'Cavalier' is chiefly associated with the Royalist supporters of King Charles I in his struggle with Parliament in the English Civil War. English Civil War Īn engraving depicting Charles I and his adherents. 1597), where he is called 'Cavaleiro Justice' (knightly judge) and 'bully rook', a term meaning 'blustering cheat'. Shallow returns in The Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1596–1599), in which Robert Shallow says 'I'll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all the cavaleros about London'. Shakespeare used the word cavaleros to describe an overbearing swashbuckler or swaggering gallant in Henry IV, Part 2 (c. Etymology Ĭavalier derives from the same Latin root as the Italian word cavaliere, the French word chevalier, and the Spanish word caballero, the Vulgar Latin word caballarius, meaning 'horseman'. Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered to be an archetypal Cavalier. Although it referred originally to political and social attitudes and behaviour, of which clothing was a very small part, it has subsequently become strongly identified with the fashionable clothing of the court at the time. It was later adopted by the Royalists themselves. The term ' Cavalier' ( / ˌ k æ v ə ˈ l ɪər/) was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – c. Prince Rupert of the Rhine, often considered to be an archetypal Cavalier.

Cavaliers by John Barratt