"A Candidate for Immortality”: Martyrdom, Memory, and the Marquis of Montrose

Rachel Bennett

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

James Graham, the 1st Marquis of Montrose, was a prominent figure in the mid-seventeenth century conflict between the Scottish Covenanters and the Stuart King. In 1650 he was executed as a traitor to the Covenanting cause in a spectacle intended to mark an ignominious legal and social death. However, the timing of Montrose’s death was more complex as his body and his legacy had an enduring political and cultural currency that was harnessed by the Restoration regime. In 1661 he was given an elaborate funeral to mark his official rehabilitation as a Cavalier martyr. In turn, pieces of Montrose’s dismembered body, once used to mark out his criminality, became coveted mementos that attained their own set of beliefs ensuring‚ that Montrose was not yet truly dead.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInterdisciplinary Perspectives on Mortality and its Timings
PublisherSpringer
Pages33-47
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9781137583284
ISBN (Print)9781137583277
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Sept 2017

Publication series

NamePalgrave Historical studies in the Criminal Corpse and its Afterlife

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