A Fistful of Farthings.....W.I.P.

[grant]

I too like the character of Rupert, the ideal of a cavalry leader in this period; young, brash, impetuous - all the things that make for great stories! He leads my ECW army.

[mikeland]

I too like the character of Rupert, the ideal of a cavalry leader in this period; young, brash, impetuous - all the things that make for great stories! He leads my ECW army.

This view owes more to Victorian romantic fiction than reality. Rupert was known to be one of those responsible for bringing the brutality against civilians common in the tyw to England. Like most 'heros' of the ECW he is somewhat tarnished.

[grant]

I too like the character of Rupert, the ideal of a cavalry leader in this period; young, brash, impetuous - all the things that make for great stories! He leads my ECW army.

This view owes more to Victorian romantic fiction than reality. Rupert was known to be one of those responsible for bringing the brutality against civilians common in the tyw to England. Like most 'heros' of the ECW he is somewhat tarnished.

So sayeth the Rebelle...





(I think you are right, though - like most war gamers, I have to ignore much of the bad, or we wouldn't be able to play any games! I enjoy many video games when they actually allow you to do stuff like shoot the Ewoks ...

[mikeland]

Shooting ewoks!

Fair point about wargames and reality, we all love to blend a bit of romantisim with our hard historical facts!

[grant]

Shooting ewoks!

They aren't just for sport, either, they are good eating!

[red]

Rupert was known to be one of those responsible for bringing the brutality against civilians common in the tyw to England. Like most 'heros' of the ECW he is somewhat tarnished.

Witch-hunts under Cromwell's rule being so much more preferable...
Que an attempt to excuse the parliamentarians either by claiming they were 'betrayed' (by traitors? really?) or 'everyone else was doing it' (so Adolf is off the hook due to Stalin's camps then) or some other knock-off whitewash.

Since when have civil wars been anything other than the most brutal conflicts in history?

[Invisible officer]

Brutal? Yes, But all this nice dress.

I remember leading a group through a museum and the ladies took the usual xxx attitude against the more modern arms. 19th century ! How can someone put that on exhibition, it was made to kill. But seeing the medieval armour some rooms later they became little princesses again.

With all that xxx talk before I was very nasty , telling them about the strategy of the time. Kill the peasants to hit the lord behind his castle walls. Chevaucher .....

[mikeland]

Rupert was known to be one of those responsible for bringing the brutality against civilians common in the tyw to England. Like most 'heros' of the ECW he is somewhat tarnished.

Witch-hunts under Cromwell's rule being so much more preferable...
Que an attempt to excuse the parliamentarians either by claiming they were 'betrayed' (by traitors? really?) or 'everyone else was doing it' (so Adolf is off the hook due to Stalin's camps then) or some other knock-off whitewash.

Since when have civil wars been anything other than the most brutal conflicts in history?

Que roll eyes at the assumption that everyone who prefers the Parliamentarian side like Cromwell!

Many parliamentarians, even in the 1640's didn't agree with Cromwells line.

As to the Witch hunts... Not sure where that fits in as it was a wide spread practice, across Europe and the new world through out the early modern era, regardless of political persuasion many people were still mired in superstition.

The majority of witch executions in Europe during that era were in the Holy Roman Empire, ten times more than in uk.

Back to the original point, I was staying that, during the war, Rupert was one of those who used the destruction of property and killing of civillians as a tool of war, like the armies in Europe. I am not aware of witch hunting bring used by either side as a tool of war in the 1640's.

[mikeland]

Brutal? Yes, But all this nice dress.

I remember leading a group through a museum and the ladies took the usual xxx attitude against the more modern arms. 19th century ! How can someone put that on exhibition, it was made to kill. But seeing the medieval armour some rooms later they became little princesses again.

With all that xxx talk before I was very nasty , telling them about the strategy of the time. Kill the peasants to hit the lord behind his castle walls. Chevaucher .....

You are right. It is easy to judge the past by our standards! It was a far more brutal age.

My point was that, far from being the dashing hero of Victorian fiction, Rupert was a child of his age, he has seen, and been involved in the dreadful atrocities of the TYW, and ad a child of his age he exported this style of warfare to the Uk.

[red]

Or Pym if you prefer, as for a cause Parliament was against the raising of a standing army, with standardised equipment for use against the Spanish. They then won the civil war by raising a standing army with standardised equipment which they subsequently used against the Spanish...
It wasn't about the right of Charles to rule, though Pym was certainly manoeuvring to seize power.