A Stuart Princess - The Winter Queen IV

Battle of Stadtholn

The War Rages On

On 6^th August 1623 the imperial forces, led by Tilly, fought their way to a magnificent victory at Stadtholn in Westphalia. The Protestant forces led by Christian of Brunswick were overwhelmed and, although Christian and 1,000 cavalry escaped[i], many of his senior officers were killed. Frederick was forced to sign an armistice with Ferdinand.

Meanwhile Elizabeth’s brother Charles and his good friend George Villiers were scandalising the Spanish court, while spying out the land; Charles was interested in marrying one of the Infantas of Spain. James believed that an alliance with Spain would be the way to keep England out of the war. His daughter did not view the proposal with equanimity;

‘I have cause enough to be sad yett I am still of my wild humour, to be as merrie as I can in spite of fortune. I can send you no news but that which will make you sadder………..All growes worse and worse………..my brother is still in Spaine.’[ii]

In 1624 Denmark entered the war and in the same year, egged on by his favourite George Villiers and his son, James sent troops to support the Protestant cause.

Births and Deaths

Frederick Henry of the Palatinate

On 21^st August 1624 Elizabeth gave birth to Louis, who died aged five months. Seven months later Elizabeth’s father James died on 27^th March 1625 and was succeeded by Charles, a man decidedly unfit for purpose and, like his father in his dotage, ruled by Villiers.

On 5^th October 1625 Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern[iii] was born. And in the same year that Sweden entered the war, under the leadership of Elizabeth’s former suitor Gustavus Adolphus, on 7^th July 1626 Henriette Marie of the Palatinate[iv] was born. The following year on 26^th September Elizabeth bore John Philip Frederick of the Palatinate.

In 1628 Catholic France, directed by Cardinal Richelieu, entered the war on the Protestant side[v] At the end of the year, on 19^th December 1628, Charlotte of the Palatinate was born[vi].

Less than a month later, Elizabeth and Frederick’s eldest child Henry Frederick drowned, age 15 on a visit to the Haarlemmeer to see a captured Spanish treasure fleet. 

Charles Louis and Rupert

The tragedy resulted in Frederick leaving all political matters in Elizabeth’s hands and she relied on her brother who recommended taking up Ferdinand on his offer of having Charles Louis brought up as a Catholic in Vienna. Elizabeth was incensed;

‘Rather than stoop to such an act of meanness she would with her own hands become her son’s executioner.’[vii]

Elizabeth’s penultimate child was to have significant effect on English history. Sophia, the future Electress of Hanover, was born on 14^th October 1630[viii]. In that year Saxony and Brandenburg finally took up arms for the Protestant cause. Frederick and Elizabeth’s final child was Gustavus Adolphus born on 14^th January 1632 and named after the Swedish king at Elizabeth’s request; Frederick had wanted to name him after their lost first born.

Frederick

Frederick died on 29^th November 1632, 23 days after the death of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden; Elizabeth was to outlive her husband by thirty years. Frederick had hidden the gravity of his ailments and the news of his death was a shock to Elizabeth, she wrote to the States of Holland;

‘To lose him renders my grief almost beyond endurance. My first great resource is Heaven: next to that divine trust, I confide in you; nor will I doubt but that to me and my children, will be continued that friendship so long manifested to my lamented consort. It is for a widow, for her orphans, that I now implore your protection.’[ix]

Elizabeth spent her widowhood in den Haag writing copious numbers of letters and attempting to make marriage matches for her children, while the war continued to rage around her.

Peace in Our Time

Gustavus Adolphus with his mother or elder sister

The young Gustavus Adolphus died on 9^th January 1641; in the same month that the Diet of Regensburg, summonsed by Ferdinand, offered Elizabeth and her daughters a safe conduct should they wish to claim the pensions and dowries suitable for the widow and children of a German prince. The safe conduct was not offered to her sons, one of whom was fighting in the Dutch army, one in the Swedish army and another was a prisoner of Ferdinand’s and never ceased informing his jailers of the righteousness of his father’s cause.

Charles Louis and Rupert spent time in England attempting to gain Charles’ support for their cause. Indeed Rupert commanded Charles’ cavalry and was in charge of Bristol during the 1645 siege. Rupert was castigated by Charles when he surrendered the city to save his men. Egged on by a jealous royal favourite, the George Digby the Earl of Bristol, Charles ordered that his ablest commander was to no longer fight for the royalist cause. This was not the only foolish advice tendered by Digby who persuaded Charles on the course that was to end on the scaffold for Charles and exile for Digby.

Ratification of the Treaty of Munster

Peace in Europe was not reached until 1648 when the Peace of Westphalia[x] was finally concluded with a series of Treaties signed at Münster and Osnabrück. The peace saw Charles Louis restored to his rightful position as Prince of the Lower Palatinate and as an Elector; the Upper Palatinate being attached to Bavaria.

Death in Winter

The deaths of Gustavus, John Philip in 1650, Henriette Marie in 1651 and Maurice in 1652 must have caused Elizabeth much grief. Elizabeth would have also suffered when her baby brother Charles was executed, due to his own folly, in early 1649. Charles’ family spent time in the Netherlands and at the court of Louis XIV during the years of the Commonwealth.

Elizabeth as a widow

Elizabeth became estranged from her remaining children, although she did spend time with her growing number of grandchildren. She was now to pay the price for being "a distant mother to most of her own children".

In May 1660 Elizabeth’s nephew Charles II was restored to the English throne; the English fleet came to collect their king from den Haag. A young Pepys was in the king’s entourage and he was allowed the honour of visiting the king’s aunt;

‘After that, to see the Queen of Bohemia, who used us very respectfully. Her hand we all kissed.’[xi]

Elizabeth decided to return home and arrived in England on 26 May 1661. The delay was caused by Charles’ ministers who intimated that a visit from the king’s aunt would be best delayed. Elizabeth wrote to the Chancellor;

Prince Rupert

‘Having taken leave of her friends, she could not go back to it without incurring disgrace.’[xii]

By July, she had decided to stay and arranged for the remainder of her furniture, clothing and other property to be sent to her.

Elizabeth moved into Drury House in London. In the new year, on 29 January 1662, she moved to Leicester House; but by this time she was ill, suffering from pneumonia. On 10 February 1662 Elizabeth had a lung hemorrhage, dying soon after midnight on 13 February 1662; appropriate timing for the Winter Queen. She was buried in Westminster Abbey close to her brother Henry, with only Rupert walking behind his mother’s coffin. 

Bibliography

Gustavus Adolphus the Great – Nils Ahnlund, 1999 History Book Club

Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Elizabeth Benger (ed), General Books LLC 2012

The Early Stuarts – Godfrey Davies, Oxford University Press 1987

King James – Antonia Fraser, BCA 1974

Charles I – Christopher Hibbert, Penguin 1968

The Thirty Years War – Herbert Langer, Dorset Press 1990

The Shorter Pepys – Samuel Pepys – Penguin Books 1987

The Thirty Years War – CV Wedgewood, Folio Society 1999

www.wikipedia.en

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[i] This was Christian’s last serious engagement and he died three years later in 1626 at the age of 26

[ii] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Benger (ed)

[iii] Edward later married Anna Gonzaga

[iv] On 16 June 1651 she married Sigismund Rákóczi, brother of the Prince of Transylvania

[v] France was concerned about the incipient Hapsburg hegemony in Europe

[vi] She died just over two years later

[vii] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Benger (ed)

[viii] Sophia married Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, her son George became King of England

[ix] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Benger (ed)

[x] France and Spain remained at war for another eleven years

[xi] The Shorter Pepys - Pepys

[xii] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Benger (ed)

A Stuart Princess - The Winter Queen III

Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia

The Joys of Monarchy

Rupert was christened on 31^st March 1620 in Prague[i]; the ceremony was followed by a magnificent feast and the next day Frederick’s friend Baron Christopher Dhona was married to his long time love and the celebrations continued. There was no stinting in the entertainments enjoyed by the court; no-one would think the treasury was virtually empty;

‘From day to day such was the jollity of King Frederick, his queen, his brother, the Duke of Wirtemberg and the lords and ladies of the court that none could have formed the idea of the intanglements abroad or the perplexities at home.’[ii]

Elizabeth was totally without any political understanding and she looked to her father for support against the Catholic counter revolutionaries. James refused to recognise Frederick as King of Bohemia and went so far as to apologise to Ferdinand for his son-in-law’s actions.

James was perennially short of cash and he was concerned about keeping the peace at home and abroad. At this time he believed that conciliating Spain was the best way to do this. Indeed he had plans to marry Charles to one of the Spanish Infantas. By 1620 he was disillusioned, writing of monarchy in a way that his son-in-law should have taken to heart;

‘Look not to find the softness of a down pillow in a crown but remember that it is a thorny piece of stuff and full of continuous cares.’[iii]

Loss of a Throne

Margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach

In August the army of the Protestant Union led by the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, although numerically superior, were persuaded by the French not to meet the Catholic League forces in battle. The enemy were led by Maximilian of Bavaria,. Although the resultant agreement bound the league and the Union not to invade the Palatinate, it did not bind the Spanish armies led by Spinola.

Matters in Europe were complicated by the Ottoman invasion of Poland[iv] and on 7^th October 1620 the Battle of Cecora[v] brought an Ottoman victory. Further south the Spanish sent an army under Spinola to support Ferdinand. The Protestant Elector of Saxony had also been persuaded to join the imperial forces determined to topple Frederick off his precarious throne.

On 8^th November 1620 the Battle of White Mountain[vi] signalled the end of Frederick’s tenuous hold on Bohemia when the royal forces led by Christian of Anhalt fell before the might of the imperial armies and he was taken prisoner.

Battle of White Mountain

The royal family beat a hasty retreat from Prague; Elizabeth was placed in a private carriage by Bernard, the son of Count Thurn. And Rupert nearly got left behind in the desperate scramble; Baron Dhona threw the baby into one of the carriages. Their journey to Breslau[vii] was complicated by a heavy fall of snow.

The royal family’s reception in Breslau was cool and the family travelled on to Frankfurt an Oder. Fearful for her and her family’s future, Elizabeth wrote to her father;

‘Your Majesty will understand by the king’s letters how the Palatinate is in danger of being utterly lost if your majesty gives us not some aid. I am sorry we are obliged to trouble your majesty so much with our affairs, but their urgency is so great that we cannot do otherwise.’[viii]

George-William, Elector of Brandenburg

From Frankfurt Frederick sent a courier to his brother-in-law George William, Elector of Brandenburg, to ask if Elizabeth, again pregnant, could undertake her confinement at Frederick’s castle at Custrin. After the intercession of Frederick’s sister Elizabeth and of the English envoy Sir Henry Wotton, George gave grudging acceptance to the request and the family arrived on 14^th December.

Elizabeth gave birth to Maurice on the 17^th in a castle with none of the trappings of splendour that had surrounded her in Prague. Rupert and Henry Frederick accompanied their mother to the Netherlands. The young Henry Frederick wrote of this journey

I have taken a long journey from Prague to the Netherlands and am now in Friesland with Count Ernest of Nassau.’[ix]

Maurice was taken to Berlin to be cared for by his paternal grandmother Juliana, who prevailed upon the Elector of Saxony to intercede with Ferdinand for Frederick, albeit unsuccessfully.

Loss of the Electorate

Spinola

And now the loss of Bohemia was to be exacerbated by the loss of the Palatinate; Spinola invaded the Electorate. On 21 January 1621, Ferdinand issued a decree against Frederick and Christian. The pair were accused of breach of peace, supporting rebels, and treason. Ferdinand decreed that Frederick's lands and titles within the Holy Roman Empire were forfeit.

On 6 February 1621, representatives of the Protestant Union met with Ferdinand at Heilbronn to protest the decree, but were persuaded to support the settlement in the Palatinate. The Palatinate remained occupied by Spanish troops. At this point, the Protestant Union had essentially ceased to exist.

To make his victory even more meaningful Ferdinand cancelled the Letters of Majesty; the Protestants in Bohemia could no longer raise churches on royal land or worship whom they pleased.

Karl von Leichtenstein

Ferdinand also declared the lands of those who had supported Frederick forfeit and attempted to sell them off. Due to the large amount of land for sale buyers were few and prices low. So to raise funds Ferdinand debased the coinage and ended up bringing hyper-inflation to the region.

With worthless money buyers for the forfeited lands flooded in; the Protestant aristocracy were replaced by good Catholics while the merchant class were destroyed. Karl von Liechtenstein, the man Ferdinand appointed as governor of Bohemia, purchased eight properties. One man purchased sixty six estates; the Protestant Wallenstein who was to become Ferdinand’s military supremo.

The War Gains Momentum

An appeal in England was set up to raise money for the Palatinate and Prince Charles gave £10,000[x]. Sufficient monies to support military intervention would have to be awarded by parliament which James called and on 30^th January 1621 he told MPs;

‘I am to provide for wars…….and nothing can be expected from you without begging as a man would beg for arms.’[xi]

James resented having to beg parliament for money and was horrified when MPs discussed his conciliatory foreign policy. No monies were forthcoming and James trusted to the new King of Spain, Philip IV to restore the Palatinate to Frederick, a trust that was unfounded.

Christian of Brunswick-Luneberg

Frederick and Elizabeth now faced a future as pensioners of their families and friends. Elizabeth’s uncle Christian IV of Denmark sent six thousand troops to support Frederick. Frederick could also count on the support of his general Mansfeld and Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneberg, one of Elizabeth’s cousins, who seems to have been partly motivated by a chivalric love of Elizabeth;

‘What will become of a worthy cousin-german of mine, Duke Christian of Brunswick, of whom, I am sure, you have heard of; he hath engaged himself only for my sake in our quarrel.’[xii]

The Margrave of Barden-Durlach and Count Thurn also supported what seemed like a lost cause for the Protestants. James sent a few thousand troops under the leadership of Sir  Horace Vere. Against them were ranged the Catholic League’s forces led by Tilly.

On 18^th April 1622, following a terrible few months when the Rhine burst its banks and thousands drowned, the fecund Elizabeth gave birth to Louise who was to become a talented portrait painter[xiii] like her brother Rupert.

The new Elector

Seal of Heidelberg University

In February 1623 Ferdinand formally transferred the Electorate of the Palatinate to Maximilian of Bavaria, despite the opposition of all the Electors save Maximilian’s brother. The situation in Europe was different; Spain did not want Maximilian in the Palatinate, Archduchess Isabella wanted Frederick to hand over to Henry Frederick, his eldest son, to be educated in Vienna and ultimately married to one of the Emperor’s daughters. James was in favour of the Archduchess’s proposals, even though it would almost undoubtedly involve Henry Frederick’s conversion to Catholicism.

Maximilian had support in Rome where the Vatican was the recipient of the sack of Heidelberg; the contents of its great library, the Bibliotecha Palatina, were now held in their archives. The Pope was also averse to the potential increase in Hapsburg power that would follow from having an Elector marry the Emperor’s daughter. Maximilian gained an Electorate at the expense of the Electors’ liberties.

Bibliography

Gustavus Adolphus the Great – Nils Ahnlund, 1999 History Book Club

Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Elizabeth Benger (ed), General Books LLC 2012

The Early Stuarts – Godfrey Davies, Oxford University Press 1987

King James – Antonia Fraser, BCA 1974

Charles I – Christopher Hibbert, Penguin 1968

The Thirty Years War – Herbert Langer, Dorset Press 1990

The Thirty Years War – CV Wedgewood, Folio Society 1999

www.wikipedia.en

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[i] Probably in what is now known as the Church of our Lady Victorious

[ii] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart vol 2 – Benger (ed)

[iii] King James - Fraser

[iv] The Poles supported Ferdinand

[v] A three week battle

[vi] Jointly led by Tilly

[vii] Now Wroclaw

[viii] King James – Fraser

[ix] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Benger (ed)

[x] In 2013 the relative: historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £1,819,000.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £53,250,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £356,300,000.00 www.measuringworth.com

[xi] King James - Fraser

[xii] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol 2 – Benger (ed)

[xiii] She was a student of Gerard von Honthorst

A Stuart Princess - The Winter Queen II

Elizabeth

Arrival in a Foreign Land

In April, escorted by Lord and Lady Harington and their niece Anna Sutton-Dudley[i], the Duke of Lennox[ii], the Earl and Countess of Arundel and Sir Edward Cecil, Frederick and Elizabeth journeyed to Frederick’s homeland. A fleet of seven ships commanded by the Lord High Admiral escorted the happy couple from Margate to Flushing, where the newlyweds were met by Prince Maurice[iii].

The bridal party travelled on to den Haag, Leyden, Haarlem and during the journey Elizabeth met with an emissary of the Infanta Isabella, ruler of the Spanish Netherlands. On 13^th May they arrived in Amsterdam where the company were royally entertained. On 22^nd Elizabeth met George William, the Elector of Brandenburg; the following day he escorted the party to Düsseldorf. Here the party transferred to a small fleet of boats and travelled up the Rhine.

T

Louise Juliana van Oranje

hey finally arrived in Frederick’s domains at Oppenheim and thence travelled on to the castle at Frankenthal[iv].

‘Every house was crowned with a garland; the air breathed fragrance, and from every quarter resounded songs of gladness.’[v]

The party, after much pageantry and display, then travelled on to Heidelberg where Elizabeth and her escort passed under a number of triumphal arches before reaching the castle. Among those there to greet Elizabeth were the Dowager Duchess of Zweibrucken, Frederick’s mother Juliana[vi] and Frederick’s sisters.

The Sound of Distant Drums

On the 1^st January 1614 Elizabeth gave birth to a son she named Henry Frederick. The young Prince Henry was christened in Heidelberg, presumably at the Church of the Holy Spirit[vii]. He was carried in church by his aunt Katherina Sofie. Henry was the first of thirteen children, the last of whom, Gustavus Adolphus[viii], was born in 1632.

Heidelberg

Spain had an interest in German affairs arising from their holdings in the Spanish Netherlands [ix] . And Philip III wanted access to and control of the Rhine to enable the passage of troops from northern Italy to the Spanish Netherlands. In turn the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, looked to his cousin Philip for support against his rebellious Protestant Electors.

Sweden, under the expansionist rule of Gustavus Adolphus, and Denmark were both interested in expanding their influence in the Baltic region and France felt in danger of Hapsburg encirclement, with Spain to the south and the Holy Roman Empire to the north. The individual German states had differing alliances and these and the question of religion were tearing the Holy Roman Empire apart.

Divided by Religion



Matthias

As leader of the most flourishing state, Frederick saw himself as the head of the Protestant Union, a grouping of the German Protestant states. The opposing German Catholic League, was headed by his cousin Maximilian of Bavaria.

When the Duchy of Cleves-Jülich came up for grabs in 1610, the Protestant Union was anxious to prevent it falling to a Catholic candidate; both candidates were Protestants. The emperor took the Duchy under his control; a move which was viewed with concern by the Protestant lords, who thought that Matthias was intending to add Cleves-Jülich to the already enormous Hapsburg holdings; thus increasing Protestant forebodings.

On 20^th March 1619 Matthias died and his successor was Ferdinand II. Ferdinand had or already been chosen as Matthias’s successor as the King of Bohemia in 1617[x], the following year he was elected King of Hungary. As a devout Catholic, Ferdinand was heavily involved in the opposition to the Protestant Union.

The Thirty Years’ War  Begins



Ferdinand II

The Second Defenestration of Prague was the start of a Protestant rebellion in Bohemia. It was also the spark that lit the conflagration of the Thirty Years’ War which dragged in most of northern and central Europe. Ferdinand, as King of Bohemia, was determined to reduce the powers of the Protestant lords in Bavaria. He had persuaded Matthias to agree to stop the building of Protestant churches on royal land, as allowed by the Letter of Majesty[xi] which gave the Protestants their religious freedoms.

The Bohemian estates protested and Ferdinand dissolved the assembly and imprisoned some of the burghers of Braunau[xii]. The Lords Regent[xiii] were confronted by the Protestant lords led by Count Thurn[xiv] at Hradschin Castle on 23^rd May 1618



Defenestration of Prague

‘His Imperial Majesty had sent to their graces the lord regents a sharp letter…….in which His Majesty declared all of our lives and honour already forfeit, thereby greatly frightening all three Protestant estates……we wish to know, and hereby ask the lord regents present, if all or some of them knew of the letter, recommended it, and approved of it.’’[xv]

The Protestant Lords demanded the freeing of the prisoners and when their demands were not met the two Lords Regent considered the ring leaders, Count Slavata and Count Borzita, were thrown out of the council chamber window along with the secretary Philip Fabricius; all three men survived the seventy foot drop to the ground, which was immediately announced to be a miracle.

King of Bohemia



Siege of Pilsen

At this point Frederick’s governor of the Upper Palatinate, and chief adviser Christian, Prince of Anhalt-Bernberg, intervened in Bohemian affairs. In August 1618 Frederick’s general, Ernst von Mansfeld led an expeditionary force into Bohemia to assist the rebels and once there successfully directed the Siege of Pilsen. He was given command of the Bohemian troops.

The following year the Bohemian rebels offered Frederick the crown of Bavaria after John Georg the Elector of Saxony, had turned it down. After much misgivings he decided to accept. Frederick thought that he would be better placed as King of Bohemia to safeguard princely liberties from infringement by the emperor and his cohorts.



Battle of Sablat

Frederick’s decision to accept Bohemia, and jealousy of his young cousin, prompted Maximilian of Bavaria, master of one of the most professional armies in Europe, to come to an agreement with Ferdinand. He would support Ferdinand, take control of any lands he conquered and once Frederick was defeated Maximilian would become Elector of the Palatinate.

On 10^th June 1619 the Catholics won the Battle of Sablat and shortly thereafter Ferdinand was elected emperor[xvi]. At the end of July Lusatia, Silesia and Moravia signed the terms of a joint confederation with Bohemia. And then Bethlen Gabor, the Protestant Prince of Transylvania, with the support of the Ottoman emperor Osman II[xvii], invaded Hungary and Ferdinand’s Protestant subjects flocked to Gabor’s side. On 20^th August he and Count Thurn signed an offensive and defensive alliance.



Frederick as King of Bohemia

Following Frederick’s coronation on 3^rd November, a heavily pregnant Elizabeth, having braved the arduous journey to Prague, was crowned on 6^th. Her show of courage made a very favourable impression on her husband’s new subjects. Although Frederick was to learn soon enough that there was no money to pay for an army, the streets of Prague were decked with hangings of blue and silver.

On 17^th December 1619 Elizabeth gave birth to her third son Rupert[xviii]. She had been hurt by her mother’s death earlier in the year on 2^nd March. Anne had left Elizabeth nothing in her will;

‘She bequeathed no part of her property, nor even one of those superb jewels.’[xix]

Elizabeth kept up her correspondence with her father, but James did not approve of her and Frederick’s rashness and refused to refer to his son-in-law as king.

Bibliography

Gustavus Adolphus the Great – Nils Ahnlund, 1999 History Book Club

Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vols 1 & 2 – Elizabeth Benger (ed), General Books LLC 2012

The Early Stuarts – Godfrey Davies, Oxford University Press 1987

King James – Antonia Fraser, BCA 1974

Charles I – Christopher Hibbert, Penguin 1968

The Thirty Years War – Herbert Langer, Dorset Press 1990

The Thirty Years War – CV Wedgewood, Folio Society 1999

www.wikipedia.en

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[i] On this trip Anna met the Count von Schönberg, Frederick’s hofmeister, and they were married two years later

[ii] Son of James’ favourite and cousin Esmé Stuart

[iii] Stadtholder of the Netherlands

[iv] Later a centre of silk and porcelain manufacture

[v] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart – Berger (ed)

[vi] Eldest daughter of William the Silent and Maurice’s sister

[vii] The church were the Electors were buried

[viii] Named by Elizabeth in direct opposition to Friedrich, who wished to name the child after his lost Henry Frederick.

[ix] In 1609 Philip III had signed an armistice granting the Dutch in the United Provinces independence and immunity from attack for 12 years. The southern Netherlands was ruled from Brussels by the Infanta Isabella. But the Spaniards had always planned to retrieve their lost territories and spent the period preparing to reconquer the United Provinces.

[x] For want of an acceptable Protestant candidate

[xi] Signed in 1609 by Rudolf II, a concession after a previous insurrection in Bohemia

[xii] Where a Protestant church was being built, as was one at Klostergrab

[xiii] Governors appointed by Frederick, all Catholic

[xiv] Frederick had deprived him of his post as Castellan of Karlstadt

[xv] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Defenestration_of_Prague#Second_Defenestration_of_Prague

[xvi] There was no other candidate capable of the role

[xvii] Transylvania was part of the Ottoman Empire

[xviii] Known to history as Rupert of the Rhine, commander of the royalist cavalry during the English Civil War. He also served Louis XIV and later for his cousin Charles in the Anglo Dutch wars as a naval commander

[xix] Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart – Berger (ed)