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🙂 Greetings to regular readers and guests of the site “Ladies-Gentlemen”! Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662) – Anglo-Scottish princess, queen of Bohemia from the Stuart family. It cannot be said that Elizabeth left a very bright mark in the history of European royal houses. But she was a rather unusual person.
Biography of Elizabeth Stewart
Elizabeth Stewart (Elizabeth Stuart) – the charismatic daughter of King James VI of Scotland (later James I, King of England) and Anne of Denmark. She was named after Elizabeth I. She married the Calvinist Frederick V at the age of 16. Lived happily in Heidelberg (Germany) for six years. And then she was crowned and became the queen of Bohemia.
At 23, Elizabeth moved to Prague. She was deposed by the Catholic Church after a year in power and survived only one winter in Prague. Hence she received the nickname “The Winter Queen”. But she never gave up the royal title.
While in exile, Elizabeth lived for some time in The Hague. From here, being virtually outlawed, she and her husband fought the military and diplomats to rebuild the Palatinate, their lands in Germany, which had been captured by the Spaniards.
Elizabeth Stewart. Artist Gerrit van Honthorst. London National Gallery
Elizabeth Stewart lived most of her life in exile and did not return to England until May 1661. Her grandson later ascended to the British throne as George I.
We bring to your attention ten interesting historical facts that will help you better know the history of this time and the character of the queen.
Monkeys, parrots and dogs
According to her stories of childhood, Elizabeth spent 8 shillings and 3p on “straws of cereal and cotton to bed the monkey of her grace,” “to fix the parrot’s cage,” and “to shear the street dog of her grace.”
Gunpowder plot
Guy Fawkes and his henchmen weren’t just trying to kill King James and Henry, Prince of Wales. Their plan was to kidnap Elizabeth, remarry her, and turn her into a Catholic puppet queen.
Brotherly love
In 1612, when Henry, Prince of Wales, was dying of typhoid fever, Elizabeth disguised herself as a servant in a vain attempt to gain access to his hospital room. Fifty years later, she was buried next to him at Westminster Abbey, as she bequeathed.
Daddy credit card
Elizabeth’s journey from Margate to Heidelberg took 58 days. When she arrived in the capital of the Lower Palatinate, she gave away all of her jewelry as gifts. King James sent a special ambassador to receive back the royal jewels from her ladies who had left the service.
Gunfire
The Battle of White Mountain, November 8, 1620, did not take Frederick and Elizabeth by surprise. In letters written during the Battle of Bohemia, Frederick tried to convince his fearless wife to leave the capital as soon as possible.
However, she firmly refused to leave Prague and abandon her subjects. Her secretary, Sir Francis Nethersol, wrote: “We can in this city listen to cannonade day and night, which would be enough to frighten any other queen. Her Majesty is not worried about anything. “
Paternal complex
In her autobiography, Elizabeth Stewart mentioned Maurice, Prince of Orange, who once asked for her hand as a second father. She is known to have had an unpleasant relationship with her own father, King James. He was conducting diplomatic negotiations with his Catholic enemies, but she wanted him to participate in the battle.
“I remember Neuner reading in the Chronicle of My Ancestors that the King of England agreed with the treaties, but most of the words were lost by him. On the other hand, any war makes the world a good one.
When King James sent her a portrait in a diamond box. She threw the diamonds to the floor, shouting that she would really like him to send his soldiers instead.
The resemblance to her godmother
Elizabeth used her resemblance to Queen Elizabeth I. She plucked her hair to have the same hairstyle as her late godmother. She donned her famous pearls and other jewelry that she inherited and imitated her signature when signing letters.
One insane person, John Lambert, believed that Elizabeth I took possession of the body of the Queen of Bohemia.
The cult of widowhood
After the death of the queen’s consort in 1632, the English treasury paid £ 1000 to renovate the queen dowager’s home. “All the rooms in the queen’s house, walls, beds and everything covered in black.” For forty years, her letters were sealed with black wax and thread, like mourning cards.
All or nothing
Elizabeth’s tenacity and political machinations hindered many peace negotiations. For example, in 1636 Emperor Ferdinand offered his family a compromise: half of the Palatinate.
It was a gracious offer from a man whose crown they had usurped back in 1619. She insisted on “all or nothing.” In 1648, her son agreed to the same proposal.
Secret codes
Elizabeth Stewart wrote hundreds of letters in cipher code. She has used at least seven keys during her life. Elizabeth encrypted her letters with hieroglyphs and various substitution systems.
The cipher codes were intended to protect her letters from prying eyes. She did her best to prevent her father and then her brother from reading the warlike plans she devised to undermine Stuart Crown’s conciliatory tactics.
Whatever happens, her monkey, Jack, accompanied her to Heidelberg and Prague.
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