Prince Rupert
(1619-1682)
Prince, Count Palatine of the Rhine, 1st Duke of Cumberland (1644-1682), and 1st Earl of Holderness (1644-1682)
Died aged c. 63
Wikidata WikipediaPrince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, KG, PC, FRS (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalry commander during the English Civil War. Rupert was the third son of the German Prince Frederick V of the Palatinate and Elizabeth, eldest daughter of King James VI and I of Scotland and England. Prince Rupert had a varied career. He was a soldier as a child, fighting alongside Dutch forces against Habsburg Spain during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and against the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). 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 King Louis XIV of France against Spain, and then as a Royalist privateer in the Caribbean Sea. Following the Restoration, Rupert returned to England, becoming a senior English naval commander during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and Third Anglo-Dutch War, and serving as the first governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. He 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 he was a founder of the Hudson's Bay Company. He also is alleged to have played a role in the early Atlantic slave trade. Rupert's varied and numerous scientific and administrative interests, combined with his considerable artistic skills, made him one of the more colourful public figures in England of the Restoration period.
DbPedia
nephew of Charles I
Commemorated on 4 plaques
In May 1644 at 'Barloe More' near this site Prince Rupert (1619 - 1682) and his Royalist Army encamped on their march to the battle of Marston Moor, Yorkshire, 2nd July 1644.
Didsbury Library, 692 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, United Kingdom where they encamped with his Royalist Army
Prince Rupert stayed here after his quarrel with the King October 15th 1645
The Governor's House, Newark-on-Trent, United Kingdom where they stayed
Royal Fort - Prince Rupert's Gate. Near this spot, on 11 September 1645, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, nephew of King Charles I and Commander of the Royalist garrison of Bristol, surrendered the City to Sir Thomas Fairfax, Commander of Parliament's New Model Army and to Oliver Cromwell, his Master of Horse. This brick gatehouse is the most substantial remaining portion of the Royal Fort, a pentagonal bastion reconstructed by Prince Rupert after he had captured Bristol in 1643. Because of Bristol's strategic military position and value as a port, its capture by the Parliamentarian forces was a turning point in the Civil War.
Prince Rupert's Gate, Bristol, United Kingdom where they surrendered
Site of the Ship Inn 1560 to 1972 During the Civil War this Inn was reputedly Prince Rupert's headquarters when he with a force of 2000 men attacked Birmingham on Easter Monday 3rd April 1643
Bordesley Middleway, Camp Hill Circus, Birmingham, United Kingdom where they headquarters when he with a force of 2000 men attacked Birmingham on Easter Monday 3rd April 1643 (1643)