thumb|right|Lord Mohun, by [[Godfrey Kneller|Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1707]]

Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun ( – 15 November 1712), was an English peer and politician best known for his frequent participation in duels. He was killed in the Hamilton–Mohun duel in Hyde Park, London.

Biography

Mohun was the second child of Charles Mohun, 3rd Baron Mohun, and his wife Philippa Annesley, a daughter of Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey.

His father died shortly after his birth, following a duel, and left him the family estate. The estate, however, was heavily in debt. Due to this Mohun received no education, and was forced to resort to gambling in order to support his lavish lifestyle.

Mohun joined the army shortly after his acquittal. There he served under Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, the uncle of his former wife, and briefly served in France. In 1697 the Lords again tried Mohun for the murder of Richard Coote following a duel on Leicester Square. Mohun was again acquitted, although his friend Edward Rich, 6th Earl of Warwick was found guilty of manslaughter.

In 1712, two years after Mohun's Whig party had been heavily defeated in an election, the Duke of Hamilton gained the post of special envoy to Paris. Also at this time, Mohun's legal dispute with Hamilton over his inheritance of the Macclesfield estate was going badly. Shortly before Hamilton's scheduled departure for France, Mohun challenged him to a duel which was fought on 15 November in Hyde Park.

Macartney fled and was charged, but acquitted by his peers on his return from France, and the conclusion was that Mohun had wounded Hamilton mortally before dying.

Legacy

William Makepeace Thackeray fictionalised Mohun's duels in his novel The History of Henry Esmond.

Mohun and Hamilton suffered such horrific injuries that the government passed legislation banning the use of seconds in such duels.

Also as a result swords were replaced as the weapons of choice in duels by the pistol, which tended to result in shorter and less bloody fights.

Footnotes

References

  • Andrew, Donna (1980). "The Code of Honour and its Critics: The Opposition to Duelling in England, 1700-1850" in Social History 5.3.
  • Forsythe, Robert S. (1928). A Noble Rake: The Life of Charles, Fourth Lord Mohun; being a Study in the Historical Background of Thackeray's "Henry Esmond". Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press.
  • Kiernan, V. G. (1989). The Duel in European History: Honour and the Reign of Aristocracy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
  • Stater, Victor (1999). Duke Hamilton Is Dead!: A Story of Aristocratic Life and Death in Stuart Britain. New York, Hill & Wang, .
  • Stater, Victor (1999). High Life, Low Morals: The Duel that Shook Stuart Society. London, John Murray, .