WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.160 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. You know, usually 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:05.040 when we pick a subject for these conversations, 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:08.080 we are looking at a very specific lane. We look 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:10.320 at a great general or maybe a groundbreaking 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:15.019 scientist or a controversial politician. It's 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:16.940 neat. It's tidy. It is. You know what box they 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:20.160 fit into. But today, today feels like we're looking 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.620 at a fictional character written by a screenwriter 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.140 who just couldn't decide on a genre. That is 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:27.640 a very, very apt way to put it. We are talking 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.480 about a figure who... quite honestly makes the 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:32.640 most interesting man in the world look like he 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:34.560 needs to get out more yeah if you pitch this 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.479 guy's life as a movie script to a studio today 00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:40.320 they would reject it they would say it's too 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.210 unrealistic Too cluttered. Too much. No one would 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:46.649 believe one person did all of this. Exactly. 00:00:46.649 --> 00:00:49.350 We are diving into the life of Prince Rupert 00:00:49.350 --> 00:00:50.950 of the Rhine. And you are right, it is. It's 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:53.329 just the most insane CV of the 17th century. 00:00:53.409 --> 00:00:55.329 Okay, just to give everyone a taste of the resume 00:00:55.329 --> 00:00:56.770 we're dealing with here, and I want to stress 00:00:56.770 --> 00:00:59.570 this is all one single human being. We have a 00:00:59.570 --> 00:01:03.289 teenage cavalry commander who, you know, basically 00:01:03.289 --> 00:01:06.790 revolutionized warfare. Check. And a brilliant 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:10.019 one at that. Then we have a pirate who terrorized 00:01:10.019 --> 00:01:12.500 the Caribbean. A very desperate, possibly malaria 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:14.900 -ridden pirate, but yes, a pirate nonetheless. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.659 Okay, we also have a colonial governor who basically 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:20.719 drew the map of modern Canada. The huge chunk 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.379 of it, anyway. Yeah. Then a high -level scientist. 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.459 A chemist, a metallurgist who invented new weapons 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:29.319 and alloys, a professional artist who invented 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.700 new ways to print images, and my personal favorite. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:35.459 Oh, I know which one you're going to say. A man 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:38.120 accused by half of England of being a literal 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.019 wizard with a shape -shifting demon dog. It's 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:43.260 like the Forrest Gump of the 1600s. The Forrest 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:47.079 Gump was 6 '4", carried a sword. and understood 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.420 high -level chemistry. And that is really our 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:51.620 mission for this deep dive. We aren't just reciting 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:54.019 a biography here. We want to unpack how one human 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.680 being could embody so many conflicting lives. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.400 I mean, how do you go from the brutality of a 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.280 cavalry charge in the English Civil War to the 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.180 delicate, quiet work of a laboratory in the Royal 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:09.280 Society? And maybe more importantly, what does 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:11.439 his life tell us about the world he lived in? 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:15.139 Because Rupert... He really spans this gap between 00:02:15.139 --> 00:02:17.740 the old world of knights and kings and divine 00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:20.560 right. Right. And the new world of science, commerce 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.319 and global trade. He is the bridge between those 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.039 two eras. We have got a stack of sources here. 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:28.099 We're looking at military archives from the Civil 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:30.699 War, scientific journals from the Royal Society, 00:02:30.860 --> 00:02:33.560 even colonial charters. So let's start at the 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:36.300 beginning. Where does a guy like this even come 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.620 from? Yeah. Because despite the title Prince, 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:41.500 this wasn't exactly a Disney fairy tale upbringing, 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.159 was it? Oh, far from it. I mean, to understand 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.360 Rupert, you have to understand the absolute disaster 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:48.780 into which he was born. Okay. He enters the world 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:51.919 in Prague in 1619. His parents are Frederick 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.840 V and Elizabeth Stuart. Now, Elizabeth is the 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:56.759 daughter of James the First of England, so Rupert 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:58.879 is the grandson of the British king. So he is 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.379 blue -blooded royalty. He should be set for life. 00:03:01.930 --> 00:03:04.530 the highest grade royalty. But his father, Frederick, 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:07.710 made a gamble, a huge one. He accepted an offer 00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:09.689 to become the king of Bohemia. That sounds like 00:03:09.689 --> 00:03:12.590 a good thing. A promotion. It seemed like a power 00:03:12.590 --> 00:03:15.110 move, a way to elevate the family. But it was 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.870 actually a trap. Taking that throne basically 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.229 kicked off the Thirty Years' War, which was this 00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:24.349 massive, devastating conflict that tore Europe 00:03:24.349 --> 00:03:26.629 apart for decades. And how long did they actually 00:03:26.629 --> 00:03:29.030 get to enjoy being king and queen of Bohemia? 00:03:29.150 --> 00:03:30.849 I feel like there's a catch here. One winter. 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:34.099 One winter. Just one. Hence the nickname you 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:36.520 see in all the history books, the Winter King 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.520 and Queen. Wow. They were royals for a season. 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.099 The Holy Roman Emperor's horses came crushing 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:46.039 in and the collapse was sudden and just violent. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.219 I read the story in the notes about their escape 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:50.060 from Prague and it sounds like an action movie 00:03:50.060 --> 00:03:52.919 scene. The enemy is literally at the gates. The 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:56.219 court is fleeing in panic and they forget something 00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:59.710 or someone. They almost forgot Rupert. The baby. 00:03:59.810 --> 00:04:01.810 He was just an infant, less than a year old, 00:04:01.889 --> 00:04:04.150 in the frantic rush to load the carriages, pack 00:04:04.150 --> 00:04:06.449 the jewels, you know, escape the advancing army. 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:08.610 The nursemaids apparently just set him down. 00:04:08.770 --> 00:04:11.030 They left the baby behind. For a minute, yeah. 00:04:11.189 --> 00:04:13.430 The carriages started rolling away, picking up 00:04:13.430 --> 00:04:16.790 speed. And the sources say a courtier named Christopher 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:19.589 Donah heard the child screaming, realized what 00:04:19.589 --> 00:04:22.649 had happened, ran back, grabbed the bundle. Oh, 00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:25.569 my God. And literally tossed the prince into 00:04:25.569 --> 00:04:28.110 the boot of a moving carriage at the last second. 00:04:28.389 --> 00:04:30.589 As they were speeding away. Talk about a dramatic 00:04:30.589 --> 00:04:33.670 entrance to the world. Welcome to life, kid. 00:04:33.730 --> 00:04:36.389 Try not to get left behind. So that sets the 00:04:36.389 --> 00:04:40.329 tone. Yeah. He goes from a palace to permanent 00:04:40.329 --> 00:04:42.769 exile. Ended up in The Hague in the Netherlands. 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:44.949 And this is so crucial for understanding his 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:47.709 personality. He grew up as a prince, but a prince 00:04:47.709 --> 00:04:49.970 without a country. Right. The family was relying 00:04:49.970 --> 00:04:53.579 on pensions from relatives and, you know. ponding 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:55.620 their jewelry just to pay the rent and keep up 00:04:55.620 --> 00:04:58.000 appearances. That is a weird psychological space 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.860 to grow up in. You're told you're better than 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.000 everyone else, you have this royal title, but 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.259 you're broke and living on charity? Exactly. 00:05:04.420 --> 00:05:06.980 It creates a massive chip on the shoulder. He 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:09.939 had something to prove from day one. And to top 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:14.120 it all off, his home life was cold. His mother, 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:16.740 Elizabeth, was known to be quite distant. Yeah, 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:19.120 the letters and records suggest she actually 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.720 preferred her pet monkeys and dogs to her own 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:25.699 children. Ouch! Replaced by a monkey? That's 00:05:25.699 --> 00:05:27.920 got to do wonders for your self -esteem. It meant 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:30.259 Rupert and his siblings were raised primarily 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:33.740 by French governors and tutors. The education 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:36.160 was rigorous, though. We're talking strict Calvinism, 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:38.759 so very religious, very disciplined. He studied 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:41.660 logic, mathematics, drawing, fortification. So 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:44.660 practical stuff, not just philosophy. Very practical. 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:46.800 And he wasn't just book smart, right? The notes 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:48.579 mention he was a bit of a wild child. He was 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:50.660 a handful. He earned a nickname in the court, 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:55.199 Robert le Diable, Rupert the Devil. He was described 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:59.620 as fiery, mischievous, just incredibly passionate. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.160 He hated Latin and Greek, the classic scholar 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.519 subjects, but he was brilliant at math and drawing. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:06.959 And physically, he was an anomaly. You mentioned 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.319 his height. He grew incredibly fast. By the time 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.180 he was 18, he was about six foot four. In 1630s. 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:14.899 I mean, that's NBA size in an era where the average 00:06:14.899 --> 00:06:17.240 man was probably five, six or five, seven. He 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:19.139 would have towered over almost everyone on the 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:21.879 battlefield. And that is exactly where he went. 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:24.680 He didn't really have a teenage phase. He went 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:27.300 straight into the war. At what age? He was fighting 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:29.839 in the 80 Years War and the 30 Years War while 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.800 he was still a teenager. He was at the siege 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:35.779 of Rhineburg at age 14. 14 years old, standing 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:38.600 in a trench, getting shot at. It's just a different 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:41.480 world. It was his only career option. As the 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:44.279 younger son of a deposed king, he had to fight 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.540 for a living. He was essentially a high -class 00:06:46.540 --> 00:06:50.500 mercenary. But this early military career hit 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:54.240 a major speed bump. Right. In 1638, the Battle 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.839 of Lotho. Exactly. He was trying to help his 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:58.759 brother reclaim their father's lands. Yeah. It 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.079 went terribly. What happened? Well, Rupert fought 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.339 like a demon. The accounts say he cut his way 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:05.639 through the enemy ranks. But he was surrounded, 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:08.279 his horse was killed, and he was captured by 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:10.720 the imperial forces. So now the giant teenager 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.680 is a prisoner of war. For three years. He was 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.620 imprisoned in the castle at Linz. But... And 00:07:16.620 --> 00:07:18.579 this is important. We have to adjust our modern 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:21.459 idea of prison. So he wasn't in a dungeon breaking 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:25.699 rocks. No, he was a valuable royal hostage. The 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:28.040 emperor actually tried to recruit him. They offered 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:30.560 him freedom, a command in the imperial army, 00:07:30.699 --> 00:07:33.959 huge estates on one condition. Let me guess. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:38.139 Religion. He had to convert to Catholicism. And 00:07:38.139 --> 00:07:40.220 that's a pretty tutting offer for a brick exile. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:42.199 Sell out your religion, get rich, get out of 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:45.420 jail. And he said no. He refused. He held firm 00:07:45.420 --> 00:07:48.220 to his Calvinist faith. So he settled in for 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:50.379 the long haul. And this imprisonment is actually 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:52.740 where we see the Renaissance man start to emerge. 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:55.519 He treated it like a university. What does he 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:57.860 do? He played tennis. He practiced his shooting. 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:00.439 He read military textbooks. And he really focused 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:03.680 on his art, specifically etching. And I saw a 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.500 note here about a romance in prison. Yes, with 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:10.060 the jailer's daughter, Susan Kufstein. It sounds 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:11.660 like something out of a novel, doesn't it? It 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:13.379 really does. But perhaps the most significant 00:08:13.379 --> 00:08:15.839 relationship he formed in prison, and the one 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.459 that would haunt his reputation later, was with 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:22.100 a dog. Ah, here we go. The dog. I feel like this 00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:24.519 dog needs his own deep dive. He probably does. 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:28.040 Rupert was gifted a rare white hunting poodle 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.480 by an English admirer while he was in prison. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.059 Now, when we say poodle, we're not talking about 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.940 the perfectly groomed, poofy show dogs we see 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:38.679 today. Not at all. This was a standard poodle. 00:08:39.070 --> 00:08:42.970 A proper hunting dog. Smart, agile, tough, a 00:08:42.970 --> 00:08:45.690 water retriever. He named him Boy. Just Boy. 00:08:46.090 --> 00:08:48.350 Or Poodle. German word for Poodle. He kept it 00:08:48.350 --> 00:08:51.450 simple. But this dog became his shadow. He taught 00:08:51.450 --> 00:08:54.379 it tricks and slept in his bed. When Rupert was 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:56.980 finally released in 1641 after promising not 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:59.120 to fight against the emperor again, he took Boy 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.559 with him. And that dog was about to become the 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:04.019 most famous animal in British history. The most 00:09:04.019 --> 00:09:06.279 infamous, maybe. Right, because this is the pivot 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:08.440 point. Rupert is out of prison. He's got his 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:11.799 giant white dog. He's 23 years old. And his uncle, 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:15.759 King Charles I of England, is in deep. deep trouble. 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:18.320 The English Civil War is kicking off in 1642. 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:20.820 It's the king versus parliament. It's a messy, 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.200 brutal conflict over who actually runs the country. 00:09:23.580 --> 00:09:26.340 Charles summons Rupert. And when Rupert arrives, 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.820 he brings something the English hadn't seen before. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.100 He brings modern European warfare. The English 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:34.279 hadn't fought a major war on their own soil in 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:36.940 a long, long time. Their tactics were outdated 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:40.779 almost. Polite. Polite warfare, in a way. Rupert 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:42.980 shows up with the brutal experience of the Thirty 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:45.879 Years' War. Charles immediately appoints him 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.860 general force. He puts a 23 -year -old in charge 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.360 of the entire cavalry. That seems incredibly 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:54.220 risky. It was a gamble, but it paid off instantly. 00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:57.399 Rupert introduced shock tactics. Okay, break 00:09:57.399 --> 00:09:59.220 that down for us. What's the difference between 00:09:59.220 --> 00:10:01.820 what the English were doing and what Rupert told 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:03.980 them to do? Okay, so the traditional English 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:06.720 method at the time was called the caracole. Cavalry 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:09.240 would ride up to the enemy, fire their pistols, 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:12.200 wheel around, ride to the back to reload, and 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:13.679 the next rank would come up. So it's basically 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.080 a drive -by shooting on horseback. Very slow. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.899 Exactly. It was slow. It was static. Rupert said, 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:21.980 no, put the pistols away. He taught them the 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:24.200 Swedish tactic he'd seen in Europe. You form 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:26.720 a tight line, knee to knee. You draw swords. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:30.000 And you charge at a full gallop directly into 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.000 the enemy infantry. You turn the horse itself 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.299 into a projectile. Precisely. It's physics and 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:38.220 terror. A wall of horse and steel hitting you 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:41.419 at 30 miles per hour. It just shattered the parliamentarian 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:43.840 lines. At the Battle of Edge Hill, the first 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.679 major fight, Rupert's charge just evaporated 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:48.700 the enemy wing. It was terrifying to behold. 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:51.399 But this is where the flaw in his genius appears, 00:10:51.580 --> 00:10:53.740 isn't it? I've heard it described that he had 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:56.639 the go -butter, but no stop. button. That is 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:58.779 the classic criticism and it is largely valid. 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.080 At Edge Hill his men smashed the enemy but then 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:05.460 they kept going. They didn't reform. Nope. They 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:07.960 chased the fleeing troops for miles. They stopped 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.539 to loot the baggage train. Meanwhile back on 00:11:10.539 --> 00:11:13.100 the actual battlefield the king's infantry was 00:11:13.100 --> 00:11:15.759 left exposed and got hammered. So he won the 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.519 moment but almost lost the battle because he 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:19.679 couldn't control the chaos he created. The recurring 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.100 theme. He was a brilliant tactician, but an undisciplined 00:11:23.100 --> 00:11:26.519 commander. And arrogant. Oh, so arrogant. He 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:29.460 became the archetype of the Cavalier. Long hair, 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:32.840 lace collars, flamboyant dress, incredibly brave, 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.460 but looking down his nose at everyone. He didn't 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:37.360 suffer fools, and he thought most of the English 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.840 commanders were fools, pretty much. And this 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.639 is where the propaganda machine kicks into high 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:45.419 gear. Because the parliamentarians, the roundheads, 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.039 they were terrified of him. But they were oddly 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:50.279 obsessed with the dog. Right. It's a fascinating 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:53.240 case study in 17th century fake news. It really 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:56.740 is. The parliamentarian writers needed to dehumanize 00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:58.740 Rupert because he was beating them so badly. 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:02.279 So they targeted Boy. They published these pamphlets 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.740 claiming this white poodle was a familiar. A 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.399 witch's familiar. A demon in animal form. Exactly. 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:10.279 I looked at some of the claims in the source 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.419 material and they are just... Wild. They said 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:15.519 the dog could catch bullets. Catch bullets in 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.159 his mouth, find hidden treasure, prophesy the 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.360 future. They claimed Rupert spoke to the dog 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.039 in a secret language and the dog gave him tactical 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.639 advice before battles. My favorite one is the 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:28.940 shapeshifter theory. It's just so out there. 00:12:29.059 --> 00:12:31.460 Oh, the Lapland lady. Yes, please tell me about 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:33.980 the Lapland lady. So one pamphlet claimed the 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:36.320 dog was actually a beautiful witch from Lapland 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.799 who could shapeshift into a white dog to protect 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:42.070 the prince. And it's she. Well, let's just say 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:43.990 they implied the relationship was very close. 00:12:44.269 --> 00:12:47.509 That is... wow. Politics hasn't changed much, 00:12:47.549 --> 00:12:49.330 has it? Just make up the craziest thing possible 00:12:49.330 --> 00:12:51.590 to discredit your opponent. And the royalists 00:12:51.590 --> 00:12:53.509 didn't help. They thought it was hilarious. They 00:12:53.509 --> 00:12:56.090 leaned into it. Rupert would have the dog sit 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:58.529 at the dinner table during councils of war. It 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:02.350 just added to his aura of invincibility. I have 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:04.549 a magic dog. What do you have? But being that 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:07.559 scary has a downside. He wasn't just known as 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.139 a wizard. He was known as the prince robber. 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.240 Yes. This is the darker side of his legacy in 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.200 the war. Rupert brought total war to England. 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.379 In Europe, armies lived off the land, which meant 00:13:19.379 --> 00:13:21.460 taking food and money from civilians. A kind 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.460 of sanctioned looting. In England, that was seen 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:26.399 as a war crime. Their wars hadn't been like that. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.620 So when Rupert demanded money from Leicester 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:30.940 to not sack the city, or when he attacked Birmingham, 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:33.440 it was a shock to the system. Let's talk about 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.779 the incident at Birmingham, the burning of Birmingham. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.820 Rupert attacked the town, and in the chaos of 00:13:38.820 --> 00:13:40.740 the fighting, a huge portion of it burned down. 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:43.200 The parliamentarians immediately painted him 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.980 as a monster who willfully torched innocent people's 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:48.580 homes. And was it willful? What do the sources 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:51.659 say? They're split. It is likely he lost control 00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:54.279 of his men. Again, that discipline issue, or 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:56.320 that fire simply started during the street fighting 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:59.740 and spread naturally. But the label stuck. He 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:02.840 was the bloody prince. He was seen as a foreign 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:06.080 mercenary wrecking England. And eventually the 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.840 war turns. The parliamentarians get their act 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.340 together. They form the new model army. They 00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:13.980 get disciplined. They get Oliver Cromwell. And 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:16.600 Rupert's luck runs out. The real turning point 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.220 for him personally is the surrender of Bristol 00:14:19.220 --> 00:14:22.950 in 1645. Right. Bristol was a key port, the second 00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:25.350 city of the kingdom. Exactly. Rupert was in charge 00:14:25.350 --> 00:14:27.549 of defending it. But he looked at the situation. 00:14:27.830 --> 00:14:29.809 There was plague in the city. The walls were 00:14:29.809 --> 00:14:32.529 weak. He was outnumbered. And he knew fighting 00:14:32.529 --> 00:14:34.710 meant a massacre of the civilians and his men. 00:14:35.009 --> 00:14:38.409 So he surrendered to save lives. That seems like 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:41.549 a rational military decision. It was. But King 00:14:41.549 --> 00:14:43.950 Charles saw his treason. He was devastated. He 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:46.490 fired Rupert, just like that. He dismissed him 00:14:46.490 --> 00:14:48.950 from all command and revoked his passports. Imagine 00:14:48.950 --> 00:14:51.799 that. You fight for your uncle for three years. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:53.860 You become the most hated man in the country 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:56.200 for him. And then he fires you for making a rational 00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:59.279 choice to save lives. Rupert did not handle it 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.759 well. He actually rode through enemy territory, 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.360 fighting skirmishers along the way, just to get 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:07.519 to the king and demand a court -martial. He forced 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.860 the king to listen to him. I'm not leaving until 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.820 you admit I was right. And he won. The court 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:15.940 -martial exonerated him completely. But it didn't 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:19.480 matter. The war was lost by then. And then... 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:22.740 the final personal blow came. At the Battle of 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:24.820 Marston Moor, which is a total disaster for the 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:28.299 royalists, Boy escaped his leash in the camp. 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.120 Oh. He ran onto the battlefield, apparently looking 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:33.620 for Rupert, and he was shot and killed. That's 00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:35.440 just tragic. The parliamentarians celebrated 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.940 it like they had killed a general. They circulated 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:40.000 pictures of the dead dog with captions like, 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:43.000 The devil is dead. It broke Rupert's heart. It 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:45.379 was the end of the magic for him, in a way. So 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:48.360 let's take stock. The war is lost. His dog is 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.210 dead. His uncle the king is about to be captured 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:54.590 and then executed. Rupert is banished. He's in 00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:57.370 his late 20s. Most people would just go find 00:15:57.370 --> 00:15:59.889 a quiet cottage in France and retire. But not 00:15:59.889 --> 00:16:03.350 Rupert. Rupert decides to become a pirate. Privateer 00:16:03.350 --> 00:16:05.610 is the polite term he would have used. But yes, 00:16:05.730 --> 00:16:09.230 a pirate. He refused to give up the fight. During 00:16:09.230 --> 00:16:11.830 the interregnum, the period when Oliver Cromwell 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:14.789 was running England as a Republic grister, Rupert... 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:17.200 took command of the tattered remains of the Royalist 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.139 fleet. And this wasn't a glorious adventure, 00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:21.120 was it? We aren't talking Jack Sparrow here. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:23.740 This was grim. No, this is one of the most grueling 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:26.100 parts of his life. They were starving. Their 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:28.440 ships were rotting and leaking. They were sailing 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.919 from Ireland to Portugal to the Mediterranean, 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:34.480 basically stealing any ship and cargo they could 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.679 find to sell. Just to fund the exiled court? 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.039 Exactly. To send money to the exiled Charles 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.320 II. And all this time, they're being hunted by 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:45.210 the English Navy. Relentlessly. Admiral Robert 00:16:45.210 --> 00:16:47.830 Blake, who was a brilliant parliamentarian commander, 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:52.350 was chasing them everywhere. He was. Eventually, 00:16:52.549 --> 00:16:54.909 Rupert realizes Europe is too hot. They can't 00:16:54.909 --> 00:16:57.070 stay there. So he decides to cross the Atlantic. 00:16:57.509 --> 00:17:00.250 He goes to West Africa first, to the Gambia. 00:17:00.389 --> 00:17:04.329 What on earth was the plan there? Gold. He had 00:17:04.329 --> 00:17:07.089 heard rumors of a mountain of gold. He took his 00:17:07.089 --> 00:17:09.690 fleet up the Gambia River. But instead of gold, 00:17:09.730 --> 00:17:13.309 they found malaria. Rupert almost died. He was 00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:16.029 delirious with fever for weeks. And I read that 00:17:16.029 --> 00:17:17.750 he acquired a servant there who stayed with him 00:17:17.750 --> 00:17:20.910 for years. Yes, a Moorish servant. The records 00:17:20.910 --> 00:17:23.150 don't give us his name, unfortunately. But he 00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:25.150 returned to England with Rupert and stayed with 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:27.170 him for the rest of his life. But the trip was 00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:29.849 a bust. No gold. So they crossed the Atlantic 00:17:29.849 --> 00:17:32.670 to the Caribbean. And this is where the Forrest 00:17:32.670 --> 00:17:34.730 Gump factor kicks in again. He's sailing around 00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:37.049 the Virgin Islands trying to pirate Spanish ships 00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:40.009 and a massive hurricane hits. I cannot even imagine 00:17:40.009 --> 00:17:42.809 being in a 17th century wooden ship in a Category 00:17:42.809 --> 00:17:44.630 5 hurricane. It must have been catastrophic. 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:47.289 And this is where the real tragedy of his pirate 00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:49.970 years happens. Yeah. His brother, Prince Maurice, 00:17:50.210 --> 00:17:52.710 was with him. Maurice was captaining a ship called 00:17:52.710 --> 00:17:55.369 the Defiance. Maurice had been with him through 00:17:55.369 --> 00:17:59.069 the whole war, right? Everywhere. They were inseparable. 00:17:59.329 --> 00:18:02.089 And during the storm, in the pitch black, the 00:18:02.089 --> 00:18:06.970 defiance disappeared. Gone. Gone with all hands. 00:18:07.349 --> 00:18:10.069 Vanished. Rupert spent days searching the waters, 00:18:10.170 --> 00:18:12.410 refusing to leave the area, hoping to find a 00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:15.210 survivor, a piece of wreckage, anything. But 00:18:15.210 --> 00:18:17.569 he never did. He lost his brother to the sea. 00:18:17.930 --> 00:18:20.089 It's a pattern. It seems like everyone he gets 00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:23.009 close to, he loses. His father, his dog, his 00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:25.250 uncle, and now his brother. It took a heavy toll. 00:18:25.390 --> 00:18:28.089 When Rupert finally returned to Europe in 1653, 00:18:28.390 --> 00:18:31.829 he was exhausted. He was bitter. And to top it 00:18:31.829 --> 00:18:33.849 all off, he fell out with Charles II because 00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:35.730 the piracy campaign hadn't actually made much 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:38.670 money. It wasn't profitable. No. The ships cost 00:18:38.670 --> 00:18:41.079 more to repair than the loot was worth. So he's 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:43.420 washed up. The warrior prince is now just an 00:18:43.420 --> 00:18:46.200 old, tired sailor with no money and no home. 00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:48.680 It absolutely seemed that way. He spent a few 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.640 years just wandering Germany, living off handouts. 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:56.220 But then history flips again. 1660. The Restoration. 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:59.880 Cromwell is dead. Cromwell is dead. The Republic 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:03.119 collapses. Charles II is invited back to England 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:06.299 to be king. The monarchy is restored. And Rupert 00:19:06.299 --> 00:19:08.339 comes home. And this is my favorite pivot in 00:19:08.339 --> 00:19:10.039 the entire story, because he doesn't go back 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:12.140 to being a general. He doesn't go back to being 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:15.819 a pirate. He becomes a nerd. A philosophic warrior, 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:18.880 as he was called. He settles into Windsor Castle. 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:21.400 He's made the constable of the castle. And he 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:23.680 transforms his apartments into a high -tech laboratory. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.019 Paint the picture for us. What does this place 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:28.880 look like? Oh, it sounds wonderful. The sources 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.779 describe walls decorated with armor, pikes, and 00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:34.589 muskets relics of the soldier's life. but then 00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:37.289 the tables are covered in glass tubes, crucibles, 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:39.410 forges, and mathematical instruments. It's like 00:19:39.410 --> 00:19:42.009 a Bond villain's lair, but for science. It really 00:19:42.009 --> 00:19:44.009 is. And he's hanging out with the heavy hitters, 00:19:44.009 --> 00:19:46.990 right? The heaviest. He becomes a founding member 00:19:46.990 --> 00:19:48.789 of the Royal Society. We're talking about the 00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:51.789 group that included Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, 00:19:51.829 --> 00:19:54.750 Christopher Wren. And Rupert wasn't just a royal 00:19:54.750 --> 00:19:57.430 mascot they kept around for funding. He was a 00:19:57.430 --> 00:19:59.950 genuine contributor. He was in the lab, doing 00:19:59.950 --> 00:20:02.670 the work. Let's talk about the nuggets, the inventions, 00:20:02.890 --> 00:20:05.250 because some of these are mind blowing for the 00:20:05.250 --> 00:20:09.289 1660s. Start with the famous Prince Rupert's 00:20:09.289 --> 00:20:11.250 drops. OK, if you haven't seen these on a video, 00:20:11.309 --> 00:20:13.349 you really need to look them up. Rupert introduced 00:20:13.349 --> 00:20:15.430 these to England. They're these tadpole shaped 00:20:15.430 --> 00:20:18.170 glass droplets made by dripping molten glass 00:20:18.170 --> 00:20:20.609 into a bucket of cold water. And they have these. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:24.279 Very strange properties. Crazy properties. Because 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:26.680 the outside cools instantly and the inside is 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:29.279 still hot, it creates immense internal stress, 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:32.400 immense surface tension. The head of the drop 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.079 is virtually indestructible. You can hit it with 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:37.380 a hammer, you can shoot it, and it won't break. 00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:39.579 It's stronger than steel. But there's a trick. 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:43.859 But if you nip the tail... Just a tiny snap with 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:46.559 a pair of pliers. The release of that tension 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.980 causes the entire thing to explode into fine 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:51.180 dust instantly. The fracture moves at something 00:20:51.180 --> 00:20:53.480 like 4 ,000 miles per hour. And he'd use these 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:55.319 as party tricks. He'd use them to demonstrate 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:58.019 physics to the king and the court. It was a party 00:20:58.019 --> 00:21:00.619 trick, but it was also deep science about material 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:02.880 stress. But he didn't just play with glass. He 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.400 was making weapons. Of course he was. Always 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:07.880 the soldier. He invented a type of gunpowder 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:10.000 that was claimed to be 10 times stronger than 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.579 the standard issue. He designed a repeating gun 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:17.619 with rotating barrels. A revolver in the 1660s. 00:21:17.619 --> 00:21:20.339 A proto -machine gun, essentially. He also designed 00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:22.680 a diving engine, which was basically a torpedo 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:25.279 for blowing up ships underwater. And he invented 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.799 a new alloy called Prince's Metal. Right, a type 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.779 of brass. A form of brass that was highly resistant 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:34.019 to corrosion, which made it perfect for naval 00:21:34.019 --> 00:21:36.079 artillery. And I read something about surgical 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:39.180 tools. This one really surprised me. Yes. Remember 00:21:39.180 --> 00:21:40.940 I mentioned he was shot in the head in France 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:43.539 during his exile years? He had to be trepanned, 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:45.599 which is where they drill a hole in your skull 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.960 to relieve pressure. A horrifying procedure. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:50.420 I can't even imagine. While he was recovering, 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:53.319 he apparently decided the tools the doctors used 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:56.539 were garbage. Just completely inefficient. So 00:21:56.539 --> 00:21:58.599 he designed better surgical instruments for skull 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:00.839 operations. Doctor, your drill is inefficient. 00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:03.559 Here, let me design you a better one. The confidence 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:06.539 of this man. It's practical genius. He sees a 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:09.519 problem, he invents a solution, and we haven't 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.480 even touched the art. This is the soft side of 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.240 Rupert. He is credited with popularizing mezzotint 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.720 in England. Okay, I am not an art major. Explain 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.819 mezzotint to me like I'm five. Of course. So, 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:22.079 traditional engraving is drawing with lines. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.900 You scratch a line into a copper plate, ink goes 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:27.339 in the line, you get a black line on white paper. 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:29.839 Simple enough. Mezzotint is the exact opposite. 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:32.680 You start by roughening the entire copper plate 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:35.319 with a tool called a rocker. So if you printed 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:38.460 it, it would be pitch black. Then you use a scraper 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:40.579 and a burnisher to smooth out the parts that 00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:42.000 you want to be light. So you're drawing with 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.559 light out of darkness. Exactly. It allows for 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.880 incredible shading, velvet -like textures, and 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.500 really moody, dramatic lighting. It was perfect 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:53.670 for the Baroque style. Rupert's most famous work, 00:22:53.849 --> 00:22:56.549 The Great Executioner, is considered a masterpiece. 00:22:57.049 --> 00:23:00.009 It isn't just good for a prince. It's professional 00:23:00.009 --> 00:23:02.410 great art. So we have the warrior, the pirate, 00:23:02.549 --> 00:23:05.589 the scientist, the artist. But we have one more 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:08.230 life to cover. And this one is the reason why, 00:23:08.329 --> 00:23:11.250 if you live in Canada, you see the name Rupert 00:23:11.250 --> 00:23:14.210 absolutely everywhere. This brings us to the 00:23:14.210 --> 00:23:17.210 business tycoon phase. Rupert became interested 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:20.369 in the fur trade. He met two French explorers. 00:23:20.670 --> 00:23:23.769 Radisson and Grosseye. Right. They had a theory 00:23:23.769 --> 00:23:25.650 that you could access the fur -rich interior 00:23:25.650 --> 00:23:28.849 of North America via the Hudson Bay rather than 00:23:28.849 --> 00:23:30.890 going up the St. Lawrence River, which the French 00:23:30.890 --> 00:23:33.569 controlled. And Rupert the Risk -Taker saw an 00:23:33.569 --> 00:23:36.509 opportunity. A massive one. He formed a syndicate, 00:23:36.670 --> 00:23:39.349 invested his own money, and sent ships. When 00:23:39.349 --> 00:23:41.269 they came back with high -quality beaver belts, 00:23:41.470 --> 00:23:44.150 he went to his cousin, King Charles II, and got 00:23:44.150 --> 00:23:47.130 a royal charter in 1670. The Hudson's Bay Company 00:23:47.130 --> 00:23:49.869 was born. And the land grant in that charter. 00:23:50.349 --> 00:23:52.269 It wasn't small, was it? It was astronomical. 00:23:52.869 --> 00:23:55.809 The king granted the company Rupert's land. And 00:23:55.809 --> 00:23:58.049 the charter defined this as all the land drained 00:23:58.049 --> 00:24:00.130 by rivers that flow into Hudson Bay. Which they 00:24:00.130 --> 00:24:02.130 probably didn't realize at the time was. No, 00:24:02.170 --> 00:24:04.730 they had no idea of the geography. That drainage 00:24:04.730 --> 00:24:08.069 basin covers about 40 % of modern Canada. It 00:24:08.069 --> 00:24:10.730 stretches from Alberta to Quebec and south down 00:24:10.730 --> 00:24:13.210 into North Dakota and Minnesota. It was a third 00:24:13.210 --> 00:24:15.190 of a continent. And Rupert owned it. He was the 00:24:15.190 --> 00:24:17.029 first governor of the company. He effectively 00:24:17.029 --> 00:24:19.210 controlled a territory the size of Western Europe. 00:24:19.630 --> 00:24:22.589 And the great irony is he never saw it. He never 00:24:22.589 --> 00:24:25.650 set foot in Canada. But his administrative decisions, 00:24:25.950 --> 00:24:28.670 his charter, shaped the political geography of 00:24:28.670 --> 00:24:31.269 North America for centuries. That is just incredible. 00:24:31.309 --> 00:24:33.569 He's sitting in a lab in Windsor inventing skull 00:24:33.569 --> 00:24:36.250 drills and drawing mezzotints while simultaneously 00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:39.210 owning half of Canada. And still finding time 00:24:39.210 --> 00:24:42.930 to go back to sea. In his 50s, he served as admiral 00:24:42.930 --> 00:24:45.789 during the Anglo -Dutch Wars. And again, he couldn't 00:24:45.789 --> 00:24:48.210 help but innovate. He developed aggressive naval 00:24:48.210 --> 00:24:50.759 doctrines. Specifically the idea of breaking 00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:53.180 the enemy line rather than just sailing parallel 00:24:53.180 --> 00:24:55.720 to it. Which is the tactic Nelson used to win 00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:57.599 the Battle of Trafalgar over a century later. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.599 Exactly. Rupert was always pushing for the aggressive 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:03.279 move, the decisive blow. Did he ever settle down 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.920 personally? We talked about the jailer's daughter, 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:07.259 but did he ever marry? He never married legitimately. 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:10.359 He knew his role was to be the supportive cousin 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:14.140 to the king, not to start a rival dynasty. But 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:16.680 he did find happiness in his later years. He 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:18.680 fell deeply in love with an actress named Peg 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:22.759 Hughes. An actress? In the 1600s, that was scandal 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:25.559 territory. Huge scandal. Actresses were seen 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:29.339 as, well, barely above prostitutes in the social 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:32.180 hierarchy of the time. But Rupert didn't care. 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:34.440 He was devoted to her. They lived together, and 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:37.609 they had a daughter. And he named her. Let me 00:25:37.609 --> 00:25:39.789 guess. Ruperta. Of course he did. He branded 00:25:39.789 --> 00:25:42.069 his own child. And the domestic glimpse we get 00:25:42.069 --> 00:25:44.529 from the letters is really charming. The man 00:25:44.529 --> 00:25:46.950 who burned Birmingham, who raided the Gambia, 00:25:46.970 --> 00:25:49.769 who charged at Edge Hill. He writes about his 00:25:49.769 --> 00:25:51.990 daughter Ruperta. He says, quote, she rules the 00:25:51.990 --> 00:25:53.990 whole house and sometimes argues with her mother, 00:25:54.089 --> 00:25:56.549 which makes us all laugh. The terrifying cavalier 00:25:56.549 --> 00:25:58.650 general being bossed around by a toddler. It's 00:25:58.650 --> 00:26:01.569 a very human end to a superhuman life. He died 00:26:01.569 --> 00:26:04.470 in 1682 at his home in Westminster. He was given 00:26:04.470 --> 00:26:06.849 a state funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey. 00:26:06.890 --> 00:26:10.210 So when we look back at this, how do we sum him 00:26:10.210 --> 00:26:12.630 up? Because usually we try to find a single thread. 00:26:12.890 --> 00:26:15.210 But here the thread is that there is no thread. 00:26:15.390 --> 00:26:18.130 I think the contradiction is the thread. He was 00:26:18.130 --> 00:26:20.369 a mad cavalier who was accused of brutality, 00:26:20.650 --> 00:26:23.490 but also a sensitive artist who revolutionized 00:26:23.490 --> 00:26:25.950 printmaking. Right. He was a pirate who raided 00:26:25.950 --> 00:26:28.670 for survival, but also a careful bureaucrat who 00:26:28.670 --> 00:26:31.029 managed the Royal Navy's logistics. He is a man 00:26:31.029 --> 00:26:34.190 of extremes. He didn't do anything halfway. And 00:26:34.190 --> 00:26:36.650 it raises a really provocative thought for us 00:26:36.650 --> 00:26:39.369 today. We live in a world of hyper -specialization. 00:26:39.970 --> 00:26:42.690 You're a doctor or you're a coder or a soldier. 00:26:42.930 --> 00:26:45.769 You pick a lane and you stay in it. Rupert is 00:26:45.769 --> 00:26:48.900 a reminder of an era. perhaps a lost era where 00:26:48.900 --> 00:26:51.099 a polymath prince could exist. Which makes you 00:26:51.099 --> 00:26:53.339 wonder, was it his unique once -in -a -generation 00:26:53.339 --> 00:26:56.380 genius, or was it the chaotic opportunity of 00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:58.039 the 17th century that allowed someone to be a 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.579 general, an admiral, a pirate, a governor, a 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:03.099 scientist, and an artist all at once? I think 00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:06.039 it was both. The chaos of the era created the 00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.339 vacuum, and Rupert had the sheer energy and intellect 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:12.910 to fill it. He saw the world not as separate 00:27:12.910 --> 00:27:16.970 boxes, but as one big problem to be solved, whether 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:19.569 that was winning a battle, fixing a skull, or 00:27:19.569 --> 00:27:21.490 drawing a picture. I don't think we'll ever see 00:27:21.490 --> 00:27:23.230 a resume like that again. If you want to see 00:27:23.230 --> 00:27:26.029 a little piece of his legacy, seriously, go to 00:27:26.029 --> 00:27:28.769 a video site and search for Prince Rupert's drops 00:27:28.769 --> 00:27:31.970 being crushed by a hydraulic press. It is incredibly 00:27:31.970 --> 00:27:35.069 satisfying science. It really is. Or just pull 00:27:35.069 --> 00:27:37.109 up a map of Canada and count how many times you 00:27:37.109 --> 00:27:38.829 see the word Rupert. You'll be counting for a 00:27:38.829 --> 00:27:41.690 while. That's all for this deep dive into the 00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:44.589 wildlife of the Devil Prince. Thanks for listening. 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:45.529 We'll see you next time.