Prince Rupert of The Rhine - Early Life and Exile

Early Life and Exile

Rupert was born in Prague in 1619, at the start of the Thirty Years' War, to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, and Elizabeth Stuart, and was declared a prince by the principality of Lusatia. He was given his name in honour of King Rupert of Germany, a famous Wittelsbach ancestor. Rupert's father was a leading member of the Holy Roman Empire and the head of the Protestant Union, with a martial family tradition stretching back several centuries. Rupert's family was at the heart of a network of Protestant rulers across the north of Europe, as Frederick had close ties through his mother to the ruling House of Orange-Nassau in the United Provinces, and Elizabeth was the daughter of James I of England and Anne of Denmark. The family lived an extremely wealthy lifestyle in Heidelberg, enjoying the palace gardens—the Hortus Palatinus, designed by Inigo Jones and Salomon de Caus—and a lavish castle with one of the best libraries in Europe.

Frederick had allied himself with rebellious Protestant Bohemian nobility in 1619, expecting support from the Protestant Union in his revolt against the Catholic Ferdinand II, the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor. This support was not forthcoming, resulting in a crushing defeat at the hands of his Catholic enemies at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. Rupert's parents were mockingly termed the "Winter King and Queen" as a consequence of their reigns in Bohemia having lasted only a single season. Rupert was almost left behind in the court's rush to escape Ferdinand's advance on Prague, until Kryštof z Donína (Christopher Dhona), a court member, tossed the prince into a carriage at the last moment.

Rupert accompanied his parents to The Hague, where he spent his early years at the Hof te Wassenaer, the Wassenaer Court. Rupert's mother paid her children little attention even by the standards of the day, apparently preferring her pet monkeys and dogs. Instead, Frederick employed Monsieur and Madame de Plessen to act as governors to his children, with instructions to inculcate a positive attitude towards the Czechs/Bohemians and the English, and to bring them up as strict Calvinists. The result was a strict school routine including logic, mathematics, writing, drawing, singing and playing instruments. As a child, Rupert was at times badly behaved, "fiery, mischievous, and passionate" and earned himself the nickname Robert le Diable, or "Rupert The Devil". Nonetheless, Rupert proved to be an able student. By the age of three he could speak some English, Czech and French, and mastered German while still young, but had little interest in Latin and Greek. He excelled in art, being taught by Gerard van Honthorst, and found the maths and sciences easy. By the time he was 18 he stood about 6 ft 4 in tall.

Rupert's family continued their attempts to regain the Palatinate during their time in The Hague. Money was short, with the family relying upon a relatively small pension from The Hague, the proceeds from family investments in Dutch raids on Spanish shipping, and revenue from pawned family jewellery. Frederick set about convincing an alliance of nations—including England, France and Sweden—to support his attempts to regain the Palatinate and Bohemia. By the early 1630s Frederick had built a close relationship with the Swedish King Gustavus, the dominant Protestant leader in Germany. In 1632, however, the two men disagreed over Gustavus' insistence that Frederick provide equal rights to his Lutheran and Calvinist subjects after regaining his lands; Frederick refused and started to return to The Hague. He died of a fever along the way and was buried in an unmarked grave. Rupert had lost his father at the age of 13, and Gustavus' death at the battle of Lützen in the same month deprived the family of a critical Protestant ally. With Frederick gone, King Charles proposed that the family move to England; Rupert's mother declined, but asked that Charles extend his protection to her remaining children instead.