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\"Prince Rupert\" redirects here. For the city, see Prince Rupert, British Columbia. For other uses, see Prince Rupert (disambiguation).

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Prince Rupert
Duke of Cumberland Earl of Holderness
Portrait by Peter Lely, 1667\u20131671
Born	(1619-12-17)17 December 1619 (O.S.) Prague, Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire
Died	29 November 1682(1682-11-29) (aged 62) (O.S.) London, England
Burial	6 December 1682 (O.S.) Westminster Abbey
Issue	Dudley Bard Ruperta Howe
House	Palatinate-Simmern
Dynasty	Wittelsbach
Father	Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Mother	Elizabeth Stuart
Occupation	Soldier, statesman, privateer, and scientist
Signature	$\"Prince$

Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, KG, PC, FRS (17 December 1619 (O.S.) [27 December 1619 (N.S.)]^[1] \u2013 29 November 1682 (O.S.) [9 December 1682 (N.S)]) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to prominence as a Royalist cavalry commander during the English Civil War.^[a] 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 England and Scotland.\n

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\u20131648), and against the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany during the Thirty Years' War (1618\u20131648). 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.\n

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 colonial governor, Rupert shaped the political geography of modern Canada: the English possession of Rupert's Land was created for him to administer as its first governor and one of the founders of the Hudson's Bay Company. 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.\n

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Political offices\n
Preceded by The Duke of Hamilton \n	Master of the Horse 1653\u20131655\n	Succeeded by The Duke of Albermale \n
Preceded by King Charles II \n	Lord High Admiral 1668\u20131682\n	In commission Lord Capell as First Lord Title next held by King Charles II \n
Honorary titles\n
Preceded by The Viscount Mordaunt \n	Constable of Windsor Castle 1668\u20131682\n	Succeeded by The Duke of Norfolk \n
Lord Lieutenant of Surrey 1675\u20131682\n
Preceded by The Lord Lovelace \n	Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire 1670\u20131682\n
Peerage of England\n
New creation\n	Duke of Cumberland 1644\u20131682\n	Extinct \n

Authority control databases $\"Edit$
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Australia Czech Republic Spain Netherlands Norway Greece Poland Vatican Israel
Artists	ULAN RKD Artists KulturNav Auckland
People	Netherlands Trove Archaeology Data Service Deutsche Biographie DDB
Other	IdRef

Parents and ancestry

Early life and exile

Teenage years

Career during the First English Civil War

Early phases, 1642\u20131643

Later stages, 1644\u20131646

Reputation

Second English Civil War and Interregnum

Service in the French army

Service in the Royalist navy

Service in Germany

Interest in art

Career following the Restoration

Restoration statesman

Career in the Restoration navy

Later life

Colonial administration

Science and the Royal Society

Family

Death

Legacy

Genealogical table

In fiction

Film and television

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Media collections