| Elizabeth Stuart | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by the Workshop ofMichiel Jansz. van Mierevelt,c. 1623 | |
| Electress consort of the Palatinate | |
| Tenure | 14 February 1613 – 23 February 1623 |
| Queen consort of Bohemia | |
| Tenure | 4 November 1619 – 8 November 1620 |
| Coronation | 7 November 1619 St Vitus Cathedral |
| Born | 19 August 1596 Dunfermline Palace,Fife,Kingdom of Scotland |
| Died | 13 February 1662(1662-02-13) (aged 65) Leicester House,Westminster, London,Kingdom of England |
| Burial | 17 February 1662 Westminster Abbey, London |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | See
|
| House | Stuart |
| Father | James VI and I |
| Mother | Anne of Denmark |
| Signature |  |
Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) wasElectress of the Palatinate and brieflyQueen of Bohemia as the wife ofFrederick V of the Palatinate. The couple's selection for the crown by the nobles ofBohemia was part of the political and religious turmoil that set off theThirty Years' War. Since her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted over only one winter, she is called "The Winter Queen" (German:Die Winterkönigin,Czech:Zimní královna).[1][2][3]
Princess Elizabeth was the only surviving daughter ofJames VI and I,King of Scotland,England, andIreland, and his queen,Anne of Denmark; she was the elder sister ofCharles I. Born in Scotland, she was named in honour of her father's cousin and predecessor on the English throne,Elizabeth I. During Elizabeth Stuart's childhood, unbeknownst to her, part of the failedGunpowder Plot was a scheme to replace her father with her on the throne, and forcibly raise her as aCatholic.
Her father later arranged for her marriage to theProtestant Frederick V, a senior prince of theHoly Roman Empire. Theywere married in the Chapel Royal in thePalace of Whitehall, and then left for his lands in Germany. Their marriage proved successful, but after they left Bohemia, they spent years in exile inThe Hague, while the Thirty Years' War continued. In her widowhood, she eventually returned to England at the end of her own life during theStuart Restoration of her nephew and is buried inWestminster Abbey.
With the death in 1714 of Elizabeth's great-niece,Anne, Queen of Great Britain, the lastStuart monarch, theBritish throne passed to her grandson (by her daughterSophia of Hanover) asGeorge I, initiating the rule of theHouse of Hanover.
Elizabeth was born atDunfermline Palace,Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2:00 am.[4][5] King James rode to the bedside fromCallendar, where he was attending the wedding of theEarl of Orkney.[6] At the time of her birth, her father wasKing of Scotland, but not yet King of England.[7] Named in honour ofElizabeth I of England,[8] her godmother, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal atHolyroodhouse,[9] and was then proclaimed by the heralds as "Lady Elizabeth".[5][10] During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth was brought up atLinlithgow Palace, where she was placed in the care ofLord Livingstone and his wife,Eleanor Hay.[11] A couple of years later the king's second daughter,Margaret, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth "did not pay particular attention to this younger sister", as even at this young age her affections were with her brother,Henry.[12]
When Queen Elizabeth I of England died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuart's father,James, succeeded as King of England and Ireland. TheCountess of Kildare was appointed the princess's governess. Along with her elder brother,Henry,[13] Elizabeth made the journey southward to England with her mother "in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment".[14] On her father's birthday, 19 June, Elizabeth danced atWorksop Manor withRobert Cecil's son.[15]
Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but "there is no evidence that she was present at herparents' coronation" on 25 July 1603.[16] It seems likely that by this time the royal children already had been removed toOatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. There was plague in London, and Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth were moved toWinchester.[17] Her mother, Anne of Denmark, produced amasque to welcome them.[18] On 19 October 1603 "an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington [sic] and his wife".[19]
Under the care ofLord andLady Harington atCoombe Abbey, Elizabeth metAnne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship. On 3 April 1604, Princess Elizabeth and her ladies rode from Coombe Abbey toCoventry. The Mayor and Aldermen met her at "Jabet's Ash on Stoke-green". She heard a sermon inSt Michael's Church and dined inSt Mary's Hall.[20]
Part of the intent of theGunpowder Plot of 1605 was to assassinate Elizabeth's father King James and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth fromCoombe Abbey, and place her on the throne of England – and presumably the thrones of Ireland and Scotland – as a Catholic monarch. The conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, it was believed, would perish alongside his father. Charles was seen as too feeble (having only just learnt to walk) andMary too young. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had already attended formal functions, and the conspirators knew that "she could fulfil a ceremonial role despite her comparative youth".[21]
The conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and at this point secure Elizabeth's accession as apuppet queen. She would then be brought up as a Catholic and later married to a Catholic bridegroom.[22] The plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed, andGuy Fawkes was caught by the King's soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder.[23]
Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time. This education included instruction in natural history, geography, theology, languages, writing, music, and dancing. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that "Latin had the unfortunate effect of making women more cunning".[24] By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in several languages, including French, "which she spoke with ease and grace" and would later use to converse with her husband.[25] She was also an excellent rider, had a thorough understanding of the Protestant religion, and had an aptitude for writing letters that "sounded sincere and never stilted".[26] She also was extremely literary, and "several mementoes of her early love of books exist".[27]
As the daughter of a reigning monarch, the hand of the young Elizabeth was seen as a very desirable prize.[28] Suitors came from across the continent and were many and varied. They included:
Each suitor brought to the proposed marriage the prospect of power and greatness for the young Elizabeth.
Marriage could be of great benefit to her father's kingdom. When James had succeeded to the English throne in 1603, England had acquired a new role in European affairs. James, unlike the childlessElizabeth I, by simply "having children, could play an important role in dynastic politics".[30] The selection of Elizabeth's spouse, therefore, had little to do with her personal preference and a great deal to do with the benefits the match could bring.
Most of her suitors were rejected quickly for a variety of reasons. Some simply were not of high enough birth, had no real prospects to offer, or in the case of Gustavus Adolphus, who on all other grounds seemed like a perfect match, because "his country was at war withQueen Anne's native Denmark".[31] Furthermore, England could not face another religious revolution, and therefore the religious pre-requisite was paramount.
The man chosen wasFrederick (Friedrich) V, Count Palatine of the Rhine. Frederick was of undeniably high lineage. His ancestors included the kings of Aragon and Sicily, thelandgraves of Hesse, the dukes of Brabant and Saxony, and the counts of Nassau and Leuven. He and Elizabeth also shared a common ancestor inHenry II of England. He was "a senior Prince of the Empire" and a staunch defender of the Protestant faith.[32]
However, Frederick's mother,Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau, was said to be against the match. His uncles,Duke of Bouillon, and Prince Maurice ofHouse of Orange-Nassau, urged him to accept, since the kingdom of Bohemia was important as being ex offico one of the seven Electors. If he accepted and also had the throne of Palatine, then Lutherans would hold 4 out of 7 of the offices, which would endanger the Habsburgs.[33]
Frederick arrived in England on 16 October 1612, and the match seemed to please them both from the beginning. Their contemporaries noted how Frederick seemed to "delight in nothing but her company and conversation".[34] Frederick also struck up a friendship with Elizabeth's elder brother, Prince Henry, which delighted his prospective bride immensely. King James did not take into consideration the couple's happiness, but saw the match as "one step in a larger process of achieving domestic and European concord".[35] The only person seemingly unhappy with the match wasQueen Anne. As the daughter of a king, the sister of a king, the wife of a king, and the mother of a future king, she also desired to be the mother of a queen. She is said to have been somewhat fond of Frederick's mild manner and generous nature but simply felt that he was of low stock.
On 6 November 1612, Henry, Prince of Wales, died. His death took an emotional toll on Elizabeth, and her new position as second-in-line to the throne made her an even more desirable match. Queen Anne and those like-minded who had "always considered thePalsgrave to be an unworthy match for her, were emboldened in their opposition".[36] Elizabeth stood by Frederick, whom her brother had approved, and whom she found to have the sentiments of a fine gentleman. Above all, he was "regarded as the future head of the Protestant interest in Germany".[37]
The wedding took place on 14 February 1613 at the royal chapel at thePalace of Whitehall and was a grand occasion that saw more royalty than ever visit the court of England.[38] The marriage was an enormously popular match and was the occasion for an outpouring of public affection with the ceremony described as "a wonder of ceremonial and magnificence even for that extravagant age".[39]
It was celebrated with lavish and sophisticated festivities both in London andHeidelberg, including mass feasts and lavish furnishings that cost nearly £50,000, and nearly bankrupted King James. Among many celebratory writings of the events wasJohn Donne's "Epithalamion, Or Marriage Song on the Lady Elizabeth, and Count Palatine being married on St Valentine's Day". A contemporary author viewed the whole marriage as a prestigious event that saw England "lend her rarest gem, to enrich the Rhine".[40]
After almost a two-month stay in London for continued celebrations, the couple began their journey to join the Electoral court in Heidelberg. The journey was filled with meeting people, sampling foods and wines, and being entertained by a wide variety of performers and companies. At each place the young couple stopped, Elizabeth was expected to distribute presents. The cash to allow her to do so was not readily available, so she had to use one of her own jewels as collateral so that the goldsmithAbraham Harderet would "provide her with suitable presents on credit".[41]
Her arrival in Heidelberg was seen as "the crowning achievement of a policy which tried to give the Palatinate a central place in international politics" and was long anticipated and welcomed.[42] Elizabeth's new husband transformed his seat atHeidelberg Castle, creating between 1610 and 1613 theEnglischer Bau (i.e., English Building) for her, a monkey-house, amenagerie, and the beginnings of a new garden in theItalian Renaissance garden style popular in England at the time.[43] The garden, theHortus Palatinus, was constructed by Elizabeth's former tutor,Salomon de Caus.[44] It was dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by contemporaries.[45]
Although Elizabeth and Frederick were considered to be genuinely in love and remained a romantic couple throughout the course of their marriage, problems already had begun to arise.[46] Before the couple had left England, King James had made Frederick promise that Elizabeth "would take precedence over his mother ... and always be treated as if she were a Queen".[47] This at times made life in the Palatinate uncomfortable for Elizabeth, for Frederick's motherLouise Juliana had "not expected to be demoted in favour of her young daughter-in-law" and, as such, their relationship was never more than civil.[48]
Elizabeth gave birth to three children in Heidelberg:Frederick Henry, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate (sometimes called Henry Frederick) was born in 1614,Charles in 1617, andElisabeth in 1618.
In 1619 Elizabeth's husband Frederick was one of those offered thethrone of Bohemia.
TheKingdom of Bohemia was "an aristocratic republic in all but name", whose nobles elected the monarch. It was one of the few successfulpluralist states.[49] The country had enjoyed a long period of religious freedom, but in March 1619, on the death of EmperorMatthias, this seemed about to change. TheHabsburg heir, Archduke Ferdinand, crowned King of Bohemia in 1617, was a fervent Catholic who brutally persecuted Protestants in his Duchy ofStyria. The Bohemian nobles had to choose between "either accepting Ferdinand as their king after all or taking the ultimate step of deposing him".[50] They decided on deposition, and, when others declined because of the risks involved, the Bohemians "pandered to the elector's royalist pretensions" and extended the invitation to Elizabeth's husband.[51]
Frederick, although doubtful, was persuaded to accept. Elizabeth "appealed to his honour as a prince and a cavalier, and to his humanity as a Christian", aligning herself with him completely.[52] The family moved toPrague, where "the new King was received with genuine joy".[53] Frederick was crowned officially in theSt. Vitus Cathedral at thePrague Castle on 4 November 1619. Thecoronation of Elizabeth as Queen of Bohemia followed three days later.[54]
The royal couple's third son,Prince Rupert, was born in Prague one month after the coronation. There was great popular rejoicing. Thus, Frederick's reign in Bohemia had begun well, but only lasted one year. The Bohemian crown "had always been a corner-stone of Habsburg policy" and the heir, Ferdinand, nowHoly Roman EmperorFerdinand II, would not yield.[55] Frederick's reign ended with the defeat of Bohemian Protestant armies at theBattle of White Mountain (which ended the first phase of theThirty Years' War) on 8 November 1620.
Elizabeth is remembered as the "Winter Queen", and Frederick as the "Winter King", in reference to the brevity of their reign, and to the season of the battle.
Fearing the worst, by the time of the defeat at theBattle of White Mountain, Elizabeth already had left Prague and was awaiting the birth of her fifth child at the Castle ofCustrin, about 80 km (50 mi) fromBerlin. It was there on 6 January 1621 that she "in an easy labour lasting little more than an hour" was delivered of a healthy son,Maurice.[56]
The military defeat removed the prospect of returning to Prague, and the entire family was forced to flee. They could no longer return to the Palatinate as it was occupied by the Catholic league and a Spanish contingent. Hence, after an invitation from thePrince of Orange, they moved toThe Hague.
Alas, Frederick had also made a mistake in leaving his homeland without adequate protection when he went off to Bohemia. His mother,Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau, had to flee to her daughter,Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Electress of Brandenburg in Berlin.[57]
Elizabeth arrived in The Hague in spring 1621 with only a small court. Her sense of duty to assist her husband out of the political mess in which they had found themselves meant that "she became much more an equal, if not the stronger, partner in the marriage".[42] Her lady-in-waiting,Amalia van Solms, soon became involved withFrederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and married him in 1625. The two women became rivals at the court of The Hague.[58]
While in exile Elizabeth produced eight more children, four boys and four girls. The last,Gustavus, was born on 2 January 1632 and baptised in theCloister Church where two of his siblings who had died young, Louis andCharlotte, were buried. Later that same month, Frederick said farewell to Elizabeth and set out on a journey to jointhe king of Sweden on the battlefield. After declining conditions set out by King Gustavus Adolphus that would have seen the Swedish king assist in his restoration, the pair parted with Frederick heading back toward The Hague. He had been ill with an infection since the beginning of October 1632, and died on the morning of 29 November before reaching The Hague.
When Elizabeth received the news of Frederick's death, she became senseless with grief and for three days did not eat, drink, or sleep. When Charles I heard of Elizabeth's state, he invited her to return to England, but she refused. The rights of her son and Frederick's heirCharles Louis "remained to be fought for".[59] Elizabeth then fought for her son's rights, but she remained in The Hague even after he regained theElectorate of the Palatinate in 1648. She became a patron of the arts, and commissioned a larger family portrait to honour herself and her husband, to complement the impressive large seascape of her 1613 joyous entry to the Netherlands. Her memorial family portrait of 1636 was outdone by Amalia van Solms, who commissioned theOranjezaal in 1648–1651 after the death of her husband Frederick Henry.
Elizabeth filled her time with copious letter writing and making marriage matches for her children. Between Frederick's death in 1632 and her own 30 years later, she witnessed the deaths of four more of her ten surviving children: Gustavus in 1641,Philip in 1650,[60] Henriette Marie in 1651, and Maurice in 1652. Her brotherCharles I, King of England was executed in early 1649, and the surviving Stuart family was exiled during the years of theCommonwealth. The relationships with her remaining living children also became somewhat estranged, although she did spend time with her growing number of grandchildren. She began to pay the price for having been "a distant mother to most of her own children", and the idea of going to England now was uppermost in her thoughts.[61]
In 1660, the Stuarts wererestored to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in the person of Elizabeth's nephewCharles II. Elizabeth arrived in England on 26 May 1661. By July, she was no longer planning on returning to The Hague and made plans for the remainder of her furniture, clothing, and other property to be sent to her. She then proceeded to move toDrury House, where she established a small, but impressive and welcoming, household. On 29 January 1662 she made another move, toLeicester House, Westminster, but by this time she was quite ill.[62] Elizabeth caughtpneumonia, bled from her lungs on 10 February 1662 and died soon after midnight on 13 February.
Her death caused little public stir as by then her "chief, if not only, claim to fame [in London] was as the mother ofRupert of the Rhine, the legendary Cavalier general".[63] On the evening of 17 February, when her coffin (into which her remains had been placed the previous day) leftSomerset House, Rupert was the only one of her sons to follow the funeral procession toWestminster Abbey.[64] There in thechapel of Henry VII, "a survivor of an earlier age, isolated and without a country she could really call her own", she was laid to rest among her ancestors and close to her beloved elder brother, Henry, Prince of Wales, in theMary, Queen of Scots vault.[42]
Elizabeth and Frederick had 13 children, six of whom outlived their mother:
| Ancestors of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia |
|---|
Under the EnglishAct of Settlement 1701, the succession to the English and Scottish crowns (later British crown) was settled on Elizabeth's youngest daughter Sophia of Hanover and her issue. In August 1714, Sophia's son (Elizabeth's grandson)George I ascended to the throne, with the future Royal family all his descendants and hence, also descendants of Elizabeth.
TheElizabeth River in colonialSoutheastern Virginia was named in honour of the princess, as wasCape Elizabeth, a peninsula (and today a town) in the United States in the state ofMaine.John Smith explored and mapped New England and gave names to places mainly based on the names used by Native Americans. When Smith presented his map to Charles I, he suggested that the king should feel free to change the "barbarous names" for "English" ones. The king made many such changes, but only four survive today, one of which is Cape Elizabeth.[66]
According to legend,William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven, builtAshdown House inBerkshire, England, in honour of Elizabeth, although she died before the house was completed.
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Elizabeth Stuart Born: 19 August 1596 Died: 13 February 1662 | ||
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Louise Juliana of Nassau | Electress consort Palatine 14 February 1613 – 23 February 1623 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by Anna of Tyrol | Queen consort of Bohemia 4 November 1619 – 9 November 1620 | Vacant Title next held by Eleonora Gonzaga |
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| Luxembourg |
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| Habsburg |
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| Jagiellonian |
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| Habsburg |
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| Habsburg-Lorraine |
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