One of the most brutal executions to ever have been performed in England was that of James Scott the Duke of Monmouth. He was a rebel who would be taken to Tower Hill for his execution in front of a huge crowd during the reign of King James II. But he was executed by a man who has gone down in History for his botching executions, Jack Ketch. Monmouth was the son of King Charles II and as he was illegitimate he was not in the line of succession, but he believed that he was the rightful King. But Jack Ketch’s actions with his axe almost caused a riot as he struggled to take Monmouth’s head from his body. However he was exhumed at one point with his coffin opened, and there were claims that his head was sewn back on so a portrait could be painted of him. But there was also another probability that he was dug up again inside the Tower of London’s chapel where he had been laid to rest.