Maurice of the Palatinate

Maurice, Prince Palatine of the Rhine KG (16 January 1621 – 1 September 1652) was the fourth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James VI and I and Anne of Denmark.Template:Sfn

Life

Maurice was present with his elder brother, Rupert, at the siege of Breda in 1637.Template:Sfn He then accompanied Rupert, to support their uncle Charles I in the English Civil War in 1642. Maurice served under Rupert with the cavalry at the Battle of Powick Bridge, where he was wounded,Template:Sfn and the Battle of Edgehill.Template:Sfn He accompanied his uncle Charles in the occupation of Oxford on 29 October 1642.Template:Sfn He commanded the army in Gloucestershire which engaged Sir William Waller in several battles in 1643, including the victory of Ripple Field (13 April),Template:Sfn culminating in the Royalist victory at the Battle of Roundway Down (13 July). By 1644, Maurice was appointed lieutenant-general south of the Thames,Template:Sfn assuming command of the army in Cornwall and spending the rest of the year campaigning there. He also led his army into Dartmouth during the English Civil War and stayed until the town surrendered. He based himself and his army at Milton Farm on the outskirts of the town and the town mayor at the time reported large quantities of claret and beer being requested on the evening of their victory.Template:Sfn

Maurice besieged Lyme Regis in April 1644, but he was compelled to end the siege in June, at great cost to his military standing.Template:Sfn At the Battle of Lostwithiel and the Second Battle of Newbury, he participated as a subordinate; at the Battle of Naseby, he fought under Rupert's command.Template:Sfn

Maurice attempted to defend Rupert's surrender of Bristol in 1645 to Charles. While unsuccessful, he did not share in Rupert's disgrace. Banished with Rupert in October 1646, he served with the French army in Flanders, but rejoined Rupert in 1648 as vice-admiral of his fleet. In 1649, while in exile, Maurice was made a Knight of the Garter.Template:Sfn In 1652, while sailing for the West Indies, he was caught in a hurricane near the Virgin Islands and went down with his flagship, HMS Defiance.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

External links

• Template:Link note
• English Civil War