Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Encyclopedia
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG
, FRS
(17 December 1619 – 29 November 1682) was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century. Rupert was a younger son of the German prince Frederick V, Elector Palatine
and his wife Elizabeth
, the eldest daughter of James I of England
. Thus Rupert was the nephew of King Charles I of England
, who created him Duke of Cumberland
and Earl of Holderness
, and the first cousin of King Charles II of England
. His sister Electress Sophia was the mother of George I of Great Britain
.
Prince Rupert had a varied career. He was a soldier from a young age, fighting against Spain
in the Netherlands
during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and against the Holy Roman Emperor
in Germany during the Thirty Years' War
(1618–48). Aged 23, he was appointed commander of the Royalist
cavalry
during the English Civil War
, becoming the archetypal Cavalier
of the war and ultimately the senior Royalist general. He surrendered after the fall of Bristol
and was banished from England. He served under Louis XIV of France
against Spain, and then as a Royalist privateer
in the Caribbean. Following the Restoration, Rupert returned to England, becoming a senior British naval commander during the Second
and Third
Anglo-Dutch wars
, engaging in scientific invention, art, and serving as the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
. Prince Rupert died in England in 1682, aged 62.
Rupert is considered to have been a quick-thinking and energetic cavalry
general, but ultimately undermined by his youthful impatience in dealing with his peers during the Civil War. In the Interregnum, Rupert continued the conflict against Parliament
by sea from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, showing considerable persistence in the face of adversity. As the head of the Royal Navy
in his later years, he showed greater maturity and made impressive and long-lasting contributions to the Royal Navy's doctrine
and development. As a colonial governor, Rupert shaped the political geography of modern Canada (Rupert's Land
was named in his honour) and played a role in the early African slave trade
. Rupert's varied and numerous scientific and administrative interests combined with his considerable artistic skills made him one of the more colourful individuals of the Restoration period.
Rupert was born in Prague
in 1619, at the time of the Thirty Years' War
, to Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart
. He was declared a prince by the principality of Lusatia
. Rupert's father, Frederick V
, as ruler of the Palatinate, was a leading member of the Holy Roman Empire
, the head of the Protestant Union
, with a martial family tradition stretching back several centuries. His family was also at the heart of the network of Protestant rulers across the north of Europe at the time. Frederick enjoyed close ties through his mother to the ruling House of Orange-Nassau
in the United Provinces
. Elizabeth was a daughter of King James I of England
and sister of King Charles I of England
, and related in turn to the Danish royal family. The family enjoyed an extremely wealthy lifestyle in Heidelberg
, enjoying the famous palace gardens—the Hortus Palatinus
, designed by Inigo Jones
and Salomon de Caus
—and a lavish castle with one of the best libraries in Europe.
Frederick had allied himself with rebellious Protestant Bohemian
nobility in 1619, expecting support from the Protestant Union in his revolt against the Catholic Ferdinand II
, the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor. This support was not forthcoming, resulting in a crushing defeat at the hands of his Catholic enemies at the Battle of White Mountain
. With Frederick now outlawed the family fled from Bohemia
to the Netherlands
, where Rupert spent his childhood. Rupert's parents were mockingly termed the "Winter King and Queen" as a consequence of their reigns in Bohemia having lasted only a single season.
Rupert was almost left behind in the court's rush to escape Ferdinand's advance on Prague, until Christopher Dhona, a court member, tossed the prince into a carriage at the last moment. Rupert accompanied his parents to The Hague
, where he spent his early years at the Hof te Wassenaer. Rupert's mother paid her children little attention even by the standards of the day, apparently preferring her pet monkeys and dogs. Instead, Frederick employed Monsieur and Madame de Plessen to act as governors to his children, with instructions to inculcate a positive attitude towards the Bohemians and the English, and to bring them up as strict Calvinists
. The result was a strict school routine including logic
, mathematics, writing, drawing, singing and playing instruments. As a child, Rupert was at times badly behaved, 'fiery, mischievous, and passionate' and earned himself the nickname Robert le Diable, or "Rupert The Devil". Nonetheless, Rupert proved to be an able student. By the age of 3 he could speak some English, Czech and French, and mastered German while still young, but had little interest in Latin and Greek. He excelled in art, being taught by Gerard van Honthorst
, and found the maths and sciences easy. By the time he was 18 he stood about 6 ft 4 in tall and had become a dashing young prince.
Rupert's family continued their attempts to regain the Palatinate during their time in The Hague. Money was short, with the family relying upon a relatively small pension from The Hague, the proceeds from family investments in Dutch raids on Spanish shipping, and revenue from pawned family jewellery. By 1625, however, Frederick had convinced an alliance of nations—including England, France and Sweden—to support his attempts to regain the Palatinate and Bohemia. By the early 1630s this appeared closer than ever. Rupert's father, Frederick, had increasingly invested in relationship with the Swedish King Gustavus
, now the dominant religious leader in Germany. In 1632, however, the two men disagreed over Gustavus' insistence that Frederick provide equal rights to his Lutheran and Calvinist subjects after regaining his lands; Frederick refused and started to return to The Hague. He died of a fever along the way and was buried in an unmarked grave. Rupert had lost his father at the age of 13, and Gustavus' death at the battle of Lützen
in the same month deprived the family of a critical Protestant ally. With Frederick gone, King Charles proposed that the family move to England; Rupert's mother declined, but asked that Charles extend his protection to her remaining children instead.
Rupert spent the beginning of his teenage years in England between the courts of The Hague
and his uncle King Charles I, before being captured and imprisoned in Linz
during the middle stages of the Thirty Years' War
. Rupert had become a soldier early; at the age of 14 he attended the Dutch pas d'armes
with the Protestant Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
, later that year he fought alongside him at the siege of Rheinberg
, and by 1635 he was acting as a military lifeguard
to Prince Frederick. Rupert went on to fight against imperial Spain in the successful campaign around Breda
in 1637 during the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands. By the end of this period, Rupert had acquired a reputation for fearlessness in battle, high spirits and considerable industry.
In between these campaigns Rupert had visited his uncle's court in England. The Palatinate cause was a popular Protestant issue in England, and in 1637 a general public subscription helped fund an expedition under Charles Louis
to try and regain the electorate as part of a joint French campaign. Rupert was placed in command of a Palatinate cavalry regiment, and his later friend Lord Craven, an admirer of Rupert's mother, assisted in raising funds and accompanied the army on the campaign. The campaign ended badly at the Battle of Vlotho
(17 October 1638) during the invasion of Westphalia
; Rupert escaped death, but was captured by the forces of the Imperial General Melchior von Hartzfeld towards the end of the battle.
After a failed attempt to bribe his way free of his guards, Rupert was imprisoned in Linz
. Lord Craven, also taken in the battle, attempted to persuade his captors to allow him to remain with Rupert, but was refused. Rupert's imprisonment was surrounded by religious overtones. His mother was deeply concerned that he might be converted from Calvinism
to Catholicism; his captors, encouraged by Emperor Ferdinand III
, deployed Jesuit priests in an attempt to convert
him. The Emperor went further, proffering the option of freedom, a position as an Imperial general and a small principality if Rupert would convert. Rupert refused.
As time went on, Rupert's imprisonment became more relaxed on the advice of the Archduke Leopold
, Ferdinand's younger brother, who met and grew to like Rupert. Rupert practised etching, played tennis, practised shooting, read military textbooks and was taken on accompanied hunting trips. He also entered into a romantic affair with Susan Kuffstein, the daughter of Count von Kuffstein, his gaoler. He also received a present of a rare white poodle
, a dog that Rupert called Boye
, and which remained with him into the English Civil War
. Despite attempts by a Franco-Swedish army to seize Linz and free Rupert, his release was ultimately negotiated through Leopold and the Empress Anna Maria; in exchange for a commitment never again to take up arms against the Emperor, Rupert would be released. Rupert formally kissed the Emperor's hand at the end of 1641, turned down a final offer of an Imperial command and left Germany for England.
. He had considerable success during the early years of the war, his drive, determination and experience of European techniques bringing him early victories. As the war progressed, Rupert's youth and lack of maturity in managing his relationships with other Royalist commanders ultimately resulted in his removal from his post and ultimate retirement from the war. Throughout the conflict, however, Rupert also enjoyed a powerful symbolic position: he was an iconic Royalist Cavalier
and as such was frequently the subject of both Parliamentarian and Royalist propaganda, an image which has endured over the years.
, and after one initial failure, evaded the pro-Parliamentary navy and landed in Newcastle
. Riding across country, he finally found the King with a tiny army at Leicester Abbey
, and was promptly appointed General of Horse
, a coveted appointment at the time in European warfare.
Rupert set about recruiting and training: with great effort he had put together a partially trained mounted force of 3,000 cavalry by the end of September. Rupert's reputation continued to rise. Leading a sudden, courageous charge, he routed a Parliamentarian force at Powick Bridge
in September 1642. Although a small engagement, this had a propaganda and morale value far exceeding the importance of the battle itself, and Rupert became an heroic figure for many young men in the Royalist camp.
Rupert joined the King in the advance on London, playing a key role in the resulting Battle of Edgehill
in October. Once again, Rupert was at his best with swift battlefield movements; the night before, he had undertaken a forced march and seized the summit of Edgehill, giving the Royalists a superior position. Some of the weaknesses of Rupert's character began to display themselves, however, when he quarrelled with his fellow infantry commander, Lindsey
. Rupert vigorously interjected—probably correctly, but certainly tactlessly—that Lindsey should deploy his men in the modern Swedish fashion that Rupert was used to in Europe, which would have maximised their available firepower. The result was an argument in front of the troops and Lindsey's resignation and replacement by Sir Jacob Astley
. In the subsequent battle Rupert's men made a dramatic cavalry charge, but despite his best efforts a subsequent scattering and loss of discipline turned a potential victory into a stalemate.
After Edgehill, Rupert asked Charles for a swift cavalry attack on London before the Earl of Essex
's army could return. The King's senior counsellors, however, urged him to advance slowly on the capital with the whole army. By the time they arrived, the city had organized defences against them. Some argue that, in delaying, the Royalists had perhaps lost their best chance of winning the war, although others have argued that Rupert's proposed attack would have had trouble penetrating a hostile London. Instead, early in 1643, Rupert began to clear the South-West, taking Cirencester
in February before moving further against Bristol
, a key port. Rupert took Bristol in July with his brother Maurice using Cornish
forces and was appointed Governor of the city. By mid-1643 Rupert had in fact become so well known that he was an issue in any potential peace accommodation—Parliament was seeking to see him punished as part of any negotiated solution, and the presence of Rupert at the court, close to the King during the negotiations, was perceived as a bellicose statement in itself.
During the second half of the war, political opposition within the Royalist senior leadership against Rupert continued to grow. Rupert's personality during the war had made him both friends and enemies. He enjoyed a "frank and generous disposition", showed a "quickness of... intellect", was prepared to face grave dangers, and could be thorough and patient when necessary. However, he lacked the social gifts of a courtier
, and his humour could turn into a "sardonic wit and a contemptuous manner": with a hasty temper, he was too quick to say who he respected, and who he disliked. The result was that, while Rupert could inspire great loyalty in some, especially his men, he also made many enemies at the Royal court. Rupert had quarrelled with Lindsey
at Edgehill; when he took Bristol, he managed to slight the Marquis of Hertford
, the rather lethargic but politically significant Royalist leader of the south-west. Most critically, Rupert fell out with George Digby
, a favourite of both the King and the Queen. Digby was a classic courtier, with a "darting wit and fluent tongue"; Rupert fell to arguing with him repeatedly in meetings. The result was that towards the end of the war Rupert's position at court was increasingly undermined by his enemies.
Rupert continued to impress militarily. By 1644, now the Duke of Cumberland
and Earl of Holderness
, he led the relief of Newark and York
and its castle
. Having marched north, taking Bolton
and Liverpool
along the way in two bloody assaults, Rupert then intervened in Yorkshire in two highly effective manoeuvres, in the first outwitting the enemy forces at Newark with his sheer speed; in the second, striking suddenly across country and approaching York by surprise from the north. Rupert then commanded much of the royalist army at its defeat at Marston Moor, with much of the blame falling on the poor working relationship between Rupert and the Marquis of Newcastle, and orders from the King that wrongly conveyed a desperate need for a speedy success in the north.
In November 1644 Rupert was appointed General of the entire Royalist army, which increased already marked tensions between him and a number of the King's councillors. By May 1645, and now desperately short of supplies, Rupert captured Leicester
but suffered a severe reversal at the Battle of Naseby
a month later. Although Rupert had counselled the King against accepting battle at Naseby, the opinions of Digby had won the day in council: nonetheless, Rupert's defeat damaged him, rather than Digby, politically. After Naseby, Rupert regarded the Royalist cause as lost, and urged Charles to conclude a peace with Parliament. Charles, still supported by an optimistic Digby, believed he could win the war. By late summer Rupert had become trapped in Bristol by Parliamentary forces; faced with an impossible military situation on the ground, Rupert surrendered Bristol in September 1645, and Charles dismissed him from his service and command.
Rupert responded by making his way across Parliament-held territory to the King at Newark
with Prince Maurice and around a hundred men, fighting their way through smaller enemy units and evading larger ones. King Charles attempted to order Rupert to desist, fearing an armed coup
, but Rupert arrived at the royal court anyway. After a difficult meeting, Rupert convinced the King to hold a court-martial
over his conduct at Bristol, which exonerated him and Maurice. After a final argument over the fate of the governor of Newark, who had let Rupert into the royal court to begin with, Rupert resigned and left the service of King Charles, along with most of his best cavalry officers. Earlier interpretations of this event have focused on Rupert's concern for his honour in the face of his initial dismissal by the King; later works have highlighted the practical importance of the courts martial to Rupert's future employability as a mercenary in Europe, given that Rupert knew that the war by this point was effectively lost. Rupert and Maurice spent the winter of 1645 in Woodstock, examining options for employment under the Venetian Republic, before returning to Oxford and the King in 1646. Rupert and the King were reconciled, the Prince remaining to defend Oxford when the King left for the north. After the ensuing siege and surrender of Oxford
in 1646, Parliament banished both Rupert and his brother from England.
Rupert's contemporaries believed him to have been involved in some of the bloodier events of the war, although later histories have largely exonerated him. Rupert had grown up surrounded by the relatively savage customs of the Thirty Years' War
in Europe. Shortly after his arrival in England he caused consternation by following similar practices; one of his early acts was to demand two thousand pounds from the people of Leicester
for the King as the price of not sacking Leicester. Although in keeping with European practices, this was not yet considered appropriate behaviour in England and Rupert was reprimanded by the King.
Rupert's reputation never truly recovered, and in subsequent sieges and attacks he was frequently accused of acting without restraint. Birmingham
, a key arms-producing town, was taken in April 1643, and Rupert faced allegations—probably untrue—of wilfully burning the town to the ground. Shortly afterwards Rupert attempted to take the town of Lichfield
, whose garrison had executed Royalist prisoners, angrily promising to kill all the soldiers inside. Only the urgent call for assistance from the King prevented him from doing so, forcing him to agree more lenient terms in exchange for a prompt surrender. Towards the end of the war, practices were changing for the worse across all sides; a rebellious Leicester was retaken by the Prince in May 1645, and no attempt was made to limit the subsequent killing and plunder.
Rupert was accordingly a prominent figure in Parliamentary propaganda. He faced numerous accusations of witchcraft
, either personally or by proxy through his pet dog, Boye
. Boye, a large white hunting poodle
, accompanied Rupert everywhere from 1642 up until the dog's death at Marston Moor
and was widely suspected of being a witch's familiar
. There were numerous accounts of Boye's abilities; some suggested that he was the Devil in disguise, come to help Rupert. Pro-Royalist publications ultimately produced parodies of these, including one which listed Rupert's dog as being a "Lapland Lady" transformed into a white dog; Boye was able, apparently, to find hidden treasure, possessed invulnerability to attack, could catch bullets fired at Rupert in his mouth, and could prophesy as well as the 16th-century soothsayer
, Mother Shipton.
After the end of the First English Civil War
Rupert was employed by the young King Louis XIV of France
to fight the Spanish during the final years of the Thirty Years' War
(1618–1648). Rupert's military employment was complicated by his promises to the Holy Roman Emperor
that had led to his release from captivity in 1642, and his ongoing commitment to the Royalist faction in exile. Throughout the period Rupert was inconvenienced by his lack of secure income, and his ongoing feuds with other leading members of the Royalist circle.
but found it still dominated by the Queen
and her favourite, Rupert's enemy Digby
. Instead, Rupert moved on, accepting a well-paid commission from Anne of Austria
to serve Louis XIV of France
as a mareschal de camp
, subject to Rupert being free to leave French service to fight for King Charles, should he be called upon to do so. In 1647 Rupert fought under Marshal de Gassion
against the Spanish. After a three week siege, Rupert took the powerful fortress of La Bassée
through quiet negotiations with the enemy commander—an impressive accomplishment, and one that won him favour in French court circles. Gassion and Rupert were ambushed shortly afterwards by a Spanish party; during the resulting fight, Rupert was shot in the head and seriously injured. Afterwards, Gassion noted: "Monsieur, I am most annoyed that you are wounded." "And me also," Rupert is recorded as replying. Gassion was himself killed shortly afterwards, and Rupert returned to St Germain to recuperate.
broke out, and Rupert informed the French King that he would be returning to King Charles' service. The Parliamentary navy mutinied
in favour of the King and sailed for Holland, providing the Royalists with a major fleet for the first time since the start of the civil conflict; Rupert joined the fleet under the command of the Duke of York
, who assumed the rank of High Admiral. Rupert argued that the fleet should be used to rescue the King, then being held prisoner on the Isle of Wight
, while others advised sailing in support of the fighting in the north. The fleet itself rapidly lost discipline, with many vessels' crews focussing on seizing local ships and cargoes. This underlined a major problem for the Royalists—the cost of maintaining the new fleet was well beyond their means. Discipline continued to deteriorate, and Rupert had to intervene personally several times, including defusing one group of mutinous
sailors by suddenly dangling the ringleader over the side of his vessel and threatening to drop him into the sea. Most of the fleet finally switched sides once more, returning to England in late 1648.
Then, following a degree of reconciliation with Charles, Rupert obtained command of the Royalist fleet himself. The intention was to restore Royalist finances by using the remaining vessels of the fleet to conduct a campaign of organised piracy
against English shipping across the region. One of the obstacles that this plan faced was the growing strength of the Parliamentary fleet and the presence of Robert Blake
, one of the finest admirals of the period, as Rupert's opponent during the campaign.
Rupert's naval campaign formed two phases. The first involved the Royalist fleet sailing from Kinsale
in Ireland to Lisbon
in Portugal. He took three large ships, the , the Convertine and the Swallow, accompanied by four smaller vessels. Rupert sailed to Lisbon taking several prizes on route, where he received a warm welcome from King John IV
, the ruler of recently-independent Portugal, who was a supporter of Charles II. Blake arrived shortly afterwards with a Parliamentary fleet, and an armed stand-off ensued. Tensions rose, skirmishes began to break out and King John became increasingly keen for his Royalist guests to leave. In October 1650, Rupert's fleet, now comprising six vessels, broke out and headed into the Mediterranean. Still pursued by Blake, the Royalist fleet manoeuvred up the Spanish coast, steadily losing vessels to their pursuers;
The second phase of the campaign then began, as Rupert crossed back into the Atlantic and, during 1651, cutting west to the Azores
capturing vessels as he went. He intended to continue on to the West Indies, where there would be many rich targets, but encountered a late summer storm, leading to the sinking of the Constant Reformation with the loss of 333 lives—almost including Rupert's brother, Prince Maurice, who only just escaped—and a great deal of captured treasure. Turning back to regroup, repair and re-equip in early 1652, Rupert's reduced force moored at Cape Blanc, an island near what is now Mauritania
. Rupert took the opportunity to explore and acquired a Moorish
servant boy, who remained in his service for many years. Rupert also explored 150 miles up the Gambia River
, taking two Spanish vessels as prizes and catching malaria
in the process.
Rupert then finally made a successful crossing into the Caribbean, landing first at St Lucia, before continuing up the chain of the Antilles
to the Virgin Islands
. There the fleet was hit by a terrible hurricane, which scattered the ships and sank the Defiance, this time with Prince Maurice on board. It was a while before Maurice's death became certain, which came as a terrible blow to Rupert. He was forced to return to Europe, arriving in France in March 1653 with a fleet of five ships. It became clear, as the profits and losses of the piracy campaign were calculated, that the venture had not been as profitable as hoped. This complicated tensions in the Royalist court, and Charles II and Rupert eventually split the spoils, after which Rupert, tired and a little bitter, returned to France to recuperate from the long campaign.
In 1654, Rupert appears to have been involved in a plot to assassinate Oliver Cromwell
, an event that would then have been followed by a coup
, the landing of a small army in Sussex
, and the restoration of Charles II. Charles himself is understood to have rejected the assassination proposal, but three conspirators—who implicated Rupert in the plan—were arrested and confessed in London. Rupert's presence at the royal court continued to be problematic; as in 1643, he was regarded by Edward Hyde
(later Earl of Clarendon
) and others as a bellicose figure and an obstacle to peace negotiations; in 1655 Rupert left for Germany.
to visit his brother Charles Louis
, now partially restored as Elector Palatine, where the two had an ambivalent reunion. Charles Louis and Rupert had not been friendly as children and had almost ended up on opposite sides during the Civil War. To make matters worse, Charles Louis had been deprived of half the old Palatinate under the Peace of Westphalia
, leaving him badly short of money, although he still remained responsible under the Imperial laws of apanage for providing for his younger brother and had offered the sum of £375 per annum, which Rupert had accepted. Rupert travelled on to Vienna
, where he attempted to claim the £15,000 compensation allocated to him under the Peace of Westphalia from the Emperor. Emperor Ferdinand III
warmly welcomed him, but was unable to pay such a sum immediately—instead, he would have to pay in installments, to the disadvantage of Rupert.
Over the next twelve months, Rupert was asked by the Duke of Modena in northern Italy to raise an army against the Papal States
—having done so, and with the army stationed in the Palatinate, the enterprise collapsed, with the Duke requesting that Rupert invade Spanish-held Milan
instead. Rupert moved on, having placed his brother Charles Louis in some diplomatic difficulties with Spain. Rupert travelled onwards, continuing to attempt to convince Ferdinand to back Charles II's efforts to regain his throne.
In 1656 relations between Rupert and Charles Louis deteriorated badly. Rupert had fallen in love with Louise von Degenfeld
, one of his sister-in-law's maids of honour. By bad luck, one of Rupert's notes proffering his affections fell into the possession of Charles Louis' wife Charlotte, who believed it was written to her. Charlotte was keen to engage in an affair with Rupert and became unhappy when she was declined and the mistake explained. Unfortunately, von Degenfeld was uninterested in Rupert, but was engaged in an affair with Charles Louis—this was discovered in due course, leading to the annulment of the marriage. Rupert, for his part, was unhappy that Charles Louis could not endow him with a suitable estate, and the two parted on bad terms in 1657, Rupert refusing to ever return to the Palatinate again and taking up employment under Ferdinand III
in Hungary.
During this period Rupert became closely involved in the development of the printmaking process of mezzotint, a method of 'negative' printing which eventually superseded the older woodcut
method of printmaking. Considerable academic debate surrounds the issue, but the modern consensus is that mezzotint was invented in 1642 by Ludwig von Siegen
, a German Lieutenant-Colonel who was also an amateur artist. Siegen may or may not have met Rupert: Siegen had worked as chamberlain
, and probably part-tutor, to Rupert's young cousin William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
, with whom Rupert discussed the technique in letters from 1654, and it remains a matter of scholarly controversy. In any event, Rupert appears to have told a range of associates that he had conceived of the mezzotint process having watched a soldier scrape the rust from the barrel of his musket during a military campaign; John Evelyn
credited Rupert as the inventor of the technique in 1662, and Rupert's story was further popularised by Horace Walpole during the 18th century. Despite the dispute over the links between Rupert and Siegen, historians agree that Rupert certainly did invent the "rocker", a key tool in the mezzotint process.
Whoever had invented it, Rupert became a noted artist in mezzotint. He produced a few stylish prints in the technique, mostly interpretations of existing paintings, and introduced it to England after the Restoration
, though it was Wallerant Vaillant
, Rupert's artistic assistant or tutor, who first popularised the process and exploited it commercially. Prince Rupert's most famous and largest art work, The Great Executioner
, produced in 1658, is still regarded by critics as full of "brilliance and energy", "superb" and "one of the greatest mezzotints" ever produced; other important works by Rupert include the Head of Titian and The Standard Bearer.
in 1660, Rupert returned to England, where Charles had already largely completed the process of balancing the different factions across the country in a new administration. Since most of the better government posts were already taken, Rupert's employment was limited, although Charles rewarded him with the second highest pension he had granted, £4,000 a year. Rupert's close family ties to King Charles were critical to his warm reception; following the deaths of the Duke of Gloucester
and Princess Mary
, Rupert was the King's closest adult relation in England after his brother, the Duke of York
, and so a key member of the new regime. Rupert, as the Duke of Cumberland
, resumed his seat in the House of Lords
. For the first time in his life, Rupert's financial position was relatively secure, and he had matured—near-contemporaries described how "his temper was less explosive than formerly and his judgement sounder". Rupert continued to serve as an admiral in the Royal Navy
throughout the period, ultimately rising to the rank of "General at Sea and Land".
in 1662, taking roles on the Foreign Affairs
Committee, the Admiralty
Committee and the Tangier
Committee. Accounts vary of Rupert's role in all these committees of government. Samuel Pepys
, no friend of Rupert's, sat on the Tangier Committee with him and later declared that all Rupert did was to laugh and swear occasionally: other records, such as those of the Foreign Affairs Committee, show him taking a full and active role in proceedings.
In 1668, the King appointed Rupert to be the Constable of Windsor Castle. Rupert was already one of the Knights of the Garter, who had their headquarters at the castle, and was a close companion of the King, who would wish to be suitably entertained at the castle. Rupert immediately began to reorder the castle's defences, sorting out the garrison's accommodation, repairing the Devil's Tower, reconstructing the real tennis
court and improving the castle's hunting estate. Rupert acquired his own apartments in the castle, which were recorded as being "very singular" with some decorated with an "extraordinary" number of "pikes, muskets, pistols, bandoliers, holsters, drums, back, breast, and head pieces", and his inner chambers "hung with tapisserie, curious and effeminate pictures". King Charles II and Rupert spent much time together over the years hunting and playing tennis together at Windsor, and Rupert was also a close companion of James, the Duke of York. Rupert was considered by Pepys to be the fourth best tennis player in England.
Rupert became romantically engaged to Frances Bard (1646–1708), the daughter of the English explorer and Civil War veteran Henry Bard. Frances claimed to have secretly married Rupert in 1664, although this was denied by him and no firm proof exists to support the claim. Rupert acknowledged the son he had with Frances, Dudley Bard (1666–1686), often called "Dudley Rupert", who was schooled at Eton College
. In 1673, Rupert was urged by Charles Louis to return home, marry and establish an heir to the Palatinate, as it appeared likely that Charles Louis's own son would not survive infancy. Rupert refused, and remained in England.
For much of the 17th century, Britain was embroiled in conflict with commercial rival Holland through the Anglo-Dutch Wars
. Rupert became closely involved in these as a senior Admiral to King Charles II, rising to command the Royal Navy
by the end of his career. Although several famous admirals of the day had previously been army commanders, including Blake and Monk
, they had commanded relatively small land forces and Rupert was still relatively unusual for the period in having both practical experience of commanding large land armies and having extensive naval experience from his campaigns in the 1650s.
At the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
(1665–7), Rupert was appointed as one of the three squadron
commanders of the English fleet, under the overall command of the Duke of York, taking the as his flagship. As the commander of the White Squadron, Rupert fought at the Battle of Lowestoft
in 1665, breaking through the enemy defences at a critical moment; Rupert's leg was injured in the battle, an injury that caused him ongoing pain. Recalled to accompany the King during the plague
that was sweeping London, Rupert continued to argue in favour of the fleet seeking a set-piece engagement with the Dutch that would force the Dutch back to the negotiating table. The following year, Rupert was made joint commander of the fleet with Monk and given the opportunity to put this plan into practice. In June 1666, they fought the Dutch at the Four Days Battle
, one of the longest naval battles in history; the battle saw the new aggressive tactics of Rupert and Monk applied, resulting in "a sight unique till then in sailing-ship warfare, the English beating upwind and breaking the enemy's line from leeward." The Four Days Battle was at best a draw, but the St. James's Day Battle
the following month allowed Rupert and Monk to use the same tactics to inflict heavy damage on the Dutch and the battle resulted in a significant English victory. The Dutch however would see a favourable end to the war with the decisive Raid on the Medway
.
Rupert also played a prominent role in the Third Anglo-Dutch War
(1672–4). This time Louis XIV of France
was a key British ally against Holland, and it was decided that the French would form a squadron in a combined fleet. The English fleet had been much expanded, and Rupert had three ships, , and , equipped with a high-specification, annealed
and lathe
-produced gun of his own design, the Rupertinoe
. Unfortunately the cost of the weapon—three times that of a normal gun—prevented its wider deployment in the fleet. The French role in the conflict proved a problem when Charles turned to the appointment of an admiral, however; Rupert's objection to the French alliance was well known, and accordingly the King appointed the Duke of York to the role instead. Rupert was instead instructed to take over the Duke's work at the Admiralty, which he did with gusto. The Allied naval plans were stalled after the Duke's inconclusive battle with the Dutch at Solebay
.
The English plan for 1673 centred on first achieving naval dominance, followed by landing an amphibious army in Zeeland
; this would require some planning, and the King appointed the Duke as supreme commander, with Rupert as his deputy, combining the rank of General and Vice Admiral of England. During the winter of 1672, however, Charles—still childless—decided that the risk to the Duke, his heir, was too great and made Rupert supreme Allied commander in his place. Rupert began the 1673 campaign against the Dutch knowing the logistical support for his fleet remained uncertain, with many ships undermanned. The result was the Battle of Schooneveld
in June and the Battle of Texel
in August, a controversial sequence of engagements in which, at a minimum, poor communications between the French and English commanders assisted the marginal Dutch victory. Many English commentators were harsher, blaming the French for failing to fully engage in the battles and Rupert—having cautioned against the alliance in the first place—was popularly hailed as a hero. Rupert finally retired from active sea-going command later that year.
_-_nightly_battle_between_cornelis_tromp_and_eward_spragg_(willem_van_de_velde_ii,_1707).jpg)
Rupert had a characteristic style as an admiral; he relied upon "energetic personal leadership backed by close contact with his officers"; having decided how to proceed in a naval campaign, however, it could be difficult for his staff to change his mind. Recent work on Rupert's role as a commander has also highlighted the progress the prince made in formulating the way that orders were given to the British fleet. Fleet communications were limited during the period, and the traditional orders from admirals before a battle were accordingly quite rigid, limiting a captain's independence in the battle. Rupert played a key part in the conferences held by the Duke of York in 1665 to review tactics and operational methods from the first Dutch war, and put these into practice before the St James Day battle. These instructions and supplementary instructions to ships' captains, which attempted to balance an adherence to standing orders with the need to exploit emerging opportunities in a battle, proved heavily influential over the next hundred years and shaped the idea that an aggressive fighting spirit should be at the core of British naval doctrine.
After 1673 Rupert remained a senior member of the Royal Navy and Charles' administration. Rupert allied himself with Lord Shaftesbury
on matters of foreign policy, but remained loyal to King Charles II on other issues, and was passionate about protecting the Royal Prerogative
. As a consequence he opposed Parliament's plan in 1677 to appoint him to Lord High Admiral—on the basis that only the King should be allowed to propose such appointments—but noted that he was willing to become Admiral if the King wished him to do so. The King's solution was to establish a small, empowered Admiralty Commission, of which Rupert became the first commissioner. As a result, from 1673 to 1679 Rupert was able to focus on ensuring a closer regulation of manning, gunning and the selection of officer, and priorities between the different theatres of operations that the British Navy were now involved in around the world. Rupert was also appointed to the supreme position of "General at Sea and Land", effectively assuming the wartime powers of the Lord High Admiral.
After the end of his sea-going naval career Rupert continued to be actively involved in both government and science, although he was increasingly removed from current politics. To the younger members of the court the prince appeared increasingly distant—almost from a different era. Count Grammont
described Rupert as "brave and courageous even to rashness, but cross-grained and incorrigibly obstinate... he was polite, even to excess, unseasonably; but haughty, and even brutal, when he ought to have been gentle and courteous... his manners were ungracious: he had a dry hard-favoured visage, and a stern look, even when he wished to please; but, when he was out of humour, he was the true picture of reproof". Rupert's health during this period was also less robust; his head wound from his employment in France required a painful trepanning treatment, his leg wound continued to hurt and he still suffered from the malaria
he had caught whilst in The Gambia
.
, with a royal charter to set up forts, factories, troops and to exercise martial law in West Africa, in pursuit of trade in gold, silver and slaves
; Rupert was the third named member of the company's executive committee.
By then, however, Rupert had turned his primary attentions to North America. The French explorers Radisson
and des Groseilliers
had come to England after conducting a joint exploration of the Hudson Bay region in 1659; there their account attracted the attention of the King and Prince Rupert. Rupert put an initial investment of £270 of his own money into a proposal for a fresh expedition and set about raising more; despite setbacks, including the Great Fire of London
, by 1667 he had formed a private syndicate and leased the Eaglet from the King for the expedition. The Eaglet failed, but her sister vessel, the Nonsuch
, made a successful expedition, returning in 1669 with furs worth £1,400. In 1670, the King approved the charter for "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay" that would form the Hudson's Bay Company
, which was granted a trading monopoly
in the whole Hudson Bay watershed area, an immense territory named Rupert's Land
, with Rupert appointed the first Governor. Rupert's first company secretary was Sir James Hayes
and Radisson named the Hayes River
, in present-day Manitoba
, in his honour. The company continued to prosper, forming the basis for much of the commercial activity of colonial Canada. Rupert's role in colonial commerce was marked by his being asked to lay the cornerstone of the new Royal Exchange in 1670, and being made one of its first councillors.
After Rupert's retirement from active seafaring in around 1674, he was able to spend more time engaged in scientific research and became credited with many inventions and discoveries, although some subsequently turned out to be the innovative introduction of European inventions into England. Rupert converted some of the apartments at Windsor Castle
to a luxury laboratory, complete with forge
s, instruments
and raw materials, from where he conducted a range of experiments.
Prince Rupert had already become the third founding member of the scientific Royal Society
, being referred to by contemporaries as a "philosophic warrior", and guided the Society as a Councillor during its early years. Very early on in the Society's history, Rupert demonstrated Prince Rupert's Drop
to King Charles II and the Society, glass teardrops which explode when the tail is cracked; although credited with their invention at the time, later interpretations suggest that he was instead responsible for the introduction of an existing European discovery into England. He demonstrated a new device for lifting water at the Royal Society, and received attention for his process for "painting colours on marble, which, when polished, became permanent". During this time, Rupert also formulated a mathematical question concerning the paradox that a cube can pass through a slightly smaller cube; Rupert questioned how large a cube had to be in order to fit. The question of Prince Rupert's cube
was first solved by the Dutch mathematician Pieter Nieuwland. Rupert was also known for his success in breaking cypher
codes.
Many of Rupert's inventions were military. After designing the Rupertinoe
naval gun, Rupert erected a water-mill on Hackney Marshes for a revolutionary method of boring guns, however his secret died with him, and the enterprise failed. Rupert enjoyed other military problems, and took to manufacturing gun locks
; he devised both a gun that fired multiple rounds
at high speed, and a "handgun
with rotating barrels". He is credited with the invention of a form of gunpowder
, which when demonstrated to the Royal Society in 1663 had a force of over ten times that of regular powder; a better method for using gunpowder in mining
; and a torpedo
. He also developed a form of grapeshot
for use by artillery
. Rupert also focussed on naval inventions: he devised a balancing mechanism to allow improved quadrant
measurements at sea, and produced a diving engine
for retrieving objects on the ocean floor. While recovering from his trepanning treatment Rupert set about inventing new surgical equipment to improve future operations.
Other parts of Rupert's scientific work lay in the field of metallurgy
. Rupert invented a new brass
alloy, slightly darker in hue than regular brass involving three parts of copper to one part of zinc, combined with charcoal; this became known as "Prince's metal" in his honour – sometimes also referred to as "Bristol Brass". Rupert invented the alloy in order to improve naval artillery, but it also became used as a replacement for gold in decorations. Prince Rupert was also credited with having devised an exceptional method for tempering
kirby fish hooks, and for casting
objects into an appearance of perspective
. He also invented an improved method for manufacturing shot
of varying sizes in 1663, that was later retained by the scientist Robert Hooke
, one of Rupert's Royal Society friends during the period.
actress named Peg Hughes
. Rupert became involved with her during the late 1660s, leaving his previous mistress, Frances Bard, although Hughes appears to have held out reciprocating his attentions with the aim of negotiating a suitable settlement. Hughes rapidly received advancement through his patronage; she became a member of the King's Company by 1669, giving her status and immunity from arrest for debt, and was painted four times by Sir Peter Lely
, the foremost court artist of the day.
Despite being encouraged to do so, Rupert did not marry Hughes, but acknowledged their daughter, Ruperta (later Howe), born in 1673. Hughes lived an expensive lifestyle during the 1670s, enjoying gambling and jewels; Rupert gave her at least £20,000 worth of jewellery during their relationship, including several items from the Palatinate royal collection. Margaret continued to act even after Ruperta's birth, returning to the stage in 1676 with the prestigious Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre
, near the Strand in London. The next year Rupert established Hughes with a "grand building" worth £25,000 that he bought in Hammersmith from Sir Nicholas Crispe. Rupert seems to have rather enjoyed the family lifestyle, commenting that his young daughter "already rules the whole house and sometimes argues with her mother, which makes us all laugh."
, on 29 November 1682 after a bout of pleurisy
, and was buried in the crypt
of Westminster Abbey
on 6 December after a state funeral
. Rupert left most of his estate, worth some £12,000, equally to Hughes and Ruperta. Hughes had an "uncomfortable widowhood" without Rupert's support, allegedly not helped by her unproductive gambling. Presents from Rupert such as Elizabeth of Bohemia
's earrings were sold to the Duchess of Marlborough
, while a pearl necklace given by Rupert's father
to Elizabeth
was sold to fellow actress Nell Gwynn. Hughes sold the house in Hammersmith
to the Margrave of Brandenburg—it ultimately became known as Brandenburg House. Ruperta ultimately married Emanuel Scrope Howe
, future MP and English general, and had five children, Sophia, William, Emanuel, James and Henrietta. Rupert's son, Dudley Bard, became a military officer, frequently known as "Captain Rupert", and died fighting at the Siege of Budapest
while in his late teens.
The towns of Prince Rupert, British Columbia
, Prince Rupert, Edmonton
and the Rupert River
in Quebec
are all named after the Prince. A British forces secondary school in Germany, Prince Rupert School, bears his name, it teaches both children from armed forces families and fee-paying English-speaking children. In Bristol
there was also a street, Rupert Street and formerly a public house, The Prince Rupert in Rupert Street named to commemorate Prince Rupert.
|-
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
, FRS
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(17 December 1619 – 29 November 1682) was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century. Rupert was a younger son of the German prince Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
and his wife Elizabeth
Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
, the eldest daughter of James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. Thus Rupert was the nephew of King Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, who created him Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the county of Cumberland.-History:...
and Earl of Holderness
Earl of Holderness
The title Earl of Holderness was created on three occasions in the Peerage of England.The first creation, in 1621, along with the subsidiary title Baron Kingston-upon-Thames, of Kingston-upon-Thames in the County of Surrey, was in favour of John Ramsay, 1st Viscount of Haddington...
, and the first cousin of King Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. His sister Electress Sophia was the mother of George I of Great Britain
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
.
Prince Rupert had a varied career. He was a soldier from a young age, fighting against Spain
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
in the Netherlands
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and against the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
in Germany during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618–48). Aged 23, he was appointed commander of the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, becoming the archetypal Cavalier
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
of the war and ultimately the senior Royalist general. He surrendered after the fall of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and was banished from England. He served under Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
against Spain, and then as a Royalist privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
in the Caribbean. Following the Restoration, Rupert returned to England, becoming a senior British naval commander during the Second
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
and Third
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War...
Anglo-Dutch wars
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars were a series of wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic...
, engaging in scientific invention, art, and serving as the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
. Prince Rupert died in England in 1682, aged 62.
Rupert is considered to have been a quick-thinking and energetic cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
general, but ultimately undermined by his youthful impatience in dealing with his peers during the Civil War. In the Interregnum, Rupert continued the conflict against Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
by sea from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, showing considerable persistence in the face of adversity. As the head of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in his later years, he showed greater maturity and made impressive and long-lasting contributions to the Royal Navy's doctrine
Doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
and development. As a colonial governor, Rupert shaped the political geography of modern Canada (Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
was named in his honour) and played a role in the early African slave trade
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...
. Rupert's varied and numerous scientific and administrative interests combined with his considerable artistic skills made him one of the more colourful individuals of the Restoration period.
Early life and exile
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in 1619, at the time of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, to Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart
Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
. He was declared a prince by the principality of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
. Rupert's father, Frederick V
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
, as ruler of the Palatinate, was a leading member of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, the head of the Protestant Union
Protestant Union
The Protestant Union or Evangelical Union was a coalition of Protestant German states that was formed in 1608 to defend the rights, lands and person of each member....
, with a martial family tradition stretching back several centuries. His family was also at the heart of the network of Protestant rulers across the north of Europe at the time. Frederick enjoyed close ties through his mother to the ruling House of Orange-Nassau
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
in the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. Elizabeth was a daughter of King James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
and sister of King Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, and related in turn to the Danish royal family. The family enjoyed an extremely wealthy lifestyle in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, enjoying the famous palace gardens—the Hortus Palatinus
Hortus Palatinus
The Hortus Palatinus, or Garden of the Palatinate, was a Baroque garden in the Italian Renaissance style attached to Heidelberg Castle, Germany. The garden was commissioned by Frederick V, Elector Palatine in 1614 for his new wife, Elizabeth Stuart, and became famous across Europe during the 17th...
, designed by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
and Salomon de Caus
Salomon de Caus
Salomon de Caus was a French engineer and once credited with the development of the steam engine.Salomon was the elder brother of Isaac de Caus. Being a Huguenot, he spent his life moving across Europe....
—and a lavish castle with one of the best libraries in Europe.
Frederick had allied himself with rebellious Protestant Bohemian
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
nobility in 1619, expecting support from the Protestant Union in his revolt against the Catholic Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
, the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor. This support was not forthcoming, resulting in a crushing defeat at the hands of his Catholic enemies at the Battle of White Mountain
Battle of White Mountain
The Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620 was an early battle in the Thirty Years' War in which an army of 30,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were routed by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor under Charles Bonaventure de Longueval,...
. With Frederick now outlawed the family fled from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
to the Netherlands
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, where Rupert spent his childhood. Rupert's parents were mockingly termed the "Winter King and Queen" as a consequence of their reigns in Bohemia having lasted only a single season.
Rupert was almost left behind in the court's rush to escape Ferdinand's advance on Prague, until Christopher Dhona, a court member, tossed the prince into a carriage at the last moment. Rupert accompanied his parents to The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, where he spent his early years at the Hof te Wassenaer. Rupert's mother paid her children little attention even by the standards of the day, apparently preferring her pet monkeys and dogs. Instead, Frederick employed Monsieur and Madame de Plessen to act as governors to his children, with instructions to inculcate a positive attitude towards the Bohemians and the English, and to bring them up as strict Calvinists
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
. The result was a strict school routine including logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, mathematics, writing, drawing, singing and playing instruments. As a child, Rupert was at times badly behaved, 'fiery, mischievous, and passionate' and earned himself the nickname Robert le Diable, or "Rupert The Devil". Nonetheless, Rupert proved to be an able student. By the age of 3 he could speak some English, Czech and French, and mastered German while still young, but had little interest in Latin and Greek. He excelled in art, being taught by Gerard van Honthorst
Gerard van Honthorst
Gerard van Honthorst , also known as Gerrit van Honthorst and in Italy as Gherardo delle Notti for his nighttime candlelit subjects, was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht.-Biography:...
, and found the maths and sciences easy. By the time he was 18 he stood about 6 ft 4 in tall and had become a dashing young prince.
Rupert's family continued their attempts to regain the Palatinate during their time in The Hague. Money was short, with the family relying upon a relatively small pension from The Hague, the proceeds from family investments in Dutch raids on Spanish shipping, and revenue from pawned family jewellery. By 1625, however, Frederick had convinced an alliance of nations—including England, France and Sweden—to support his attempts to regain the Palatinate and Bohemia. By the early 1630s this appeared closer than ever. Rupert's father, Frederick, had increasingly invested in relationship with the Swedish King Gustavus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
, now the dominant religious leader in Germany. In 1632, however, the two men disagreed over Gustavus' insistence that Frederick provide equal rights to his Lutheran and Calvinist subjects after regaining his lands; Frederick refused and started to return to The Hague. He died of a fever along the way and was buried in an unmarked grave. Rupert had lost his father at the age of 13, and Gustavus' death at the battle of Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1632)
The Battle of Lützen was one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction.- Prelude to the...
in the same month deprived the family of a critical Protestant ally. With Frederick gone, King Charles proposed that the family move to England; Rupert's mother declined, but asked that Charles extend his protection to her remaining children instead.
Teenage years
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and his uncle King Charles I, before being captured and imprisoned in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
during the middle stages of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. Rupert had become a soldier early; at the age of 14 he attended the Dutch pas d'armes
Pas d'Armes
The pas d'armes or passage of arms was a type of chivalric hastilude that evolved in the late 14th century and remained popular through the 15th century...
with the Protestant Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch , was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.-Early life:...
, later that year he fought alongside him at the siege of Rheinberg
Rheinberg
Rheinberg is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel....
, and by 1635 he was acting as a military lifeguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
to Prince Frederick. Rupert went on to fight against imperial Spain in the successful campaign around Breda
Siege of Breda (1637)
The Fourth Siege of Breda was an important siege in the Eighty Years' War in which stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange retook the city of Breda, which had last changed hands in 1625 when the Spanish general Ambrogio Spinola conquered it for Spain...
in 1637 during the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands. By the end of this period, Rupert had acquired a reputation for fearlessness in battle, high spirits and considerable industry.
In between these campaigns Rupert had visited his uncle's court in England. The Palatinate cause was a popular Protestant issue in England, and in 1637 a general public subscription helped fund an expedition under Charles Louis
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles Louis, , Elector Palatine KG was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and his wife, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England ....
to try and regain the electorate as part of a joint French campaign. Rupert was placed in command of a Palatinate cavalry regiment, and his later friend Lord Craven, an admirer of Rupert's mother, assisted in raising funds and accompanied the army on the campaign. The campaign ended badly at the Battle of Vlotho
Battle of Vlotho
The Battle of Vlotho was the culmination of an attempt by Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine to launch a campaign with the aim of recapturing the Rhenish Palatinate. Charles Louis' defeat marked the last time either Palatine or English forces played an important role in the Thirty Years'...
(17 October 1638) during the invasion of Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
; Rupert escaped death, but was captured by the forces of the Imperial General Melchior von Hartzfeld towards the end of the battle.
After a failed attempt to bribe his way free of his guards, Rupert was imprisoned in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
. Lord Craven, also taken in the battle, attempted to persuade his captors to allow him to remain with Rupert, but was refused. Rupert's imprisonment was surrounded by religious overtones. His mother was deeply concerned that he might be converted from Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
to Catholicism; his captors, encouraged by Emperor Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
, deployed Jesuit priests in an attempt to convert
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
him. The Emperor went further, proffering the option of freedom, a position as an Imperial general and a small principality if Rupert would convert. Rupert refused.
As time went on, Rupert's imprisonment became more relaxed on the advice of the Archduke Leopold
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria was an Austrian military commander, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1647 to 1656, and a patron of the arts.-Biography:...
, Ferdinand's younger brother, who met and grew to like Rupert. Rupert practised etching, played tennis, practised shooting, read military textbooks and was taken on accompanied hunting trips. He also entered into a romantic affair with Susan Kuffstein, the daughter of Count von Kuffstein, his gaoler. He also received a present of a rare white poodle
Poodle
The Poodle is a breed of dog. The poodle breed is found officially in toy, miniature, and standard sizes, with many coat colors. Originally bred as a type of water dog, the poodle is highly intelligent and skillful in many dog sports, including agility, obedience, tracking, and even herding...
, a dog that Rupert called Boye
Boye (dog)
The dog Boye , also Boy, was a celebrated and iconic white hunting poodle belonging to Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the 17th century...
, and which remained with him into the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. Despite attempts by a Franco-Swedish army to seize Linz and free Rupert, his release was ultimately negotiated through Leopold and the Empress Anna Maria; in exchange for a commitment never again to take up arms against the Emperor, Rupert would be released. Rupert formally kissed the Emperor's hand at the end of 1641, turned down a final offer of an Imperial command and left Germany for England.
Career during the First English Civil War
Rupert is probably best remembered today for his role as a Royalist commander during the English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. He had considerable success during the early years of the war, his drive, determination and experience of European techniques bringing him early victories. As the war progressed, Rupert's youth and lack of maturity in managing his relationships with other Royalist commanders ultimately resulted in his removal from his post and ultimate retirement from the war. Throughout the conflict, however, Rupert also enjoyed a powerful symbolic position: he was an iconic Royalist Cavalier
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
and as such was frequently the subject of both Parliamentarian and Royalist propaganda, an image which has endured over the years.
The early stages of the English Civil War, 1642-3
Rupert arrived in England following his period of imprisonment and final release from captivity in Germany. In August 1642, Rupert, along with his brother Prince Maurice and a number of professional soldiers, ran the gauntlet across the sea from the United ProvincesDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, and after one initial failure, evaded the pro-Parliamentary navy and landed in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. Riding across country, he finally found the King with a tiny army at Leicester Abbey
Leicester Abbey
Leicester Abbey, the Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis , standing about a mile north of the city of Leicester in the riverside meadows on the west bank of the River Soar, was built under the patronage of Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester. It was founded as a community of Augustinian Canons, the...
, and was promptly appointed General of Horse
Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...
, a coveted appointment at the time in European warfare.
Rupert set about recruiting and training: with great effort he had put together a partially trained mounted force of 3,000 cavalry by the end of September. Rupert's reputation continued to rise. Leading a sudden, courageous charge, he routed a Parliamentarian force at Powick Bridge
Battle of Powick Bridge
The Battle of Powick Bridge, fought on 23 September 1642, was the first major cavalry engagement of the English Civil War and it was a victory for the Royalists who overthrew the Parliamentary cavalry. According to Hugh Peters it was "where England's sorrows began".-Prelude:King Charles I of...
in September 1642. Although a small engagement, this had a propaganda and morale value far exceeding the importance of the battle itself, and Rupert became an heroic figure for many young men in the Royalist camp.
Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....
in October. Once again, Rupert was at his best with swift battlefield movements; the night before, he had undertaken a forced march and seized the summit of Edgehill, giving the Royalists a superior position. Some of the weaknesses of Rupert's character began to display themselves, however, when he quarrelled with his fellow infantry commander, Lindsey
Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey
Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey was an English peer, soldier and courtier.-Early life:...
. Rupert vigorously interjected—probably correctly, but certainly tactlessly—that Lindsey should deploy his men in the modern Swedish fashion that Rupert was used to in Europe, which would have maximised their available firepower. The result was an argument in front of the troops and Lindsey's resignation and replacement by Sir Jacob Astley
Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading
Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading was a Royalist commander in the English Civil War.-Life:He came from an established Norfolk family, and was born at Melton Constable. His first experiences of war were at the age of 18 when he joined the Islands Voyage expedition in 1597 under the Earl of...
. In the subsequent battle Rupert's men made a dramatic cavalry charge, but despite his best efforts a subsequent scattering and loss of discipline turned a potential victory into a stalemate.
After Edgehill, Rupert asked Charles for a swift cavalry attack on London before the Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the seventeenth century. With the start of the English Civil War in 1642 he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads...
's army could return. The King's senior counsellors, however, urged him to advance slowly on the capital with the whole army. By the time they arrived, the city had organized defences against them. Some argue that, in delaying, the Royalists had perhaps lost their best chance of winning the war, although others have argued that Rupert's proposed attack would have had trouble penetrating a hostile London. Instead, early in 1643, Rupert began to clear the South-West, taking Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
in February before moving further against Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, a key port. Rupert took Bristol in July with his brother Maurice using Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
forces and was appointed Governor of the city. By mid-1643 Rupert had in fact become so well known that he was an issue in any potential peace accommodation—Parliament was seeking to see him punished as part of any negotiated solution, and the presence of Rupert at the court, close to the King during the negotiations, was perceived as a bellicose statement in itself.
The later stages of the English Civil War, 1644-6
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
, and his humour could turn into a "sardonic wit and a contemptuous manner": with a hasty temper, he was too quick to say who he respected, and who he disliked. The result was that, while Rupert could inspire great loyalty in some, especially his men, he also made many enemies at the Royal court. Rupert had quarrelled with Lindsey
Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey
Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey was an English peer, soldier and courtier.-Early life:...
at Edgehill; when he took Bristol, he managed to slight the Marquis of Hertford
William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset
Sir William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, KG was an English nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War....
, the rather lethargic but politically significant Royalist leader of the south-west. Most critically, Rupert fell out with George Digby
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...
, a favourite of both the King and the Queen. Digby was a classic courtier, with a "darting wit and fluent tongue"; Rupert fell to arguing with him repeatedly in meetings. The result was that towards the end of the war Rupert's position at court was increasingly undermined by his enemies.
Rupert continued to impress militarily. By 1644, now the Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the county of Cumberland.-History:...
and Earl of Holderness
Earl of Holderness
The title Earl of Holderness was created on three occasions in the Peerage of England.The first creation, in 1621, along with the subsidiary title Baron Kingston-upon-Thames, of Kingston-upon-Thames in the County of Surrey, was in favour of John Ramsay, 1st Viscount of Haddington...
, he led the relief of Newark and York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and its castle
York Castle
York Castle in the city of York, England, is a fortified complex comprising, over the last nine centuries, a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruinous keep of the medieval Norman castle is sometimes referred to as Clifford's...
. Having marched north, taking Bolton
Bolton Massacre
The Bolton Massacre, sometimes recorded as the Storming of Bolton, was an episode in the English Civil War, on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by the Royalist forces under Prince Rupert of the Rhine. It was alleged that up to 1,600 of Bolton's defenders and...
and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
along the way in two bloody assaults, Rupert then intervened in Yorkshire in two highly effective manoeuvres, in the first outwitting the enemy forces at Newark with his sheer speed; in the second, striking suddenly across country and approaching York by surprise from the north. Rupert then commanded much of the royalist army at its defeat at Marston Moor, with much of the blame falling on the poor working relationship between Rupert and the Marquis of Newcastle, and orders from the King that wrongly conveyed a desperate need for a speedy success in the north.
In November 1644 Rupert was appointed General of the entire Royalist army, which increased already marked tensions between him and a number of the King's councillors. By May 1645, and now desperately short of supplies, Rupert captured Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
but suffered a severe reversal at the Battle of Naseby
Battle of Naseby
The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On 14 June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.-The Campaign:...
a month later. Although Rupert had counselled the King against accepting battle at Naseby, the opinions of Digby had won the day in council: nonetheless, Rupert's defeat damaged him, rather than Digby, politically. After Naseby, Rupert regarded the Royalist cause as lost, and urged Charles to conclude a peace with Parliament. Charles, still supported by an optimistic Digby, believed he could win the war. By late summer Rupert had become trapped in Bristol by Parliamentary forces; faced with an impossible military situation on the ground, Rupert surrendered Bristol in September 1645, and Charles dismissed him from his service and command.
Rupert responded by making his way across Parliament-held territory to the King at Newark
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
with Prince Maurice and around a hundred men, fighting their way through smaller enemy units and evading larger ones. King Charles attempted to order Rupert to desist, fearing an armed coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, but Rupert arrived at the royal court anyway. After a difficult meeting, Rupert convinced the King to hold a court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
over his conduct at Bristol, which exonerated him and Maurice. After a final argument over the fate of the governor of Newark, who had let Rupert into the royal court to begin with, Rupert resigned and left the service of King Charles, along with most of his best cavalry officers. Earlier interpretations of this event have focused on Rupert's concern for his honour in the face of his initial dismissal by the King; later works have highlighted the practical importance of the courts martial to Rupert's future employability as a mercenary in Europe, given that Rupert knew that the war by this point was effectively lost. Rupert and Maurice spent the winter of 1645 in Woodstock, examining options for employment under the Venetian Republic, before returning to Oxford and the King in 1646. Rupert and the King were reconciled, the Prince remaining to defend Oxford when the King left for the north. After the ensuing siege and surrender of Oxford
Siege of Oxford
The Siege of Oxford was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three individual engagements that took place over a period of three years....
in 1646, Parliament banished both Rupert and his brother from England.
Reputation during the English Civil War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
in Europe. Shortly after his arrival in England he caused consternation by following similar practices; one of his early acts was to demand two thousand pounds from the people of Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
for the King as the price of not sacking Leicester. Although in keeping with European practices, this was not yet considered appropriate behaviour in England and Rupert was reprimanded by the King.
Rupert's reputation never truly recovered, and in subsequent sieges and attacks he was frequently accused of acting without restraint. Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, a key arms-producing town, was taken in April 1643, and Rupert faced allegations—probably untrue—of wilfully burning the town to the ground. Shortly afterwards Rupert attempted to take the town of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, whose garrison had executed Royalist prisoners, angrily promising to kill all the soldiers inside. Only the urgent call for assistance from the King prevented him from doing so, forcing him to agree more lenient terms in exchange for a prompt surrender. Towards the end of the war, practices were changing for the worse across all sides; a rebellious Leicester was retaken by the Prince in May 1645, and no attempt was made to limit the subsequent killing and plunder.
Rupert was accordingly a prominent figure in Parliamentary propaganda. He faced numerous accusations of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, either personally or by proxy through his pet dog, Boye
Boye (dog)
The dog Boye , also Boy, was a celebrated and iconic white hunting poodle belonging to Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the 17th century...
. Boye, a large white hunting poodle
Poodle
The Poodle is a breed of dog. The poodle breed is found officially in toy, miniature, and standard sizes, with many coat colors. Originally bred as a type of water dog, the poodle is highly intelligent and skillful in many dog sports, including agility, obedience, tracking, and even herding...
, accompanied Rupert everywhere from 1642 up until the dog's death at Marston Moor
Battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince...
and was widely suspected of being a witch's familiar
Familiar spirit
In European folklore and folk-belief of the Medieval and Early Modern periods, familiar spirits were supernatural entities believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic...
. There were numerous accounts of Boye's abilities; some suggested that he was the Devil in disguise, come to help Rupert. Pro-Royalist publications ultimately produced parodies of these, including one which listed Rupert's dog as being a "Lapland Lady" transformed into a white dog; Boye was able, apparently, to find hidden treasure, possessed invulnerability to attack, could catch bullets fired at Rupert in his mouth, and could prophesy as well as the 16th-century soothsayer
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
, Mother Shipton.
Career during the Second English War and Interregnum
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
Rupert was employed by the young King Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
to fight the Spanish during the final years of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618–1648). Rupert's military employment was complicated by his promises to the Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
that had led to his release from captivity in 1642, and his ongoing commitment to the Royalist faction in exile. Throughout the period Rupert was inconvenienced by his lack of secure income, and his ongoing feuds with other leading members of the Royalist circle.
Rupert in the French army
Rupert first travelled to the Royal court in exile at St GermainChâteau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale ....
but found it still dominated by the Queen
Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...
and her favourite, Rupert's enemy Digby
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...
. Instead, Rupert moved on, accepting a well-paid commission from Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
to serve Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
as a mareschal de camp
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
, subject to Rupert being free to leave French service to fight for King Charles, should he be called upon to do so. In 1647 Rupert fought under Marshal de Gassion
Jean de Gassion
Jean, comte de Gassion was a Gascon military commander for France, prominent at the battle of Rocroi who reached the rank of Marshal of France at the age of thirty-four...
against the Spanish. After a three week siege, Rupert took the powerful fortress of La Bassée
La Bassée
La Bassée is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-History:La Bassée was the birthplace of the painter and draftsman Louis-Léopold Boilly .-References:*...
through quiet negotiations with the enemy commander—an impressive accomplishment, and one that won him favour in French court circles. Gassion and Rupert were ambushed shortly afterwards by a Spanish party; during the resulting fight, Rupert was shot in the head and seriously injured. Afterwards, Gassion noted: "Monsieur, I am most annoyed that you are wounded." "And me also," Rupert is recorded as replying. Gassion was himself killed shortly afterwards, and Rupert returned to St Germain to recuperate.
Rupert in the Royalist navy
In 1648, the relatively brief Second English Civil WarSecond English Civil War
The Second English Civil War was the second of three wars known as the English Civil War which refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1652 and also include the First English Civil War and the...
broke out, and Rupert informed the French King that he would be returning to King Charles' service. The Parliamentary navy mutinied
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
in favour of the King and sailed for Holland, providing the Royalists with a major fleet for the first time since the start of the civil conflict; Rupert joined the fleet under the command of the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, who assumed the rank of High Admiral. Rupert argued that the fleet should be used to rescue the King, then being held prisoner on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, while others advised sailing in support of the fighting in the north. The fleet itself rapidly lost discipline, with many vessels' crews focussing on seizing local ships and cargoes. This underlined a major problem for the Royalists—the cost of maintaining the new fleet was well beyond their means. Discipline continued to deteriorate, and Rupert had to intervene personally several times, including defusing one group of mutinous
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
sailors by suddenly dangling the ringleader over the side of his vessel and threatening to drop him into the sea. Most of the fleet finally switched sides once more, returning to England in late 1648.
Then, following a degree of reconciliation with Charles, Rupert obtained command of the Royalist fleet himself. The intention was to restore Royalist finances by using the remaining vessels of the fleet to conduct a campaign of organised piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
against English shipping across the region. One of the obstacles that this plan faced was the growing strength of the Parliamentary fleet and the presence of Robert Blake
Robert Blake (admiral)
Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
, one of the finest admirals of the period, as Rupert's opponent during the campaign.
Rupert's naval campaign formed two phases. The first involved the Royalist fleet sailing from Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...
in Ireland to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
in Portugal. He took three large ships, the , the Convertine and the Swallow, accompanied by four smaller vessels. Rupert sailed to Lisbon taking several prizes on route, where he received a warm welcome from King John IV
John IV of Portugal
|-|John IV was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1640 to his death. He was the grandson of Catherine, Duchess of Braganza, who had in 1580 claimed the Portuguese crown and sparked the struggle for the throne of Portugal. John was nicknamed John the Restorer...
, the ruler of recently-independent Portugal, who was a supporter of Charles II. Blake arrived shortly afterwards with a Parliamentary fleet, and an armed stand-off ensued. Tensions rose, skirmishes began to break out and King John became increasingly keen for his Royalist guests to leave. In October 1650, Rupert's fleet, now comprising six vessels, broke out and headed into the Mediterranean. Still pursued by Blake, the Royalist fleet manoeuvred up the Spanish coast, steadily losing vessels to their pursuers;
The second phase of the campaign then began, as Rupert crossed back into the Atlantic and, during 1651, cutting west to the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
capturing vessels as he went. He intended to continue on to the West Indies, where there would be many rich targets, but encountered a late summer storm, leading to the sinking of the Constant Reformation with the loss of 333 lives—almost including Rupert's brother, Prince Maurice, who only just escaped—and a great deal of captured treasure. Turning back to regroup, repair and re-equip in early 1652, Rupert's reduced force moored at Cape Blanc, an island near what is now Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
. Rupert took the opportunity to explore and acquired a Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
servant boy, who remained in his service for many years. Rupert also explored 150 miles up the Gambia River
Gambia River
The Gambia River is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul...
, taking two Spanish vessels as prizes and catching malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
in the process.
Rupert then finally made a successful crossing into the Caribbean, landing first at St Lucia, before continuing up the chain of the Antilles
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
to the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. There the fleet was hit by a terrible hurricane, which scattered the ships and sank the Defiance, this time with Prince Maurice on board. It was a while before Maurice's death became certain, which came as a terrible blow to Rupert. He was forced to return to Europe, arriving in France in March 1653 with a fleet of five ships. It became clear, as the profits and losses of the piracy campaign were calculated, that the venture had not been as profitable as hoped. This complicated tensions in the Royalist court, and Charles II and Rupert eventually split the spoils, after which Rupert, tired and a little bitter, returned to France to recuperate from the long campaign.
In 1654, Rupert appears to have been involved in a plot to assassinate Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, an event that would then have been followed by a coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, the landing of a small army in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and the restoration of Charles II. Charles himself is understood to have rejected the assassination proposal, but three conspirators—who implicated Rupert in the plan—were arrested and confessed in London. Rupert's presence at the royal court continued to be problematic; as in 1643, he was regarded by Edward Hyde
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
(later Earl of Clarendon
Earl of Clarendon
Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1661 for the statesman Edward Hyde, 1st Baron Hyde...
) and others as a bellicose figure and an obstacle to peace negotiations; in 1655 Rupert left for Germany.
Rupert in Germany
After his quarrel with the Royalist court in exile, Rupert travelled to HeidelbergHeidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
to visit his brother Charles Louis
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles Louis, , Elector Palatine KG was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and his wife, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England ....
, now partially restored as Elector Palatine, where the two had an ambivalent reunion. Charles Louis and Rupert had not been friendly as children and had almost ended up on opposite sides during the Civil War. To make matters worse, Charles Louis had been deprived of half the old Palatinate under the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
, leaving him badly short of money, although he still remained responsible under the Imperial laws of apanage for providing for his younger brother and had offered the sum of £375 per annum, which Rupert had accepted. Rupert travelled on to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where he attempted to claim the £15,000 compensation allocated to him under the Peace of Westphalia from the Emperor. Emperor Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
warmly welcomed him, but was unable to pay such a sum immediately—instead, he would have to pay in installments, to the disadvantage of Rupert.
Over the next twelve months, Rupert was asked by the Duke of Modena in northern Italy to raise an army against the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
—having done so, and with the army stationed in the Palatinate, the enterprise collapsed, with the Duke requesting that Rupert invade Spanish-held Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
instead. Rupert moved on, having placed his brother Charles Louis in some diplomatic difficulties with Spain. Rupert travelled onwards, continuing to attempt to convince Ferdinand to back Charles II's efforts to regain his throne.
In 1656 relations between Rupert and Charles Louis deteriorated badly. Rupert had fallen in love with Louise von Degenfeld
Marie Luise von Degenfeld
Luise von Degenfeld was the morganatic second wife of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine. Created Raugräfin von der Pfalz in 1667, she had thirteen children with Charles Louis, all of whom were known as the "Raugraves" of the Palatinate.Born Maria Susanne Luise von Degenfeld in Strasbourg,...
, one of his sister-in-law's maids of honour. By bad luck, one of Rupert's notes proffering his affections fell into the possession of Charles Louis' wife Charlotte, who believed it was written to her. Charlotte was keen to engage in an affair with Rupert and became unhappy when she was declined and the mistake explained. Unfortunately, von Degenfeld was uninterested in Rupert, but was engaged in an affair with Charles Louis—this was discovered in due course, leading to the annulment of the marriage. Rupert, for his part, was unhappy that Charles Louis could not endow him with a suitable estate, and the two parted on bad terms in 1657, Rupert refusing to ever return to the Palatinate again and taking up employment under Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
in Hungary.
During this period Rupert became closely involved in the development of the printmaking process of mezzotint, a method of 'negative' printing which eventually superseded the older woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
method of printmaking. Considerable academic debate surrounds the issue, but the modern consensus is that mezzotint was invented in 1642 by Ludwig von Siegen
Ludwig von Siegen
Ludwig von Siegen was a German soldier and amateur engraver, who invented the printmaking technique of mezzotint, a variant of engraving...
, a German Lieutenant-Colonel who was also an amateur artist. Siegen may or may not have met Rupert: Siegen had worked as chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
, and probably part-tutor, to Rupert's young cousin William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel , known as William the Just, was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1637 to 1663.-Life:...
, with whom Rupert discussed the technique in letters from 1654, and it remains a matter of scholarly controversy. In any event, Rupert appears to have told a range of associates that he had conceived of the mezzotint process having watched a soldier scrape the rust from the barrel of his musket during a military campaign; John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
credited Rupert as the inventor of the technique in 1662, and Rupert's story was further popularised by Horace Walpole during the 18th century. Despite the dispute over the links between Rupert and Siegen, historians agree that Rupert certainly did invent the "rocker", a key tool in the mezzotint process.
Whoever had invented it, Rupert became a noted artist in mezzotint. He produced a few stylish prints in the technique, mostly interpretations of existing paintings, and introduced it to England after the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, though it was Wallerant Vaillant
Wallerant Vaillant
Wallerant Vaillant, , was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and one of the first artists to use the mezzotint technique, which he probably helped to develop.- Biography :...
, Rupert's artistic assistant or tutor, who first popularised the process and exploited it commercially. Prince Rupert's most famous and largest art work, The Great Executioner
The Great Executioner
The Great Executioner is a mezzotint by the soldier and amateur artist Prince Rupert of the Rhine , finished in 1658.The subject of the picture is the execution of John the Baptist, after Jusepe de Ribera's painting...
, produced in 1658, is still regarded by critics as full of "brilliance and energy", "superb" and "one of the greatest mezzotints" ever produced; other important works by Rupert include the Head of Titian and The Standard Bearer.
Career following the Restoration
Following the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles IICharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in 1660, Rupert returned to England, where Charles had already largely completed the process of balancing the different factions across the country in a new administration. Since most of the better government posts were already taken, Rupert's employment was limited, although Charles rewarded him with the second highest pension he had granted, £4,000 a year. Rupert's close family ties to King Charles were critical to his warm reception; following the deaths of the Duke of Gloucester
Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester
Henry Stuart, 1st Duke of Gloucester was the third adult son of Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria of France...
and Princess Mary
Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange
Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland and his queen, Henrietta Maria of France...
, Rupert was the King's closest adult relation in England after his brother, the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, and so a key member of the new regime. Rupert, as the Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the county of Cumberland.-History:...
, resumed his seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. For the first time in his life, Rupert's financial position was relatively secure, and he had matured—near-contemporaries described how "his temper was less explosive than formerly and his judgement sounder". Rupert continued to serve as an admiral in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
throughout the period, ultimately rising to the rank of "General at Sea and Land".
Restoration statesman
Rupert was appointed to the King's Privy CouncilPrivy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
in 1662, taking roles on the Foreign Affairs
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
Committee, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
Committee and the Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
Committee. Accounts vary of Rupert's role in all these committees of government. Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, no friend of Rupert's, sat on the Tangier Committee with him and later declared that all Rupert did was to laugh and swear occasionally: other records, such as those of the Foreign Affairs Committee, show him taking a full and active role in proceedings.
In 1668, the King appointed Rupert to be the Constable of Windsor Castle. Rupert was already one of the Knights of the Garter, who had their headquarters at the castle, and was a close companion of the King, who would wish to be suitably entertained at the castle. Rupert immediately began to reorder the castle's defences, sorting out the garrison's accommodation, repairing the Devil's Tower, reconstructing the real tennis
Real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...
court and improving the castle's hunting estate. Rupert acquired his own apartments in the castle, which were recorded as being "very singular" with some decorated with an "extraordinary" number of "pikes, muskets, pistols, bandoliers, holsters, drums, back, breast, and head pieces", and his inner chambers "hung with tapisserie, curious and effeminate pictures". King Charles II and Rupert spent much time together over the years hunting and playing tennis together at Windsor, and Rupert was also a close companion of James, the Duke of York. Rupert was considered by Pepys to be the fourth best tennis player in England.
Rupert became romantically engaged to Frances Bard (1646–1708), the daughter of the English explorer and Civil War veteran Henry Bard. Frances claimed to have secretly married Rupert in 1664, although this was denied by him and no firm proof exists to support the claim. Rupert acknowledged the son he had with Frances, Dudley Bard (1666–1686), often called "Dudley Rupert", who was schooled at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. In 1673, Rupert was urged by Charles Louis to return home, marry and establish an heir to the Palatinate, as it appeared likely that Charles Louis's own son would not survive infancy. Rupert refused, and remained in England.
Career in the Restoration navy
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars were a series of wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic...
. Rupert became closely involved in these as a senior Admiral to King Charles II, rising to command the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
by the end of his career. Although several famous admirals of the day had previously been army commanders, including Blake and Monk
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...
, they had commanded relatively small land forces and Rupert was still relatively unusual for the period in having both practical experience of commanding large land armies and having extensive naval experience from his campaigns in the 1650s.
At the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
(1665–7), Rupert was appointed as one of the three squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
commanders of the English fleet, under the overall command of the Duke of York, taking the as his flagship. As the commander of the White Squadron, Rupert fought at the Battle of Lowestoft
Battle of Lowestoft
The naval Battle of Lowestoft took place on 13 June 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size commanded by James Stuart, Duke of York forty...
in 1665, breaking through the enemy defences at a critical moment; Rupert's leg was injured in the battle, an injury that caused him ongoing pain. Recalled to accompany the King during the plague
Great Plague of London
The Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...
that was sweeping London, Rupert continued to argue in favour of the fleet seeking a set-piece engagement with the Dutch that would force the Dutch back to the negotiating table. The following year, Rupert was made joint commander of the fleet with Monk and given the opportunity to put this plan into practice. In June 1666, they fought the Dutch at the Four Days Battle
Four Days Battle
The Four Days Battle was a naval battle of the Second Anglo–Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar then used in England off the Flemish and English coast, it remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.In June 1665 the English had soundly...
, one of the longest naval battles in history; the battle saw the new aggressive tactics of Rupert and Monk applied, resulting in "a sight unique till then in sailing-ship warfare, the English beating upwind and breaking the enemy's line from leeward." The Four Days Battle was at best a draw, but the St. James's Day Battle
St. James's Day Battle
The naval St James' Day Battle , the Battle of the North Foreland and the Battle of Orfordness) took place on 25 July 1666 — St James' day in the Julian calendar then in use in England , during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and was fought between fleets of England, commanded jointly by...
the following month allowed Rupert and Monk to use the same tactics to inflict heavy damage on the Dutch and the battle resulted in a significant English victory. The Dutch however would see a favourable end to the war with the decisive Raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
.
Rupert also played a prominent role in the Third Anglo-Dutch War
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War...
(1672–4). This time Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
was a key British ally against Holland, and it was decided that the French would form a squadron in a combined fleet. The English fleet had been much expanded, and Rupert had three ships, , and , equipped with a high-specification, annealed
Annealing (metallurgy)
Annealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the recrystallization temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature, and...
and lathe
Lathe
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...
-produced gun of his own design, the Rupertinoe
Rupertinoe
The Rupertinoe was an advanced naval gun designed by, and named after, Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the 17th century.-Details:Naval warfare in the Restoration period placed an emphasis on naval fire power; as one writer has put it, warships had evolved into "floating artillery emplacements". The...
. Unfortunately the cost of the weapon—three times that of a normal gun—prevented its wider deployment in the fleet. The French role in the conflict proved a problem when Charles turned to the appointment of an admiral, however; Rupert's objection to the French alliance was well known, and accordingly the King appointed the Duke of York to the role instead. Rupert was instead instructed to take over the Duke's work at the Admiralty, which he did with gusto. The Allied naval plans were stalled after the Duke's inconclusive battle with the Dutch at Solebay
Battle of Solebay
The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.-The battle:...
.
The English plan for 1673 centred on first achieving naval dominance, followed by landing an amphibious army in Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
; this would require some planning, and the King appointed the Duke as supreme commander, with Rupert as his deputy, combining the rank of General and Vice Admiral of England. During the winter of 1672, however, Charles—still childless—decided that the risk to the Duke, his heir, was too great and made Rupert supreme Allied commander in his place. Rupert began the 1673 campaign against the Dutch knowing the logistical support for his fleet remained uncertain, with many ships undermanned. The result was the Battle of Schooneveld
Battle of Schooneveld
The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.The...
in June and the Battle of Texel
Battle of Texel
The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place on 21 August 1673 between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets and was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War , during which Louis XIV of France invaded the...
in August, a controversial sequence of engagements in which, at a minimum, poor communications between the French and English commanders assisted the marginal Dutch victory. Many English commentators were harsher, blaming the French for failing to fully engage in the battles and Rupert—having cautioned against the alliance in the first place—was popularly hailed as a hero. Rupert finally retired from active sea-going command later that year.
After 1673 Rupert remained a senior member of the Royal Navy and Charles' administration. Rupert allied himself with Lord Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC , known as Anthony Ashley Cooper from 1621 to 1631, as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Baronet from 1631 to 1661, and as The Lord Ashley from 1661 to 1672, was a prominent English politician during the Interregnum and during the reign of King Charles...
on matters of foreign policy, but remained loyal to King Charles II on other issues, and was passionate about protecting the Royal Prerogative
Royal Prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
. As a consequence he opposed Parliament's plan in 1677 to appoint him to Lord High Admiral—on the basis that only the King should be allowed to propose such appointments—but noted that he was willing to become Admiral if the King wished him to do so. The King's solution was to establish a small, empowered Admiralty Commission, of which Rupert became the first commissioner. As a result, from 1673 to 1679 Rupert was able to focus on ensuring a closer regulation of manning, gunning and the selection of officer, and priorities between the different theatres of operations that the British Navy were now involved in around the world. Rupert was also appointed to the supreme position of "General at Sea and Land", effectively assuming the wartime powers of the Lord High Admiral.
Rupert's later life
Philibert, comte de Gramont
Philibert, comte de Gramont was a French nobleman, known as the protagonist of the Mémoires written by Antoine Hamilton.-Biography:Came of a noble Gascon family, said to have been of Basque origin....
described Rupert as "brave and courageous even to rashness, but cross-grained and incorrigibly obstinate... he was polite, even to excess, unseasonably; but haughty, and even brutal, when he ought to have been gentle and courteous... his manners were ungracious: he had a dry hard-favoured visage, and a stern look, even when he wished to please; but, when he was out of humour, he was the true picture of reproof". Rupert's health during this period was also less robust; his head wound from his employment in France required a painful trepanning treatment, his leg wound continued to hurt and he still suffered from the malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
he had caught whilst in The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
.
Colonial administration
Rupert had demonstrated an interest in colonial issues for many years. On arriving in England in 1660, he had encouraged the government to continue Rupert's own exploration of the Gambia in an attempt to find gold, leading to Robert Holmes's expedition the following year. Rupert was an active shareholder in the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa that was established as a result in 1662. The company continued operations for the next eight years, with backers including the King, the Duke of York and the Royal Society, with operations including engaging in the West Africa slave trade until it folded in 1670. The company's operations merged with those of the Gambia Merchants' Company into the new Royal African CompanyRoyal African Company
The Royal African Company was a slaving company set up by the Stuart family and London merchants once the former retook the English throne in the English Restoration of 1660...
, with a royal charter to set up forts, factories, troops and to exercise martial law in West Africa, in pursuit of trade in gold, silver and slaves
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...
; Rupert was the third named member of the company's executive committee.
By then, however, Rupert had turned his primary attentions to North America. The French explorers Radisson
Pierre-Esprit Radisson
Pierre-Esprit Radisson was a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers who was about 20 years older. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company.Born near...
and des Groseilliers
Médard des Groseilliers
Médard Chouart des Groseilliers was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson who was about 20 years his junior...
had come to England after conducting a joint exploration of the Hudson Bay region in 1659; there their account attracted the attention of the King and Prince Rupert. Rupert put an initial investment of £270 of his own money into a proposal for a fresh expedition and set about raising more; despite setbacks, including the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
, by 1667 he had formed a private syndicate and leased the Eaglet from the King for the expedition. The Eaglet failed, but her sister vessel, the Nonsuch
Nonsuch (ship)
The Nonsuch was the ketch that sailed into Hudson Bay in 1668-1669 under Zachariah Gillam, in the first trading voyage for what was to become the Hudson's Bay Company two years later. Originally built as a merchant ship in 1650, and later the Royal Navy ketch HMS Nonsuch, the vessel was sold to Sir...
, made a successful expedition, returning in 1669 with furs worth £1,400. In 1670, the King approved the charter for "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay" that would form the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, which was granted a trading monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
in the whole Hudson Bay watershed area, an immense territory named Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
, with Rupert appointed the first Governor. Rupert's first company secretary was Sir James Hayes
James Hayes (Prince Rupert's secretary)
Sir James Hayes was secretary to Prince Rupert and first Deputy-Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.He was born the son of James Hayes in Beckington, Somerset. He was educated at St Paul's School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1649...
and Radisson named the Hayes River
Hayes River
The Hayes River is a river in Northern Region, Manitoba, Canada that flows from Molson Lake to Hudson Bay at York Factory. It was an historically important river in the development of Canada, and is today a Canadian Heritage River and the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba.-Course:The...
, in present-day Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, in his honour. The company continued to prosper, forming the basis for much of the commercial activity of colonial Canada. Rupert's role in colonial commerce was marked by his being asked to lay the cornerstone of the new Royal Exchange in 1670, and being made one of its first councillors.
Science and the Royal Society
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
to a luxury laboratory, complete with forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
s, instruments
Laboratory equipment
Laboratory equipment refers to the various tools and equipment used by scientists working in a laboratory. These include tools such as Bunsen burners, and microscopes as well as speciality equipment such as operant conditioning chambers, spectrophotometers and calorimeters...
and raw materials, from where he conducted a range of experiments.
Prince Rupert had already become the third founding member of the scientific Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, being referred to by contemporaries as a "philosophic warrior", and guided the Society as a Councillor during its early years. Very early on in the Society's history, Rupert demonstrated Prince Rupert's Drop
Prince Rupert's Drop
Prince Rupert's Drops are a glass curiosity created by dripping hot molten glass into cold water. The glass cools into a tadpole-shaped droplet with a long, thin tail. The water rapidly cools the molten glass on the outside of the drop, while the inner portion of the drop remains significantly...
to King Charles II and the Society, glass teardrops which explode when the tail is cracked; although credited with their invention at the time, later interpretations suggest that he was instead responsible for the introduction of an existing European discovery into England. He demonstrated a new device for lifting water at the Royal Society, and received attention for his process for "painting colours on marble, which, when polished, became permanent". During this time, Rupert also formulated a mathematical question concerning the paradox that a cube can pass through a slightly smaller cube; Rupert questioned how large a cube had to be in order to fit. The question of Prince Rupert's cube
Prince Rupert's cube
In geometry, Prince Rupert's cube is the largest cube that can pass through a hole drilled through a unit cube, i.e. through a cube whose sides have length 1. Curiously, it is slightly larger than the unit cube, with a side length of...
was first solved by the Dutch mathematician Pieter Nieuwland. Rupert was also known for his success in breaking cypher
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
codes.
Many of Rupert's inventions were military. After designing the Rupertinoe
Rupertinoe
The Rupertinoe was an advanced naval gun designed by, and named after, Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the 17th century.-Details:Naval warfare in the Restoration period placed an emphasis on naval fire power; as one writer has put it, warships had evolved into "floating artillery emplacements". The...
naval gun, Rupert erected a water-mill on Hackney Marshes for a revolutionary method of boring guns, however his secret died with him, and the enterprise failed. Rupert enjoyed other military problems, and took to manufacturing gun locks
Lock (firearm)
The lock of a firearm is the system used to ignite the propellant. Types of lock include snaplock, matchlock, wheellock, flintlock, modern percussion, rotating bolt, and experimental electronic types. A complete firearm often consists of lock, stock, and barrel...
; he devised both a gun that fired multiple rounds
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
at high speed, and a "handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
with rotating barrels". He is credited with the invention of a form of gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
, which when demonstrated to the Royal Society in 1663 had a force of over ten times that of regular powder; a better method for using gunpowder in mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
; and a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
. He also developed a form of grapeshot
Grapeshot
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of shot that is not a one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare. When assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name...
for use by artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. Rupert also focussed on naval inventions: he devised a balancing mechanism to allow improved quadrant
Quadrant (instrument)
A quadrant is an instrument that is used to measure angles up to 90°. It was originally proposed by Ptolemy as a better kind of astrolabe. Several different variations of the instrument were later produced by medieval Muslim astronomers.-Types of quadrants:...
measurements at sea, and produced a diving engine
Diving equipment
Diving equipment is equipment used by underwater divers for the purpose of facilitating diving activities. This may be equipment primarily intended for this purpose, or equipment intended for other puprposes which is found to be suitable for diving use....
for retrieving objects on the ocean floor. While recovering from his trepanning treatment Rupert set about inventing new surgical equipment to improve future operations.
Other parts of Rupert's scientific work lay in the field of metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
. Rupert invented a new brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
alloy, slightly darker in hue than regular brass involving three parts of copper to one part of zinc, combined with charcoal; this became known as "Prince's metal" in his honour – sometimes also referred to as "Bristol Brass". Rupert invented the alloy in order to improve naval artillery, but it also became used as a replacement for gold in decorations. Prince Rupert was also credited with having devised an exceptional method for tempering
Tempering
Tempering is a heat treatment technique for metals, alloys and glass. In steels, tempering is done to "toughen" the metal by transforming brittle martensite or bainite into a combination of ferrite and cementite or sometimes Tempered martensite...
kirby fish hooks, and for casting
Casting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
objects into an appearance of perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
. He also invented an improved method for manufacturing shot
Lead shot
Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead. These were the original projectiles for muskets and early rifles, but today lead shot is fired primarily from shotguns. It is also used for a variety of other purposes...
of varying sizes in 1663, that was later retained by the scientist Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath.His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but...
, one of Rupert's Royal Society friends during the period.
Rupert and Peg Hughes
Towards the end of his life Rupert fell in love with an attractive Drury LaneDrury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
actress named Peg Hughes
Margaret Hughes
Margaret Hughes , also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage...
. Rupert became involved with her during the late 1660s, leaving his previous mistress, Frances Bard, although Hughes appears to have held out reciprocating his attentions with the aim of negotiating a suitable settlement. Hughes rapidly received advancement through his patronage; she became a member of the King's Company by 1669, giving her status and immunity from arrest for debt, and was painted four times by Sir Peter Lely
Peter Lely
Sir Peter Lely was a painter of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court.-Life:...
, the foremost court artist of the day.
Despite being encouraged to do so, Rupert did not marry Hughes, but acknowledged their daughter, Ruperta (later Howe), born in 1673. Hughes lived an expensive lifestyle during the 1670s, enjoying gambling and jewels; Rupert gave her at least £20,000 worth of jewellery during their relationship, including several items from the Palatinate royal collection. Margaret continued to act even after Ruperta's birth, returning to the stage in 1676 with the prestigious Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre
Dorset Garden Theatre
The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the Duke became King, the theatre became the Queen's Theatre in...
, near the Strand in London. The next year Rupert established Hughes with a "grand building" worth £25,000 that he bought in Hammersmith from Sir Nicholas Crispe. Rupert seems to have rather enjoyed the family lifestyle, commenting that his young daughter "already rules the whole house and sometimes argues with her mother, which makes us all laugh."
Death and legacy
Prince Rupert died at his house in Spring Gardens, WestminsterWestminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, on 29 November 1682 after a bout of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
, and was buried in the crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
on 6 December after a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
. Rupert left most of his estate, worth some £12,000, equally to Hughes and Ruperta. Hughes had an "uncomfortable widowhood" without Rupert's support, allegedly not helped by her unproductive gambling. Presents from Rupert such as Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
's earrings were sold to the Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill , Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women in British history as a result of her close friendship with Queen Anne of Great Britain.Sarah's friendship and influence with Princess Anne was widely known, and leading public figures...
, while a pearl necklace given by Rupert's father
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
to Elizabeth
Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
was sold to fellow actress Nell Gwynn. Hughes sold the house in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
to the Margrave of Brandenburg—it ultimately became known as Brandenburg House. Ruperta ultimately married Emanuel Scrope Howe
Emanuel Scrope Howe
Lieutenant-General Emanuel Scrope Howe , of The Great Lodge, Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire, was an English diplomat, army officer and Member of Parliament.-Life:...
, future MP and English general, and had five children, Sophia, William, Emanuel, James and Henrietta. Rupert's son, Dudley Bard, became a military officer, frequently known as "Captain Rupert", and died fighting at the Siege of Budapest
Battle of Buda (1686)
The Battle of Buda was fought between the Holy League and Ottoman Turkey, as part of the follow-up campaign in Hungary after the Battle of Vienna...
while in his late teens.
The towns of Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...
, Prince Rupert, Edmonton
Prince Rupert, Edmonton
Prince Rupert is a triangle-shaped residential neighbourhood in north west Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Prince Rupert is located within the old Hudson's Bay Reserve and was developed after the end of World War II...
and the Rupert River
Rupert River
The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Québec, it flows west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of . There is some extremely large whitewater on the river, but paddlers can avoid...
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
are all named after the Prince. A British forces secondary school in Germany, Prince Rupert School, bears his name, it teaches both children from armed forces families and fee-paying English-speaking children. In Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
there was also a street, Rupert Street and formerly a public house, The Prince Rupert in Rupert Street named to commemorate Prince Rupert.
Ancestors
In fiction
- Prince Rupert is the protagonist of Poul AndersonPoul AndersonPoul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
's alternate history/fantasyFantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
book A Midsummer TempestA Midsummer TempestA Midsummer Tempest is an 1974 alternate history fantasy novel by Poul Anderson. In 1975, it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and Nebula Award for Best Novel and won the Mythopoeic Award.- Plot introduction :...
, where the Prince, with the help of various Shakespearean characters who are actual persons in this timeline, eventually defeats Cromwell and wins the English Civil WarEnglish Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. - Prince Rupert is the key character in the King CrimsonKing CrimsonKing Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
song Lizard from their 1970 album of the same name. The 23-minute suite includes several sections, one named Prince Rupert Awakes and another The Battle of Glass Tears (an artistic reference to the battle of Naseby) in turn including a sub-section called Prince Rupert's Lament. - Prince Rupert is a character in the romance by Cheryl Sawyer The Winter Prince.
- Prince Rupert appears in The Oak Apple and The Black Pearl, volumes 4 and 5 of The Morland DynastyThe Morland DynastyThe Morland Dynasty is a series of historical novels by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, based around the Morland family of York, England and their national and international relatives and associates.There are currently thirty-two books in the series...
, a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-EaglesCynthia Harrod-EaglesCynthia Harrod-Eagles is a prolific and successful British novelist, best known for her Morland Dynasty series.Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born in Shepherd's Bush, London and educated at Burlington School. Her first successful novel was The Waiting Game , and she became a full-time writer in...
. He is assisted during the Civil War by the staunchly Royalist fictional Morland family, and is father to the illegitimate Annunciata Morland, with whom he has a complicated relationship. - Prince Rupert and his sister are minor characters in Eric FlintEric FlintEric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
's 1632 series1632 seriesThe 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books...
book Grantsville Gazette IV - Prince Rupert is the main character in Margaret IrwinMargaret IrwinMargaret Emma Faith Irwin was an English author of several important historical novels, as well as a factual biography of Sir Walter Raleigh.- Biography :...
's novel 'The Stranger Prince' and appears in her later novel 'The Bride'. Both novels deal with the Civil War period. - Prince Rupert is the subject of Samuel Edwards's biographical novel The White Plume, published by William Morrow and Company Ltd. in 1961, a semi-fiction account of his life from his late teens until his marriage to Peg (Margaret HughesMargaret HughesMargaret Hughes , also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage...
).
Film and television
- Rupert was portrayed by Timothy DaltonTimothy DaltonTimothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
in the 1970 film CromwellCromwell (film)Cromwell is a 1970 film, based on the life of Oliver Cromwell who led the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and, as Lord Protector, ruled Great Britain and Ireland in the 1650s. It features an all-star cast led by Richard Harris as Cromwell and Alec Guinness as King Charles I...
. - Harry LloydHarry LloydHarry Lloyd is an English actor. He played Will Scarlet in the first two seasons of the BBC drama Robin Hood which began in 2006...
played Rupert in the 2008 TV drama The Devil's WhoreThe Devil's WhoreThe Devil's Whore is a four-part television series set during the English Civil War, produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4 in 2008. It centres on the adventures of the fictional Angelica Fanshawe, and the historical Leveller soldier Edward Sexby...
.
Additional reading
- Ashley, Maurice. (1976) Rupert of the Rhine. London: Hart Davis, MacGibbon.
- Fergusson, Bernard. (1952) Rupert of the Rhine. London: Collins.
- Irwin, Margaret. (1937) The Stranger Prince: the story of Rupert of the Rhine. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
- Kitson, Frank. (1994) Prince Rupert: portrait of a soldier. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-473700-2.
- Morrah, Patrick. (1976) Prince Rupert of the Rhine. London: Constable.
- Petrie, Charles. (1974) King Charles, Prince Rupert, and the Civil War: from original letters. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Thomson, George Malcolm. (1976) Warrior Prince: Prince Rupert of the Rhine. London: Secker & Warburg.
- Warburton, Eliot. (1849) Memoirs of Prince Rupert, and the Cavaliers. London: R. Bentley. vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3.
- Wilkinson, Clennell. (1935) Prince Rupert, the Cavalier. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.
External links
- Prince Rupert of the Rhine biography
- Historical re-enactors, dedicated to Prince Rupert, cavalry genius.
- A Dialogue or, Rather a Parley betweene Prince Ruperts Dogge whose name is Puddle, and Tobies Dog whose name is Pepper &c. (1643)
|-