Elizabeth of Bohemia [1596-1662] -- Queen of Bohemia
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a/k/a
Bohemia (1619-1620), Queen consortPalatine (1613-1623), Electress
Queen of Hearts
Winter Queen
Her beauty attracted most of the royal suitors of Europe,
giving rise to her nickname as the Queen of Hearts
,
but she was married (1613) to Frederick V,
palatine elector, 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 fled to Holland, where she courageously endured privation and misfortune, being forced to live on the generosity of that country. 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.
Honored as a martyr to Protestantism. Among her 13 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.
She was a crucial link between the houses of Stuart and Hanover.
The sobriquette "Winter Queen" refers to the travails and brief reign
in the winter of 1619-20.
[after Columbia Encyclopedia]
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Associated |
- Husband: ¤Frederick V of Bohemia [1596-1632] King, Elector of Rhine Palatine in HRE
- Father: ¤James VI\I [1566-1625] King of England