Events

Battlefields Trust Online Talk: Rupert of the Rhine - The Cavalier and his Conflicts

Tuesday 24th June 2025

The battles of Vlotho, Marston Moor and Naseby are key links in the chain of Rupert of the Rhine's military career. The prince grew in experience, seniority, and age with each. Vlotho saw Rupert, at the age of nineteen, lauded in propaganda as a heroic young colonel. Six years afterwards, as King Charles I's General of the Horse, Marston Moor released closeted skeletons of Vlotho. One year after that, as Royalist Lord General, the experience of Marston Moor would drive decisions at Naseby. Such subtle chain reactions are extremely revealing when attempting to understand Prince Rupert's mindset and development. These battles, between Catholic and Calvinist, Royalist and Parliamentarian, also gave rise to devastating clashes of personality. 

After writing a new biography of Rupert, Mark Turnbull will discuss new research about Vlotho, Marston Moor and Naseby, together with unearthed primary sources, to provide fresh interpretations and bust myths.

Mark Turnbull's childhood visit to Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire, at the age of 10 provided the foundations of a passionate interest in King Charles I and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. 

An Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Mark has re-enacted battles of the period with the Sealed Knot, and now enjoys bringing this history to life through works of fiction, whilst contributing to knowledge of it via non-fiction.

Mark also produces a podcast called 'CavalierCast - The Civil War in Words' which is the first (and longest running) podcast solely dedicated to the civil wars. It explores a variety of topics with leading historians, authors, re-enactors, archaeologists, and curators.

 

 
 

For further information.

 
The Battlefields Resource Centre