so the succession passed to his Catholic Brother James II.  This would touch off a period of conflict.  James Duke of Monmouth the illegitimate son of Charles II arrived in England and tried to seize the throne. 

Tony will climb Golden Cap the highest point in Dorset and then make his way to Charmouth. He continues to Lyme Regis where the Duke of Monmouth landed.  He moves further inland and learns how the coast changed at Axmouth.  Tony will make his way inland and visit rebel camps.  He continues to Somerset and learns about the leadership in the area.  Tony follows the footsteps of the Duke of Monmouth and goes to Taunton.  Then he ends his walk at the sight of the battle for England’s future.  During this walk, Tony uncovers the underlying issues of Charles II’s reign that would have led to the Monmouth Rebellion.

Tony meets with Professor Justin Champion to talk about the issues with the reign of King Charles II.  Although the culture believed there was still a hierarchy, people were reluctant to accept an absolute monarch because it was associated with Catholicism.  Charles II believed himself to be an absolute monarch.  It was thought that Catholicism would destroy England.  After Charles II’s death, things began to come ahead.  Tony makes his way to Lyme Regis and meets with Anna Keay, who is working on the Duke of Monmouth’s biography.  He learns more about the Duke of Monmouth.

The Duke of Monmouth would arrive at Lyme Regis with the idea of overthrowing the Catholic James II.  However, the forces were pathetically small.  How he could imagine overthrowing his uncle?  Lyme Regis was curious about this visitor and when they realized who he was the gathered crowd was enthusiastic.  Eventually, word of the Duke of Monmouth’s arrival spread throughout the countryside.  How would the rest of the country react to his arrival? 

Day two starts and Tony continues to follow the Duke of Monmouth and his bid to topple his uncle.  He heads inland to Colyton and continues to head inland following the Duke of Monmouth’s footsteps.  Colyton was known as the most rebellious town in the region.  Tony is joined by Billy Bragg, who was a singer and who has sympathies for the Monmouth Rebellion.  Colyton produced 105 rebels who gave up their livelihoods to follow Monmouth.  These men were advocates for a stripped-down form of worship.  They did not believe in hierarchy and wanted to get more out of life.  They believed that the monarch should uphold the will of the people. 

The King declared the Duke of Monmouth a traitor and a bounty was put on his head.  No matter, he continued to move inland.  The Duke was gathering popular support.  The Duke of Monmouth would have been met by the local militias.  Would he have to fight or would these militias join his cause?  So would the Duke of Monmouth Rebellion be successful?  What else does Tony learn about the Duke of Monmouth?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

I had to giggle throughout this episode with Tony’s description of the Duke of Monmouth.  He seemed really amused.  The good thing about this series is that you get some of the hidden stories from history and Tony spends time teasing those details out.  You wonder what would have happened if the Duke of Monmouth had won?  I would highly recommend showing this episode to a history classroom.