ISIS and the Jacobites

Three hundred years ago there was a rebellious movement called Jacobinism in the UK that wanted to reintroduce a pro-French Scottish, Catholic King to the throne of England, Ireland and Scotland, who Jacobinists believed had the Divine Right from God to rule the country.

It is likely that barrister Robert Wood whose grave you see, was probably a Jacobite, because in 1750 he had to escape London quickly. He ran away to the Middle East with two wealthy young Oxford scholars who had come under suspicion and surveillance by the authorities for their support of the rebellion.

Travelling into Syria, they took careful measurements and drawings of the ancient Roman ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek. The results were published in 1753 and 1757 and were among the first systematic publications of ancient buildings. The books are considered by many to be the birth of archeology. The publications also greatly influenced the development of neoclassical architecture in Britain, Continental Europe and America.

In August 2015 another group of militants (many of them British) belonging to Islamic State escaped the UK and blew up Palmyra’s first-century Temple of Baalshamin and the Temple of Bel with explosives. Satellite imagery of the site taken shortly after showed almost nothing remained. Islamic State sought to establish itself as a caliphate, an Islamic state led by a group of religious authorities under a supreme leader – the caliph – who was believed to be the successor to Prophet Muhammad. The destruction of many ancient sites was undertaken in order to fund IS terrorist activities.

Wood redeemed himself over time. Following the publication’s success Wood was the travelling companion of the richest peer in England, the Duke of Bridgewater for three years. Upon his return Wood was immediately appointed Under Secretary to the Secretary of State with a responsibility for “The South”.

In an odd twist of fate Wood the Catholic King Rebel became Wood the Defender of the Protestant King. In 1764 Under Secretary Wood issued a warrant to seize the papers of MP and Hellfire Club member John Wilkes. Wilkes’ crime was to criticise (Protestant) King George II’s stance on a peace agreement with (Catholic) France and Spain.

But Wood’s past caught up with him. At one point, Wood was in line to be appointed Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but his new potential boss objected to Wood's "public and private character" as well as his "mean birth", and the appointment was never made.

He died in 1771, in this white marble sarcophagus engraved with an epitaph written by art historian Horace Walpole, who built the gothic revival Strawberry Hill House.