Elizabeth of Bohemia (August 19, 1596 – February 13, 1662), born Lady Elizabeth Stuart, was daughter to King James VI of Scotland and his Queen consort Anne of Denmark. She was thus sister to Charles I of England. With the demise of the Stuart dynasty in 1714, her direct descendants, the Hanoverian rulers, succeeded to the British throne.

At the time of Elizabeth's birth, her father was still king of Scotland only; a few years later, he succeeded Elizabeth I as ruler of England and Wales also, making his daughter an even more attractive bride.

Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to put Elizabeth onto the throne of England (and, presumably, Scotland) as a Catholic monarch, after assassinating her father and the Protestant English aristocracy. At the time of the plot she was staying at Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire, from where the conspirators planned to kidnap her.

In 1613, she married Frederick V of Bohemia, then Elector of the Palatinate, and took up her place in the court at Heidelberg. In 1619, Frederick was offered the crown of Bohemia, but his rule was brief, and Elizabeth became known as the "Winter Queen". She was also sometimes called "Queen of Hearts" because of her popularity.

Driven into exile, the couple took up residence in The Hague, and Frederick died in 1632. Elizabeth remained in Holland even after her son, Charles I Louis, regained his father's electorship in 1648. Following the Restoration of the British monarchy, she travelled to London to visit her nephew, King Charles II, and died while there. Her daughter was known later as Sophia of Hanover.

In WG Sebald's novel Vertigo (1990), a woman appears whom the narrator, travelling through Heidelberg by train in 1987, recognizes instantly "without a shadow of a doubt" as Elizabeth when she enters his carriage.

Children

• Frederick Henry 1614-1629--drowned
• Charles I Louis 1617-1680
• Elizabeth of Hervorden 1618-1680
• Rupert, Duke of Cumberland 1619-1682
• Maurice 1620-1654--drowned
• Louise Hollandine-1622-1709
• Louis 1624-1625
• Edward of Bavaria 1625-1663
• Henrietta Maria 1626-1651
• John Philip Frederick 1627-1650
• Charlotte 1628-1631
• Sophia of Hanover 1630-1714
• Gustavus Adolphus 1632-1641

See Also

• Thirty Years War

References

Royal Stuarts