Frederick V, Elector Palatine
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Frederick is also called the "Winter King" of Bohemia because his peers derisively thought he would only last through the Winter before he would be overthrown. In fact, his reign lasted just over a year, but the moniker stuck. He is shown wearing the rarely-seen Crown of Saint Wenceslas, and other Bohemian Regalia. Inexplicably, he is shown wearing the ceremonial collar of the exclusive Order of the Golden Fleece for which he, as a non-Catholic, was not eligible and he does not appear in the register of its members. On the table is the Cap representing his separate office as Elector of the Palatinate. Painted by Gerrit von Honthorst in 1634, two years after Frederick's death. |
Frederick V (
German:
Friedrich V.) (
August 16 1596 â€"
November 29 1632) was
Elector Palatine (
1610â€"
23), and, as
Frederick I (
Czech:
Friedrich Falcký),
King of Bohemia (
1619â€"
20). He was the son and heir of
Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana von
Orange-Nassau, the daughter of
William I of Orange and Charlotte de
Bourbon-Monpensier.
Born at
Jagdschloss (Hunting Lodge) Deinschwang near
Amberg in the
Upper Palatinate, Frederick V succeeded his father as Elector of the
Rhenish Palatinate in the
Holy Roman Empire in
1610. In
1619 the
Protestant estates of
Bohemia rebelled against the
Roman Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and offered the crown of Bohemia to Frederick, selecting him since he was an influential member of the
Protestant Union, an organization founded by his father for the protection of
Protestants in the Empire.
Frederick duly accepted the crown, but his allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily. His brief reign as
King of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the
Battle of White Mountain on
November 8,
1620â€"a year and four days after his coronation. This earned him the derisive nickname of 'the Winter King'. After this battle, the Imperial forces invaded Frederick's Palatinate lands and he had flee to
Holland in
1622. An Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in
1623. He lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family, mostly at the
Hague, before passing away in
Mainz in 1632.
He married
Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of
James I of England and of
Anne of Denmark in the
Chapel Royal,
Whitehall on
February 14 1613 and had the following children:
# Frederick Henry (
1614â€"
1629)â€"(
drowned)#
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine (
1617â€"
1680)#
Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Palatine (
1618â€"
1680)#
Prince Rupert of the Rhine (
1619â€"
1682) of
English Civil War fame.#
Prince Maurice von Simmern (
1620â€"
1652) who also served in the English Civil War.# Louise Hollandine (
1622â€"
1709)# Louis (
1624â€"
1625)#
Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern (
1625â€"
1663)# Henrietta Maria (
1626â€"
1651)# John Philip Frederick (
1627â€"
1650) # Charlotte (
1628â€"
1631)#
Sophia, Electress of Hanover (
1630â€"
1714) heiress of
England by the
Act of Settlement, 1701# Gustav Adolf (
1632â€"
1641)
