Prince Maurice, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, in the British Civil Wars

This article explores the representations of Prince Maurice, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, in the history of the British Civil Wars. Tracing the development of his fearsome reputation as the wars progressed, this article argues that Maurice was not only highly significant to the Royalist war effort, but that he played a constitutive role in the development of political and literary representations of the stereotypical ‘Cavalier’, that came to permeate English imaginations in the mid-1640s. It explores Maurice’s reported propensity for violence during independent military campaigns. Beyond this, the article is testament to the importance of considering ethnic and gendered dimensions in analysing Royalist identities. Maurice’s portrayal in English polemical print is explored through the lens of his status as a foreign-born, German exile in The Hague, whilst it was defeat by female civilians that rendered the Siege of Lyme Regis in June 1644 detrimental to his posthumous reputation.