Prince Rupert at Edgehill by Stanley Berkeley.

Prince Rupert beginning his career as a leader of the Royalist Cavalry drove the Parliamentarian Cavalry off the field. Prince Rupert was a nephew of King Charles I and commanded the Royalist cavalry during the English Civil War. Prince Rupert was born on 17th December1619 in Prague. His mother was Elizabeth, the sister of Charles I. Rupert became a soldier and fought in the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) and in 1642, he joined the army of Charles I 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. His reputation grew after a number of military. In 1644 Prince Rupert led the spectacular relief of the siege of York but his army was defeated by a parliamentary army at Battle of Marston Moor, losing York and the north to Cromwell In June 1645 he took part in the Battle of Naseby at which the royalists were defeated. In September Rupert surrendered Bristol to parliament and in response the king abruptly withdrew his commission. Rupert left for exile in Holland. 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. On 19th November 1682 Prince Rupert died.

Open edition print.

Image size 24 inches x 14 inches (61cm x 36cm)