Elizabeth (Bohemia)

Elizabeth 1596-1662, queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I of England. Her beauty attracted most of the royal suitors of Europe (she was nicknamed the "Queen of Hearts" ), but she was married (1613) to Frederick V, elector palatine (see Frederick the Winter King ) in order to cement an alliance between English and German Protestantism. She became queen of Bohemia in 1619, when her husband accepted the crown offered by the Bohemian diet. After Frederick was defeated (1620) in the battle of the White Mt., Elizabeth took up her residence in Holland, where she courageously endured privation and misfortune. She received little support from abroad, even from her son Charles Louis, who was restored to the Palatinate in 1648. In 1661 she returned to England against the wishes of King Charles II, who, however, pensioned her. Among her children were Prince Rupert ; Princess Elizabeth, who was the patroness of Descartes; and Sophia , who was electress of Hanover and mother of George I of England.

Elizabeth of Bohemia (1596–1662). The eldest daughter of James VI and I and sister of Charles I, she married in 1613 Frederick of the Palatinate. Five years later, the Bohemians elected Frederick as king in defiance of the Habsburgs. In the wars that followed, they were driven out of their new kingdom and the Palatinate overrun. She spent only October 1619–November 1620 at Prague and hence was known as the ‘Winter Queen’. She was the mother of Prince Rupert and through her daughter Sophia the Hanoverians came to the throne of Britain in 1714.

Elizabeth of Bohemia (1596–1662). The lives of Elizabeth and her husband are part of the fabric of European history. The eldest daughter of James VI and I and sister of Charles I, she married in 1613 Frederick of the Palatinate. Five years later, the Bohemians elected Frederick as king in defiance of the Habsburgs. In the wars that followed, they were driven out of their new kingdom and the Palatinate overrun. She spent only October 1619–November 1620 at Prague and hence was known as the ‘Winter Queen’. Elizabeth's husband died in 1632 and her son Charles Lewis was not restored to part of the Palatinate until the peace of Westphalia in 1648. By then her native land was in turmoil and she was forced to continue abroad: her small court was said to be overrun by rats, mice, and creditors. After the Restoration, she visited her nephew Charles II in England in 1661 but died shortly afterwards. She was the mother of Prince Rupert and through her daughter Sophia the Hanoverians came to the throne of Britain in 1714. Pepys, who saw her in 1660, thought her a ‘plain lady’, but in Sir Henry Wotton's poem ‘Ye meaner beauties of the night’, written about 1619, she was portrayed as a vision of loveliness.

J. A. Cannon