Cavendish Riding Pegasus

Illustration in William Cavendish, Méthode et Invention Nouvelle de Dresser les Chevaux (1657-58)

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne KG KB PC (6 December 1592 – 25 December 1676) was an English polymath and aristocrat, having been a poet, equestrian, playwright, swordsman, politician, architect, diplomat and soldier. He was born into the wealthy Cavendish family at Handsworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire; it had a good relationship with the ruling Stuart monarchy and began to gain prominence after he was invested as a Knight of the Bath, and then inherited his father's Northern England estates.

At first a courtier of James I of England, Cavendish would later strike up friendships with Charles I of England and his wife Henrietta Maria for whom he hosted lavish banquets. He was created Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and entrusted with the education of the royal couple's son, the future Charles II of England. Cavendish was a staunch royalist helping to fund the king in his Bishops' Wars; and then during the English Civil War he was made a general for the struggle in the North of England against the roundheads. In 1645 he married the English poet, dramatist, philosopher, and natural scientist Margaret Lucas. After the defeat at Marston Moor, Cavendish went into self-imposed exile, only returning with the English Restoration when he was created a duke.