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{{Short description|Royalist supporter in the English Civil War}}{{About|the Royalists during the English Civil War|other uses|Cavalier (disambiguation)}}{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}{{Use shortened footnotes|date=April 2023}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}File:Anthonis van Dyck 058.jpg|thumb|upright|Prince Rupert of the RhinePrince Rupert of the RhineThe term ”Cavalier” ({{IPAc-en|ËŒ|k|æ|v|É™|ˈ|l|ɪər}}) was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – {{circa|1679}}). It was later adopted by the Royalists themselves. Although it referred originally to political and social attitudes and behaviour, of which clothing was a very small part, it has subsequently become strongly identified with the fashionable clothing of the court at the time. Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I’s cavalry, is often considered to be an archetypal Cavalier.{{sfn|Manganiello|2004|p=476}}

Etymology

Cavalier derives from the same Latin root as the Italian word , the French word , and the Spanish word , the Vulgar Latin word (wikt:caballarius|caballarius), meaning ‘horseman’. Shakespeare used the word cavaleros to describe an overbearing swashbuckler or swaggering (wikt:gallant|gallant) in Henry IV, Part 2 (c. 1596–1599), in which Robert Shallow says “I’ll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all the cavaleros about London”.{{sfn|OED|1989|loc=“Cavalier“}} Shallow returns in The Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1597), where he is called “Cavaleiro Justice” (knightly judge) and “bully rook”, a term meaning “blustering cheat”.BOOK, Brewer, E. Cobham,www.bartleby.com/81/2654.html, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Bully-rook, Henry Altemus, 1898, Philadelphia, PA, www.bartleby.com, BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=oU8xxzKv_7IC&q=Cavaleiro-justice&pg=PA128, Linguistic Variation in the Shakespeare Corpus: Morpho-syntactic Variability of Second Person Pronouns, Ulrich, Busse, 22 September 2002, John Benjamins Publishing, 1588112802, Google Books,

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. It first appears as a term of reproach and contempt, applied to the followers of King Charles I in June 1642:}}Charles, in the Answer to the Petition 13 June 1642, speaks of Cavaliers as a “word by what mistake soever it seemes much in disfavour”.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=562}} It was soon reappropriated as a title of honour by the king’s party, who in return applied Roundhead to their opponents. At the Restoration, the court party preserved the name, which survived until the rise of the term Tory.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=562}}

Social perceptions

File:Sir-Anthony-van-Dyck-Lord-John-Stuart-and-His-Brother-Lord-Bernard-Stuart.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart, {{Circa|1638}}, by Sir Anthony van Dyck. Both Lord John Stewart and Lord Bernard Stewart died in the English Civil WarEnglish Civil WarCavalier 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 clothing with elaborate trimmings (i.e., lace collars and cuffs), and plumed hats.{{harvnb|OED|1989|loc=“Cavalier“}}, Meaning 4. attrib., First quotation “1666 EVELYN Dairy 13 Sept., The Queene was now in her cavalier riding habite, hat and feather, and horseman’s coate”. 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.Ashelford, Jane, The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500–1914, pp. 73–75, 2009, {{ISBN|9781905400799}}, google booksMost Parliamentarian generals wore their hair at much the same length as their Royalist counterparts,Ashelford, 73 though Cromwell was something of an exception. The best patrons in the nobility of Charles I’s court painter Sir Anthony van Dyck, the archetypal recorder of the Cavalier image, all took the Parliamentary side in the Civil War. Probably the most famous image identified as of a “cavalier”, Frans Hals’ Laughing Cavalier, 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.{{sfn|Stoyle|2003}} 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”.{{sfn|Carlton|2002|p=52}} 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.{{sfn|Woolrych|2002|p=249}} This type of Cavalier was personified by Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading, 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”.{{sfn|Hume|1841|p=216 See footnote r. cites Warwick 229}}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.{{sfn|Barratt|2005|p=177}} Of another Cavalier, George Goring, Lord Goring, a general in the Royalist army,{{sfn|Memegalos|2007|loc=inside front cover}} the principal advisor to Charles II, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, said:File:England (Great Britain) 1644 Triple Unite of Charles I.jpg|thumb|Triple Unite gold coin of 1644: the Latin legend translates as “The religion of the Protestants, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament. Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.”]]{{sfn|Chisholm|1911a|p=259}}}}This sense has developed into the modern English use of “cavalier” to describe a recklessly nonchalant attitude, although still with a suggestion of stylishness. Cavalier remained in use as a description for members of the party that supported the monarchy up until the Exclusion Crisis of 1678–1681 when the term was superseded by “Tory” which was another term initially with pejorative connotations. Likewise, during the Exclusion Bill crisis, the term Roundhead was replaced with “Whig”, a term introduced by the opponents of the Whigs and also was initially a pejorative term.{{sfn|Worden|2009|p=4}}

In arts

{{see also|1600–50 in Western European fashion|Cavalier poet}}File:Sir Anthony Van Dyck - Charles I (1600-49) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Charles I in Three Positions, the triple portrait of Charles I by Anthony van DyckAnthony van DyckAn example of the Cavalier style can be seen in the painting Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles by Anthony van Dyck.

References

Notes

{{reflist|35em}}

Sources

• {{EB1911|wstitle=Cavalier|volume=5|pages=562–563}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Barratt, John, 2005, Cavalier Generals: King Charles I and His Commanders in the English Civil War, 1642–46, Pen & Sword Military,
• BOOK, Carlton, Charles, 2002, Going to the Wars: The Experience of the British Civil Wars 1638–1651, Taylor & Francis, 978-0-203-42558-9, 52,
• EB1911, 1911a, Goring, George Goring, Lord, 12, 258–259,
• BOOK, Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of, 1839, The history of the rebellion and civil wars in England, seven volumes, 5, Oxford University Press, 3,
• BOOK, Hume, David, David Hume, 1841, The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution 1688, V, .T. Cadell,
• BOOK, Manganiello, Stephen C., The Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639–1660,books.google.com/books?id=an-eXXA3DBMC&pg=PA476, 2004, Scarecrow Press, 978-0-8108-5100-9, 476,
• BOOK, Memegalos, Florene S., 2007, George Goring (1608–1657): Caroline Courtier and Royalist General, Ashgate Publishing, 978-0-7546-5299-1,
• BOOK, OED, 1989, Cavalier, Oxford English Dictionary, Second,
• WEB, Stoyle, Mark, 2003, Mark Stoyle,www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/choosingsides_01.shtml, Choosing Sides in the English Civil War, BBC,www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/englishcivilwar/choosingsides_01.shtml," title="web.archive.org/web/20041129231615www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/englishcivilwar/choosingsides_01.shtml,">web.archive.org/web/20041129231615www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/englishcivilwar/choosingsides_01.shtml, 29 November 2004,
• BOOK, Woolrych, Austin, 2002, Britain in Revolution: 1625–1660, Oxford University Press, 978-0191542008, 249,
• BOOK, Worden, Blair, 2009, The English Civil Wars 1640–1660, London, Penguin Books, 978-0-14-100694-9,

Further reading

• BOOK, Cruso, John, John Cruso,hermes.ucop.edu:8085/F/?func=direct&doc_number=027717002¤t_base=CDL90&format=999, Military Instructions for the Cavallrie: or Rules and directions for the service of horse, {{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (www.drizzle.com/~celyn/jherek/16thMilSci.pdf" title="web.archive.org/web/20070228130758www.drizzle.com/~celyn/jherek/16thMilSci.pdf">Military science in western Europe in the sixteenth century, p. 45)

External links

• {{wiktionary-inline}}