George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was a professional soldier from Devon who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was crucial to the 1660 Stuart Restoration of Charles II.

Monck began his military career in 1625 and served in the Eighty Years' War until 1638, when he returned to England. Posted to Ireland as part of the army sent to suppress the Irish Rebellion of 1641, he quickly gained a reputation for efficiency and ruthlessness. After Charles I agreed to a truce with the Catholic Confederacy in September 1643, he was captured fighting for the Royalists at Nantwich in January 1644 and remained a prisoner for the next two years.

Released in 1647, he was named Parliamentarian commander in Eastern Ulster, fought in Scotland under Oliver Cromwell in the 1650 to 1652 Anglo-Scottish War, and served as General at sea during the 1652 to 1654 First Anglo-Dutch War. From 1655 to 1660, he was army commander in Scotland, and his support for moderates in Parliament who wanted to restore the monarchy proved decisive in Charles II regaining his throne in May 1660.

Monck was rewarded by being made Duke of Albemarle and given various senior positions. Illness and lack of interest in politics meant he faded into the background after 1660, but returned to sea during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. He played an important leadership role during the 1665 Great Plague of London, as well as the 1666 Great Fire of London, and died in January 1670.

Monck was born 6 December 1608 on the family estate of Potheridge in Devon, second son of Sir Thomas Monck (1570–1627) and Elizabeth Smith, whose father Sir George Smith was reputedly the richest man in Exeter, and three times Mayor. Monck's younger brother Nicholas (1609–1661) became Bishop of Hereford and Provost of Eton College, while his elder brother Thomas died in 1647. Monck was a descendant of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, due to a marriage between Thomas Monke and Frances Plantagenet, and thus also an illegitimate cognatic descendant of Edward IV.

Despite being one of the oldest families in Devon, the Moncks were relatively poor, while Smith allegedly failed to pay his daughter's dowry, leading to a series of expensive legal disputes with his son-in-law. In 1625, Sir Thomas was imprisoned for debt and died in jail two years later.

In January 1653, Monck married Anne Clarges (1619–1670), daughter of a London farrier and widow of Thomas Radford, whose death was not legally confirmed until a year after their marriage, a fact later used against her. Anne allegedly had strong Royalist sympathies like her brother Thomas (1618–1695), who was knighted after the Stuart Restoration and had a long career in Parliament. They had one son who survived into adulthood, Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle (1653–1688).

Monck became a professional soldier, a common career choice for younger sons of impoverished gentry. His first experience was the failed attack on Cádiz in November 1625, when he served as an ensign in a company commanded by his cousin Sir Richard Grenville. He later joined the equally disastrous expedition against St Martin-de-Ré in July 1627; it is suggested one reason for doing so was his arrest for attempted murder in late 1626, when he and his brother Thomas assaulted Nicholas Battyn, the undersheriff responsible for jailing their father.