Prince Rupert by Charles Spencer

Author:Charles Spencer [Spencer, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-06-17T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Pirate Prince

‘Conceive him now in a Man-of-war, with his letters of mart, well armed, victualled, and appointed, and see how he acquits himself. The more power he hath, the more careful he is not to abuse it. Indeed, a Sea Captain is a King in the Island of a ship, supreme Judge, above appeal, in causes civil and criminal, and is seldom brought to an account in Courts of Justice on land for injuries done to his own men at sea.’

The Good Sea Captain, Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

Prince Rupert set off for Ireland in December, his eight vessels severely undermanned. The prince had recruited in the Netherlands, securing the services of some Flemish sailors, although many more were needed. The Constant Reformation, the prince’s flagship, was designed to have a complement of 300, but only 120 men could be found to man it at this stage of the voyage. The frigates were more generously provided for, so that they could fulfil their roving brief, scouring the seas in search of prizes.

Rupert’s crews were worried that their course would take them through the Channel, and it was inconceivable that they would be able to navigate it without attracting enemy attention. However, when the Parliamentarians started to bear down on the Royalists, Rupert fell back on the tactics that had served him so well in his cavalry days: he turned and attacked, and the startled enemy dispersed and fled in the face of bold, Cavalier, aggression. Their new admiral’s courage impressed the sailors and quelled many of the more disruptive voices on board. A fair wind followed, speeding the ships to Ireland.

Arriving in the Irish port of Kinsale, which had been a Spanish outpost during part of Elizabeth I’s reign, Rupert learned of Charles I’s beheading. The shocking news reverberated around Europe, causing thrilled revulsion and frenzied chatter: the execution of an anointed monarch was viewed by many as an insult to God and seemed to demand divine vengeance. The prince’s feelings ran deeper. Whatever their spats towards the end of the Civil War, a pure love had existed between Charles and Rupert. The king had shown his nephew kindness and had partially filled the void caused by the early loss of his father, Frederick V. Differences over Marston Moor or the surrender of Bristol could not expunge the blood loyalty that bound the two men together.

The prince’s siblings shared the sense of devastation. His elder sister, Elizabeth, was so horrified at the news that she became seriously ill. She wrote of her profound sorrow to her confidant, Descartes, who comforted the princess with soothing words: ‘It is surely something to die in a way which commands universal pity — to leave the world, praised and mourned by whoever partakes of human sentiments. It is undeniable that without his last trial the gentleness and other virtues of the dead king would never have been so remarked and so esteemed as they will be in future by whoever shall read his history …

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