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Rupert of the Rhine
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| Full Name: | Rupert von der Pfalz or Rupert of the Rhine |
| Nationality: | German/English |
| Title: | Prince (by birth) Duke of Cumberland |
| Age: | 57 (b.1619) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Eye Colour: | Brown |
| Hair Colour: | Brown |
| Marital Status: | Single, living in Common Law Marriage |
| Circles: | Science, Military |
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| London: | Whitehall |
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Physical Attributes
As tall as his cousin with 6'4" of height, in his youth thought of quite dashing.
Initial Impression of Personality
He likes collecting arms, and is an amateur artist and scientist/inventor. He is more of a soldier than a politician, always quarreling with political advisors.
Background
- Rupert was born in Prague in 1619 at the time of the Thirty Years' War. Soon after his birth, the family fled from Bohemia to the Netherlands, where Rupert spent his childhood. However difficult his childhood may have been Rupert was exceptional in learning all the major European languages and excelled in art and mathematics.
At an early age he took to soldiering. At the age of fourteen, he fought alongside the Protestant Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, at the siege of Rheinberg, in 1633, and at Breda, in 1638, in the Eighty Years' War, in the Netherlands against Spain. In the Thirty Years' War, aged 19, Rupert fought for the alliance of Protestants and France, at the Battle of Vlotho (17 October 1638) during the invasion of Westphalia. He was captured by the forces of the Imperial General Hatzfeld, and imprisoned in Linz, Austria, where he studied military textbooks. He was released on parole in 1641, on the condition that he never bear arms against the Holy Roman Emperor again.
In 1642, aged 23, Rupert was appointed by King Charles to lead the Royalist cavalry during the English Civil War, and he largely deserves the credit for their early successes. His dashing reputation earned him the nickname of the "Mad Cavalier". He reputedly took a large poodle dog, named "Boye", into battle with him on several occasions. Throughout the Civil War the soldiers of Parliament feared this dog, claiming it had supernatural powers. At the end of the war, the dog was shot, allegedly with a silver bullet.
He was made Knight of the Garter in 1645
For some time after this, Rupert commanded the troops formed of English exiles in the French army, and received a wound at Marshal de Gassion's siege of La Bassée, in 1647. Then, following a degree of reconciliation with Charles, he obtained command of a Royalist fleet. A long and unprofitable naval campaign followed, which extended from Kinsale to Lisbon and from Toulon to Cape Verde. However, following a naval defeat by Admiral Robert Blake, Rupert took refuge in the West Indies. There he followed the life of a buccaneer, preying on English shipping. It was during this time period that his beloved brother Maurice, who captained one of the ships in Rupert's small flotilla, was killed. But the prince again quarrelled with the Royalist advisers, and spent six obscure years (1654 to 1660) in Germany and the Netherlands, vainly attempting (as also before and afterwards) to obtain his rightful apanage as a younger son from his brother Charles I. Louis, Elector Palatine.
Following the Restoration, Rupert came to England, accepting a position on Charles II's Privy Council and serving as an Admiral of the Royal Navy in the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars. He also became the Governor of the Hundson's Bay Company, in 1670. In 1673, he became to Lord High Admiral, following the Duke of York's resignation.
Rupert developed an enthusiasm for printmaking, using a process known as mezzotint engraving, and he brought a machine to England for the purpose. He seems to have invented something called the 'rocker' that improved the process.
He has not married, but lives with a Drury Lane actress named Margaret (Peg) Hughes.
Residence
His primary residence is in the Round Tower of Windsor Castle. When in London, he resides in a suite in Whitehall.
