A series of trials held in 1685 to punish those who took part in Monmouth’s Rebellion, conducted by Judge Jeffreys, the Lord Chief Justice, in those centres of western England most affected by the rebellion. Of 1400 prisoners brought before him, 300 were hanged and 800 more were sold as slaves in the colonies. The severity of the sentences helped to mobilize support for William of Orange in the West Country in 1688.