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Wikipedia
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642–1651). (In response, the Royalists called the Parliamentarians Roundheads.) Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical cavalier.
[edit] Early usage
The usage of the term originates from the French word "chevalier", meaning knight, and was originally derived from "caballarius", meaning "horseman" in Vulgar Latin. Chevalier is the normal French word for "knight," and is chiefly used in English for a member of certain foreign military or other orders.
Cavalier in English was applied early in a contemptuous sense to an overbearing swashbuckler or swaggering gallant. In Shakespeare (2 Henry IV. v. iii. 62) Shallow says "I'll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all the cavaleros about London" (this spelling rather suggests the Spanish version of the word, "Caballero").
[edit] English civil war
"Cavalier" is chiefly associated with the Royalist supporters of King Charles I in his struggle with Parliament in the English Civil War. Here again it first appears as a term of reproach and contempt, applied by the opponents of the king. Charles in the Answer to the Petition June 13, 1642 speaks of cavaliers as a "word by what mistake soever it seemes much in disfavour." It was soon adopted (as a title of honour) by the king's party, who in return applied Roundhead to their opponents, and at the Restoration the court party preserved the name, which survived till the rise of the term Tory. Both terms have continued to resurface in British politics up to the present day.
Cavalier was not understood at the time as primarily a term describing a style of dress, but a whole political and social attitude. However, in modern times the word has become more particularly associated with the court fashions of the period, which included long flowing hair in ringlets, brightly coloured clothes with elaborate trimmings and lace collars and cuffs, and plumed hats. This contrasted with the dress of at least the most extreme "Roundhead" supporters of Parliament, with their preference for shorter hair and plainer dress, although neither side conformed to the stereotypical images entirely. Most Parliamentarian generals wore their hair at much the same length as their Royalist counterparts, though Cromwell was something of an exception. In fact the best patrons in the nobility of the archetypal recorder of the Cavalier image, Charles I's court painter Sir Anthony van Dyck, all took the Parliamentary side in the Civil War. Probably the most famous image identified as of a "cavalier", Frans Hals' Laughing Cavalier, in fact shows a gentleman from the strongly Calvinist Dutch town of Haarlem, and is dated 1624. These derogatory terms (for at the time they were so intended) also showed what the typical Parliamentarian thought of the Royalist side — capricious men who cared more for vanity than the nation at large.
The chaplain to King Charles I, Edward Simmons described a cavalier as "a Child of Honour, a Gentleman well borne and bred, that loves his king for conscience sake, of a clearer countenance, and bolder look than other men, because of a more loyal Heart.” There were many men in the Royalist armies who fit this description since most of the Royalist field officers were typically in their early thirties, married with rural estates which had to be managed. Although they did not share the same outlook on how to worship God as the English Independents of the New Model Army, God was often central to their lives. This type of Cavalier was personified by Lord Jacob Astley whose prayer at the start of the Battle of Edgehill has become famous "O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget Thee, do not forget me". At the end of the First Civil War Astley gave his word that he would not take up arms again against Parliament and having given his word he felt duty bound to refuse to help the Royalist cause in the Second Civil War.
However, the word was coined by the Roundheads as a pejorative propaganda image of a licentious, hard drinking and frivolous man, who rarely, if ever, thought of God. It is this image which has survived and many Royalists, for example Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, fitted this description to a tee. Of another cavalier, Lord Goring a general in the Royalist army, the principal advisor to Charles II, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, said that he "would, without hesitation, have broken any trust, or done any act of treachery to have satisfied an ordinary passion or appetite; and in truth wanted nothing but industry (for he had wit, and courage, and understanding and ambition, uncontrolled by any fear of God or man) to have been as eminent and successful in the highest attempt of wickedness as any man in the age he lived in or before. Of all his qualifications dissimulation was his masterpiece; in which he so much excelled, that men were not ordinarily ashamed, or out of countenance, with being deceived but twice by him." This sense has developed into the modern English use of "cavalier" to describe a recklessly nonchalant attitude, though still with a suggestion of stylishness.
[edit] Cavaliers in the arts
- See also 1600-1650 in fashion and Cavalier poets
An example of the Cavalier style can be seen in the painting "Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles" by Anthony van Dyck.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. based on the article CAVALIER
- The Diary of Samuel Pepys: Annotations: Cavaliers
[edit] Further reading
- Barratt, John; Cavaliers The Royalist Army at War 1642–1646, Pub Sutton, 2000, ISBN 0-7509-3525-1
- Marryat, Frederick; The Children of the New Forest; (Novel)
- Stoyle, Mark; Choosing Sides in the English Civil War BBC website
- John Cruso Military Instructions for the Cavallrie: or Rules and directions for the service of horse first published 1632[1]
[edit] Footnotes
Annotations
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Acording to Edward Simmons, the Royalist chaplain, a cavalier “is a Child of Honour, a Gentleman well borne and bred, that loves his king for conscience sake, of a clearer countenance, and bolder look than other men, because of a more loyal Heart.” This sober description conflicts with the popular one of the roisterous cavalier which has come down to us from history. Simmons’ portrait is the more accurate, as the typical Royalist field officer was usually in his early thirties, happily married and with an estate and responsibilities in his local rural community. Of the many worthy of mention are Sir Bevil Grenville, who wrote while on campaign of his concerns for family, his estates and tenants. Sir Henry Slingsby was considered an honourable and devout man of principle, while Sir Henry Gage was noted for his piety and ability, and was “a compleat soulgier and a wise man.”
The Parliamentarians coined the word cavalier as a pejorative term and it is their propaganda image of the licentious, hard drinking , frivolous royalist which caught the popular imagination. It appears that a few supporters of the King deliberately perpetrated the myth simply due to their love of life. Such was Sir George Goring , Lord Wilmot, Sir Joseph Wagstaffe, Major General of Foot in the Western Army ,who loved “mirth and jollity .” Sir Thomas Lunsford, a Colonel of Foot was described in 1637 as “a young outlaw who neither fears God nor man……a swaggering ruffian”. Henry Washington, Governor of Worcester towads the end of the war , and Lord Wentworth, Commander in Chief in the West seem to have further cultivated this extravagant picture for posterity.However, these men were very much the exception ,the vast majority of Royalist supporters being drawn from the sensible men and women of the rural genry and their dependents.Barratt,John Cavaliers The Royalist Army at War 1642-1646 Sutton 2000