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.Ĭavaliers after the Battle of Naseby, 1645 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. 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. Most Parliamentarian generals wore their hair at much the same length as their Royalist counterparts, though Cromwell was something of an exception. 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. 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 and lace collars and cuffs, and plumed hats. Prince Rupert of the Rhine, often considered to be an archetypal Cavalier.Ĭavalier was not understood at the time as primarily a term describing a style of dress, but a whole political and social attitude. At the Restoration, the court party preserved the name, which survived until the rise of the term Tory. It was soon reappropriated as a title of honour by the king's party, who in return applied Roundhead to their opponents. Ĭharles, in the Answer to the Petition 13 June 1642, speaks of Cavaliers as a "word by what mistake soever it seemes much in disfavour". 631 That your Majesty.would please to dismiss your extraordinary Guards, and the Cavaliers and others of that Quality, who seem to have little Interest or Affection to the publick Good, their Language and Behaviour speaking nothing but Division and War. 504 Several sorts of malignant Men, who were about the King some whereof, under the name of Cavaliers, without having respect to the Laws of the Land, or any fear either of God or Man, were ready to commit all manner of Outrage and Violence. It first appears as a term of reproach and contempt, applied to the followers of King Charles I in June 1642:ġ642 (June 10) Propositions of Parlt. "Cavalier" is chiefly associated with the Royalist supporters of King Charles I in his struggle with Parliament in the English Civil War.
An engraving depicting Charles I and his adherents.
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