Prince Rupert
Rupert was born on 17th December 1619 in Prague, son of Frederick V, sometime King of Bohemia & his wife Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), the "Queen of Hearts", daughter of James I of England & Charles I's sister.
In 1620 the family was forced to flee to Holland, where Rupert spent his childhood. Later Rupert & his brother returned to England at the invitation of their uncle Charles I.
His full title was Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland & Bavaria but he was known as Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
Rupert became a soldier and fought in the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648). This gave him useful military experience when, in 1642, he joined Charles I's army in the English Civil War.
He was soon appointed to lead the royalist cavalry and fought in the first major battle of the war at Edgehill in October 1642. His cavalry charge completely routed the parliamentarians but he got carried away and pursued them too far from the battlefield, losing the chance to inflict a decisive defeat. Other military successes gave him a formidable reputation although his relationships with other Royalists commanders were poor. They thought him arrogant and he was impatient with what he saw as their lack of professionalism.
In 1644, Rupert led the spectacular relief of the siege of York but then in July, he was defeated by a parliamentary army at Marston Moor, losing York and the north of England for the royalists. In June 1645, he took part in the Battle of Naseby at which the royalists were defeated. Rupert now advised Charles to seek a treaty with parliament, but the king believed he could still win. In September, Rupert surrendered Bristol to parliament. In response the king abruptly withdrew his commission. Rupert left for exile in Holland.
In 1648, part of the English navy mutinied and sailed for Holland where, in January 1649, the Prince of Wales gave Rupert command. The naval campaign took Rupert's ships to Kinsale, then to Lisbon and in November 1650 to defeat by Commonwealth admiral Robert Blake off Carthagena in south east Spain. Rupert escaped and spent the next decade in the West Indies and then in Germany.
After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Rupert held a series of British naval commands, fighting in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Rupert was also a talented artist, scientist, founder Fellow of the Royal Society & governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
He died unmarried, although he left several illegitimate children, on 29 November 1682 at his house at Spring Gardens, Westminster following a bout of pleurisy.
He was buried on 6th December 1682 with a full state funeral, in a vault with his mother in the south aisle of Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey. Only a simple floor stone (situated between the large tombs of Mary Queen of Scots & the Countess of Lennox), with name & date of death, marks his burial place.
The inscription on his coffin plate can be translated:
"The remains of the illustrious Prince Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria & Cumberland, Earl of Holderness, Vice-Admiral of all England, Governor of the Constabulary of the Royal Castle of Windsor, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Member of the Privy Council of the King's Majesty; third son of the Most Serene Prince Frederick, King of Bohemia etc., by the Most Serene Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of James, sister of Charles I, aunt of Charles the second of that name, both Kings of Great Britain, France and Ireland. Born at Prague, the capital city of Bohemia, on the 17th December 1619, he died in London on the 29th November 1682, in the 63rd year of his age"
In 1620 the family was forced to flee to Holland, where Rupert spent his childhood. Later Rupert & his brother returned to England at the invitation of their uncle Charles I.
His full title was Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland & Bavaria but he was known as Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
Rupert became a soldier and fought in the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648). This gave him useful military experience when, in 1642, he joined Charles I's army in the English Civil War.
He was soon appointed to lead the royalist cavalry and fought in the first major battle of the war at Edgehill in October 1642. His cavalry charge completely routed the parliamentarians but he got carried away and pursued them too far from the battlefield, losing the chance to inflict a decisive defeat. Other military successes gave him a formidable reputation although his relationships with other Royalists commanders were poor. They thought him arrogant and he was impatient with what he saw as their lack of professionalism.
In 1644, Rupert led the spectacular relief of the siege of York but then in July, he was defeated by a parliamentary army at Marston Moor, losing York and the north of England for the royalists. In June 1645, he took part in the Battle of Naseby at which the royalists were defeated. Rupert now advised Charles to seek a treaty with parliament, but the king believed he could still win. In September, Rupert surrendered Bristol to parliament. In response the king abruptly withdrew his commission. Rupert left for exile in Holland.
In 1648, part of the English navy mutinied and sailed for Holland where, in January 1649, the Prince of Wales gave Rupert command. The naval campaign took Rupert's ships to Kinsale, then to Lisbon and in November 1650 to defeat by Commonwealth admiral Robert Blake off Carthagena in south east Spain. Rupert escaped and spent the next decade in the West Indies and then in Germany.
After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Rupert held a series of British naval commands, fighting in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Rupert was also a talented artist, scientist, founder Fellow of the Royal Society & governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
He died unmarried, although he left several illegitimate children, on 29 November 1682 at his house at Spring Gardens, Westminster following a bout of pleurisy.
He was buried on 6th December 1682 with a full state funeral, in a vault with his mother in the south aisle of Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey. Only a simple floor stone (situated between the large tombs of Mary Queen of Scots & the Countess of Lennox), with name & date of death, marks his burial place.
The inscription on his coffin plate can be translated:
"The remains of the illustrious Prince Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria & Cumberland, Earl of Holderness, Vice-Admiral of all England, Governor of the Constabulary of the Royal Castle of Windsor, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Member of the Privy Council of the King's Majesty; third son of the Most Serene Prince Frederick, King of Bohemia etc., by the Most Serene Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of James, sister of Charles I, aunt of Charles the second of that name, both Kings of Great Britain, France and Ireland. Born at Prague, the capital city of Bohemia, on the 17th December 1619, he died in London on the 29th November 1682, in the 63rd year of his age"