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ELIZABETH (1596-1662)

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 286 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ELIZABETH (1596-1662)  , See also:consort of See also:Frederick V., elector See also:palatine and titular See also:king of Bohemia, was the eldest daughter of See also:James I. of See also:Great See also:Britain and of See also:Anne of See also:Denmark, and was See also:born at See also:Falkland See also:Castle in Fifeshire in See also:August 1596 . She was entrusted to the care of the See also:earl of See also:Linlithgow, and after the departure of the royal See also:family to See also:England, to the countess of See also:Kildare, subsequently residing with See also:Lord and See also:Lady See also:Harington at See also:Combe See also:Abbey in See also:Warwickshire . In See also:November 16o5 the See also:Gunpowder See also:Plot conspirators formed a See also:plan to seize her See also:person and proclaim her See also:queen after the See also:explosion, in consequence of which she was removed by Lord Harington to See also:Coventry . In i6o8 she appeared at See also:court, where her beauty soon attracted admiration and became the theme of the poets, her suitors including the dauphin, See also:Maurice, See also:prince of See also:Orange, .Gustavus See also:Adolphus, See also:Philip III. of See also:Spain, and Frederick V., the elector palatine . A See also:union with the last-named was finally arranged, in spite of the queen's opposition, in See also:order to strengthen the See also:alliance with the See also:Protestant See also:powers in See also:Germany, and the See also:marriage took See also:place on the 14th of See also:February 1613 midst great rejoicing and festivities . The prince and princess entered See also:Heidelberg on the 17th of See also:June, and See also:Elizabeth, by means of her See also:English See also:annuity, enjoyed five years of See also:pleasure and of extravagant gaiety to which the small See also:German court was totally unaccustomed . On the 26th of August 1618, Frederick, as a leading Protestant prince, was chosen king by the Bohemians, who deposed the See also:emperor See also:Ferdinand, then See also:archduke of See also:Styria . There is no See also:evidence to show that his See also:acceptance was instigated by the princess or that she had any See also:influence in her See also:husband's See also:political career . She accompanied Frederick to See also:Prague in See also:October 1619, and was crowned on the 7th of November . Here her unrestrainable high See also:spirits and levity gave great offence to the citizens . On the approach of misfortune, however, she showed great courage and fortitude . She See also:left Prague on the 8th of November 162o, after the fatal See also:battle of the See also:White See also:Hill, for Kiistrin, travelling thence to See also:Berlin and See also:Wolfenbuttel, finally with Frederick taking See also:refuge at the See also:Hague with Prince Maurice of Orange .

The help sought from James came only in the shape of useless embassies and negotiations; the two Palatinates were soon occupied by the Spaniards and the See also:

duke of See also:Bavaria; and the romantic See also:attachment and services of Duke See also:Christian of Bruns-See also:wick, of the 1st earl of See also:Craven, and of other chivalrous See also:young champions who were inspired by the beauty and See also:grace of the " Queen of See also:Hearts," as Elizabeth was now called, availed nothing . Her See also:residence was at Rhenen near Arnheim, where she received many English visitors and endeavoured to maintain her spirits and fortitude, with straitened means and in spite of frequent disappointments . The victories of Gustavus Adolphus secured no permanent See also:advantage, and his See also:death at Liitzen was followed by that of the elector at See also:Mainz on the 29th of November 1632 . Subsequent attempts of the princess to reinstate her son in his dominions were unsuccessful, and it was not till the See also:peace of See also:Westphalia in 1648 that he regained a portion of them, the Rhenish See also:Palatinate . Meanwhile, Elizabeth's 'position in See also:Holland See also:grew more and more unsatisfactory . The See also:payment of her English annuity of f,12,000 ceased after the outbreak of the troubles with the See also:parliament; the death of See also:Charles I. in 1649 put an end to all hopes from that See also:quarter; and the See also:pension , allowed her by the See also:house of Orange ceased in x650 . Her See also:children, in consequence of disputes, abandoned her, and her eldest son Charles See also:Louis refused her a See also:home in his restored electorate . Nor did Charles II. at his restoration show any See also:desire to receive her in England . Parliament voted her £20,000 in 166o for the payment of her debts, but Elizabeth did not receive the See also:money, and on the 19th of May 1661 she left the Hague for England, in spite of the king's attempts to hinder her See also:journey, receiving no See also:official welcome on her arrival in See also:London and being lodged at Lord Craven's house in See also:Drury See also:Lane . Charles, however, subsequently granted her a pension and treated her with kindness . On the 8th of February 1662 she removed to See also:Leicester House in Leicester See also:Fields, and died shortly afterwards on the 13th of the same See also:month, being buried in See also:Westminster Abbey . Her beauty, grace and vivacity exercised a great See also:charm over her See also:con-temporaries, the See also:enthusiasm for her, however, being probably not merely See also:personal but one inspired also by her misfortunes and by the fact that these misfortunes were incurred in See also:defence of the Protestant cause; later, as the ancestress of the Protestant Hanoverian See also:dynasty, she obtained a conspicuous place in English See also:history .

She had thirteen children—Frederick See also:

Henry, drowned at See also:sea in 1629; Charles Louis, elector palatine, whose daughter married Philip, duke of See also:Orleans, and became the ancestress of the See also:elder and See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:branch of the royal family of England; Elizabeth, See also:abbess and friend of See also:Descartes; Prince See also:Rupert and Prince Maurice, who died unmarried; Louisa, abbess; See also:Edward, who married Anne de See also:Gonzaga, " princesse palatine," and had children; Henrietta Maria, who married See also:Count See also:Sigismund Ragotzki_ but died childless; Philip and See also:Charlotte, who died childless; See also:Sophia, who married Ernest See also:Augustus, elector of See also:Hanover, and was See also:mother of See also:George I. of England; and two others who died young .

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