Battle of Sedgemoor
1685 final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion
The Battle of Sedgemoor was the final and decisive engagement of the Monmouth Rebellion, between forces loyal to James II and rebel forces led by the Duke of Monmouth. It was fought on 6 July 1685 at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset, England.
The battle followed a series of skirmishes around south-west England between these two forces. King James' forces won the battle, and took about 500 prisoners. Monmouth escaped from the battlefield but was captured, taken to London and executed nine days later. Many of Monmouth's supporters were tried during the Bloody Assizes. Many were transported abroad, while others were executed by drawing and quartering.
Background
It was the final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion, by which the rebel James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, attempted to seize the English throne from his uncle James II of England. James II had succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother Charles II on 2 February 1685; James Scott was Charles's illegitimate son.
After Monmouth landed from the Dutch Republic at Lyme Regis in Dorset, there had been a series of marches and skirmishes throughout Dorset and Somerset.
“Battle of Sedgemoor” enters the record as 1685 final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Battle, Sedgemoor and final can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2557155. The Library of Congress control number is sh85119497. Authority coordinates are 51.116, -2.928. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1685.
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This entry incorporates text from “Battle of Sedgemoor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.