Frederick V of the Palatinate

Frederick V
St Vitus Cathedral
Predecessor	Ferdinand II
Successor	Ferdinand II
Born	(1596-08-26)26 August 1596 Deinschwang, Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire
Died	29 November 1632(1632-11-29) (aged 36) Mainz, Holy Roman Empire
Spouse	Elizabeth Stuart ​ (m. 1613)​
Issue more...	See Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine Elisabeth, Princess-Abbess of Herford Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland Prince Maurice Louise Hollandine, Abbess of Maubuisson Prince Louis Prince Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern Princess Henriette Marie Prince Philip Frederick Princess Charlotte Sophia, Electress of Hanover Prince Gustavus Adolphus
Calvinist
Signature

Frederick V (

: Zimní král; German: Winterkönig).

Frederick was born at the hunting lodge (

.

In 1618 the largely Protestant

on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation.

After the battle, the

in 1632.

His eldest surviving son

line of kings.

Youth, 1596–1610

Frederick was born on 26 August 1596

of Bavaria, which was deeply devoted to the Roman Catholic Church.

The capital of the Palatinate,

, Tilenus called for the unity of Protestant princes, and taught that it was their Christian duty to intervene if their brethren were being harassed. These views are likely to have shaped Frederick's future policies.

Controversy over guardianship, 1610–1614

On 19 September 1610, Frederick's father, Frederick IV, died from "extravagant living"; his son being 14 years old at the time. Under the terms of the

, as his son's guardian. Frederick V welcomed John to Heidelberg, whereas Wolfgang William was denied entry. This led to a heated dispute among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1613, Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor intervened in the dispute, with the result being that Frederick V was able to begin his personal rule in the Palatinate even though he was still underage. The dispute ended in 1614, when Frederick attained his eighteenth birthday. However, much bad blood among the houses was caused by this dispute.

Frederick IV's marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinate's position within the Reformed camp in Europe. Two of Frederick V's sisters were married to leading Protestant princes: his sister Luise Juliane to his one-time guardian

, although this never came to pass.

Elizabeth Stuart

(1596–1662), 1613

In keeping with his father's policy, Frederick V sought a marriage to

.

Frederick travelled to London to collect his bride, landing on English soil on 16 October 1612.[4] Frederick and Elizabeth, who had previously corresponded in French, now met each other for the first time, and got on well together. They were formally engaged in January 1613 and married on 14 February 1613 at the royal chapel at the Palace of Whitehall. The event was celebrated in John Donne's poetic masterpiece Epithalamion, or Mariage Song on the Lady Elizabeth, and Count Palatine being married on St. Valentines Day. Shortly before the ceremony, Frederick was inducted into the Order of the Garter and he wore the Order's chain during the wedding ceremony. Elaborate celebrations, organised by Francis Bacon, followed the ceremony; these included a performance of The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn by Francis Beaumont and The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn by George Chapman.

On their return trip to Heidelberg, Frederick and Elizabeth travelled to

.

As part of the marriage negotiations, Frederick had agreed to expand Heidelberg Castle. These renovations were completed in 1615 and the "Elizabeth Entrance" to Heidelberg Castle was dedicated.

One of Frederick's first acts upon taking the reins of government was attendance at a meeting of the Protestant Union, during which he was struck by fever and nearly died. Subsequently contemporaries described him as changed, melancholy and possibly depressed. As such, Frederick transferred much responsibility to his chancellor, Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg.^[5]

Frederick undertook a large building campaign, designed to glorify his regime. In addition to the renovations to Heidelberg Castle mentioned above, he commissioned a courtyard garden, the Hortus Palatinus, designed by English gardener Inigo Jones and French engineer Salomon de Caus. Frederick was depicted therein as Apollo and as Hercules.

Politically, Frederick positioned himself as a leader of the Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire, and as a defender of the liberty of the German nobles against the Catholic

.

With its central location in Germany, the Palatinate was vulnerable to incursions of imperial troops from the

. The Lower Palatinate's economy was dominated by agriculture, while the Upper Palatinate was a mining region with one of the most successful economies in Europe.

King of Bohemia, 1619–20

Background and plans

The

.

The Bohemian Estates elected the Habsburg Matthias as Rudolf's heir, and Matthias became king of Bohemia in 1611 and emperor in 1612. Yet in the latter year there was discussion within the Protestant Union about fielding a Protestant candidate to supplant Matthias as king of Bohemia, and Frederick's name was discussed in this regard. Strategists in the Palatinate believed that if Frederick became king, this would lead John George I, Elector of Saxony, to break his alliance with the Habsburgs and come fully to the Protestant cause. This assumption proved unfounded.

Meanwhile, the sectarian conflicts in Bohemia continued. In 1617, Matthias prevailed on the Bohemian Estates to elect the Habsburg

.

In these circumstances

and the Spanish party at the Habsburg court. This was a questionable evasion of the role played by Frederick's own agents.

The first mention in

similarly rejected the idea, fearing it might lead to religious war and the Elector of Saxony was staunchly opposed.

Behind the scenes, Frederick authorised sending a force under Count Ernst von Mansfeld to support the Bohemian rebels. In August 1618, forces under Mansfeld entered Bohemia and led the Siege of Pilsen, which saw Pilsen fall to rebel forces on 21 November 1618, leaving the entire kingdom in Protestant hands.

King of Bohemia

in 1617 and who would later claim that Frederick had usurped his rightful claim to the throne of Bohemia

Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor died on 20 March 1619. Although his successor, the future Emperor Ferdinand II, had previously been crowned King of Bohemia, the Estates of Bohemia now refused to recognise him as their king. Fearing an invasion by Imperial forces, the Estates sought an alliance with the other members of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (Silesia, Lusatia, Moravia) and on 31 July 1619 at Prague, these states formed the Bohemian Confederacy, dedicated to opposing the Habsburgs; under the terms of this agreement, Protestantism became virtually the state religion of the Bohemian lands. In August 1619, the general parliament of all the Bohemian lands declared that Ferdinand had forfeited the Bohemian throne. This formally severed all ties between Bohemia and the Habsburgs and made war inevitable. Ferdinand of Bavaria, Archbishop of Cologne predicted this decision would lead to twenty, forty, or sixty years of war.^[6]

The preferred candidate of Bohemians as their new king was the Elector of Saxony, but he let it be known he would not accept the throne. This left Frederick as the most senior Protestant prince available, since no one else was willing to risk conflict with the emperor. In August 1619, the chances of Frederick becoming King of Bohemia became greater when

for his coronation.

Frederick in Prague

On 26 August 1619, the states of the Bohemian Confederacy elected Frederick as the new King of Bohemia, Frederick receiving news of his election on 29 August in Amberg.[7]

Two days later, Ferdinand II

adhered to the tradition of supporting the Habsburg Imperial candidate. The electoral college also condemned the Bohemian Confederation's attempt to remove Ferdinand from the throne of Bohemia and declared that the 1617 vote of the Estates of Bohemia, making Ferdinand King of Bohemia, was binding.

Frederick's decision to accept the Bohemian crown has been the subject of much historical speculation. Later Catholic propaganda, in a view accepted by Friedrich Schiller, portrayed the decision as based mainly on Elizabeth Stuart's desire to be a queen.^[8] More recently, historians have concluded that Frederick's decision was based primarily on a sense of duty to his fellow Protestants, although Frederick wavered between his obligations to the emperor and his commitment to his religious brethren. There also seems to have been economic considerations; the Upper Palatinate was at that time Europe's center for iron production, while Bohemia was a focal point for the tin and glass trade. Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, told Frederick that a union of the two areas could be commercially advantageous.

On 12 September 1619, the Protestant Union met at Rothenburg ob der Tauber and called on Frederick not to intervene in Bohemian affairs. Other possible allies – the Dutch Republic, Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and the Republic of Venice – sent letters saying they would not be able to offer Frederick assistance if he accepted the Bohemian offer. Only Gabriel Bethlen offered words of encouragement.

Between 24 September and 28, Frederick reached his decision "not to resist the will of the Almighty" and thus decided to accept the Bohemian crown.^[9] The Dutch Republic, the Republic of Venice, Denmark, and Sweden recognised Frederick as King of Bohemia.

On 29 September 1619, Frederick left Heidelberg for Prague. He travelled through

. Finally on 31 October 1619, Frederick entered Prague, along with 568 people and 100 cars, and was greeted enthusiastically.

Coronation

Frederick donned the

to Frederick.

Although a large part of the country was already devastated by war, and many refugees were encamped in the town, the coronation was celebrated with lavish parties.^[10]

Frederick assumed a weak crown and a state torn with internal divisions. The state's finances had been disrupted for years, and, at any rate, Bohemian kings had only very limited ability to raise funds, being primarily dependent on the goodwill of the nobility and the tax allocations of the

. Further limiting Frederick's ability to manoeuvre was the need to distribute royal bounty to supporters in order to ensure their loyalty to his regime.

In Prague, Frederick soon came to be alienated from a portion of the nobility and the clergy. Neither Frederick nor his wife spoke Czech, so court offices were staffed primarily with foreigners, while the administration of the localities was left to the local nobles. This made an alliance of the royal family with the corporate bodies of the realm difficult.

Further alienation was caused by Frederick V's court preacher,

was to be desecrated. Scultetus' iconoclasm was deeply unpopular, and Frederick attempted to distance himself from it, claiming that his orders were not being carried out by his followers.

The nickname "The Winter King" appeared shortly after the beginning of Frederick's reign and our first printed reference using the term came in a 1619 Imperial pamphlet that presented the phrase in the context of a royal chronogram. Frederick's propagandists attempted to respond to the phrase by arguing that Frederick was in fact a "Winter Lion" who defended the crown of Bohemia against troublemakers and liars, and that he would also be a "Summer Lion."^[11]

Meanwhile, Ferdinand II rallied his forces against Frederick. On 21 October 1619, he signed a treaty with

Frederick's chancellor, Christian of Anhalt, urged Frederick to call a meeting of Protestant princes at Nuremberg in December 1619. This conference was a fiasco, as few princes bothered to send representatives. John George of Saxony declined to send a representative. Those who did attend half-heartedly promised to secure Frederick's Rhineland territories during Frederick's absence in Bohemia.

In March 1620, during a meeting of the Imperial party at

and there was not, therefore, a conflict between an imperial prince and the emperor. Frederick argued that it would therefore be illegal for Ferdinand to use imperial power against him. This meeting, which included John George of Saxony and Maximilian of Bavaria, rejected Frederick's argument, finding that Bohemia was an indivisible part of the Empire.

On 1 April 1620, the Imperial party issued an ultimatum calling on Frederick to leave Bohemia by 1 June. If Frederick did not comply by this date, Ferdinand threatened to enforce his right as Holy Roman Emperor and rightful King of Bohemia to overthrow the usurper.

A little later, John George of Saxony signed a treaty with Ferdinand in which Ferdinand guaranteed the practice of Lutheranism in Bohemia and recognized the secular areas in the Netherlands. Ferdinand also agreed to give John George Lusatia, thus cementing John George's dominance of the Upper Saxon Circle.

This was the context when the parliament of the Bohemian Confederacy met on 25 March 1620. Frederick called for massive tax increases and conscription to fight the impending Imperial threat. To raise money for the Bohemian forces, Frederick used his private funds, pawned his jewels and, in May 1620, drove the Palatinate into insolvency when he decided to move two tons of gold to Bohemia.

Bad news continued to arrive for Frederick.

signed the Treaty of Ulm (1620), thereby withdrawing their support for Frederick and declaring neutrality in the conflict between Frederick and the Catholic League.

Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620

With the signing of the Treaty of Ulm

region.

In early August 1620, 25,000 troops, under the command of Spinola, marched into Bohemia. In the third week of August, they shifted their focus and marched into the nearly unarmed Electoral Palatinate, occupying Mainz. The Electoral Palatinate was defended by only 2,000 English volunteers and the country was easily taken. Imperial troops set up camp in Frankenthal and Mannheim. Spinola crossed the Rhine on 5 September 1620 and proceeded to capture Bad Kreuznach on 10 September and Oppenheim on 14 September. From Bohemia, Frederick was powerless to stop the occupation of his ancestral homeland.

After capturing Linz, Upper Austria, Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria crossed the Bohemian border on 26 September 1620. At Rokycany, Maximilian's forces first met with the 15,000 ragtag, poorly paid and poorly equipped troops that Frederick had managed to raise. Frederick visited his army on 28 September 1620, but, lacking a military background, left the conduct of the war to his generals. Frederick focused his attention on organizing supplies and preparing fortifications.

After a series of skirmishes, on 5 November 1620, Frederick drew his forces back towards Prague and Imperial troops followed them. On 7 November, Bohemian forces determined to make a stand at White Mountain, just outside Prague. The day before, King Frederick had ridden down the lines and exhorted the soldiers. He then rushed to Prague to implore the Bohemian Estates to raise money for his troops and to receive the envoys of the English king. However, it was too late. When, on 8 November 1620, Frederick wanted to ride back to the troops, he was met at the gates of Prague by fleeing soldiers of his army and his chancellor, Anhalt, who informed him of the disaster: the Bohemian army had received a crushing defeat that morning in the Battle of White Mountain.

Anhalt could recommend only one option to Frederick: immediate flight. As such, on 9 November, Frederick fled to the

.

Maximilian took Prague shortly after Frederick's departure. From Silesia, Frederick wanted to plan revenge for the Battle of White Mountain, but the Silesian Estates refused to support this project, and he was forced to leave Silesia in early 1621.

Contemporary pamphleteers – both Catholic and Protestant – were merciless in their portrayal of Frederick's flight from Prague. After Frederick's Garter was found in Prague, pamphleteers routinely portrayed him with his stockings falling down.

On 21 January 1621, Ferdinand issued a decree against Frederick and Anhalt, accusing them of breach of peace, supporting rebels, and treason. Ferdinand decreed that Frederick's lands and titles within the Holy Roman Empire were now forfeited. On 6 February 1621, representatives of the Protestant Union met with Ferdinand at Heilbronn to protest, but they soon agreed to support the settlement in the Palatinate, and the Palatinate remained occupied by Spanish troops. At this point, the Protestant Union had essentially ceased to exist.

The Twelve Years' Truce ended on 9 April 1621. On 14 April, Frederick joined his wife at The Hague. The Dutch Republic and Frederick signed a contract in which he accepted the support of the Netherlands for the reconquest of his dominions.

In Bohemia, the crushing of the Bohemian Revolt had terrible consequences. Twenty-seven Bohemian nobles were killed in the Old Town Square executions on 21 June 1621. Afterwards, the heads of twelve nobles, along with the hand of Joachim Andreas von Schlick, were nailed to the Old Town Tower of Charles Bridge, where they remained for ten years. The elective monarchy was now abolished; the role of the Estates greatly curtailed; and the Letter of Majesty was torn by Ferdinand himself. Only Lutheranism remained tolerated in Bohemia, and in the coming years, the rest of the population would be actively re-Catholicized. Bohemia would remain part of the Habsburg monarchy until 1918.

In summer 1621, John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Frederick's former guardian who had served as regent of the Electoral Palatinate when Frederick left for Prague, resigned. Frederick was also at this time placed under the Imperial ban, which permitted the forfeiture of his territories and effectively rendered him an outlaw.

However,

on 20 June 1622.

Frederick was increasingly under Mansfeld's influence at this time, and was growing disillusioned with the Protestant cause. With Frederick's knowledge, Mansfeld raided

, Mansfeld burned a city and thirty villages.

Frederick dismissed Mansfeld after he became convinced he would be unable to reconquer his hereditary lands. Frederick then spent the summer with his uncle, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, in Sedan.

Shortly thereafter, troops under Tilly and

in appreciation of the 620,000 guilders he had provided for financing the campaigns of the Catholic League.

On 23 February 1623, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor awarded Frederick's electoral title to Maximilian of Bavaria, who now became

.

In late 1622 and early 1623, Frederick organised a Palatinate government-in-exile at The Hague. This Palatinate council was headed by Ludwig Camerarius.

During the negotiations for the Spanish match, Frederick urged his father-in-law not to go through with the match.

There were attempts at reconciling Frederick with the emperor in 1624–25 and in 1627, but these came to naught. Frederick was willing to compromise with the emperor, but he wanted the restoration of his lands and electoral title, and the emperor was not inclined to restore these to Frederick. Frederick held out some hope that his lands might be retaken militarily, but these hopes were crushed on 27 August 1626, when the forces of Christian IV of Denmark were crushed by Tilly at the Battle of Lutter.

Frederick left most of the day-to-day business of his government-in-exile to his counselors, although he did take some interest in his finances. Frederick was very stingy in funding his administration, and yet, in order to maintain the dignity of a royal court, he spent vast sums on building and entertainment, quickly blowing through donations from the English and Dutch governments. For example, in 1629, Frederick commissioned Bartholomeus van Bassen to build him a large summer palace in Rhenen, the 'Koningshuis'. When completed in 1631, this palace had a large central residence, a courtyard, a two-storey main building with two wings projecting to the south, and was surrounded by large gardens. Frederick spent much of his time there in hunting and long walks.

Frederick suffered a personal tragedy on 17 January 1629. He was traveling to

, did not. Frederick himself sustained serious physical injuries in the accident, and would not fully recover for 15 months.

At the

, about restoring Frederick's lands, but Frederick died before these could bear any fruit.

In 1630, King

.

In February 1632, Frederick met Gustavus Adolphus at Frankfurt, with Gustavus Adolphus paying Frederick full royal honours. However, Gustavus Adolphus did not offer Frederick support for restoring him in the Palatinate because England and the Netherlands had not signed off on such a proposal.

Frederick subsequently took part in Gustavus Adolphus' march into the

, intending to return to the Hague.

About this time, England finally determined to send an expeditionary force to Germany. Unfortunately for Frederick, it was too late. Gustavus Adolphus was killed at the Battle of Lützen (1632) on 16 November, and in October, Frederick developed an infection that got worse in the following weeks. The famed physician Peter Spina was summoned from Darmstadt to Mainz, but nothing could be done for Frederick. He died on the morning of 29 November 1632, of a "pestilential fever".

Frederick's son and heir,

in September 1637, but Frederick's final resting place is unknown.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Frederick V of the Palatinate
8. Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier 15. Jacqueline de Longwy

Family and children

He married

on 14 February 1613 and had the following children:

1. Frederick Henry
   (1614–1629)—(drowned)
2. Elector Palatine
   in 1648
3. Elisabeth
   (1618–1680)
4. Rupert (1619–1682) of English Civil War fame.
5. Maurice
   (1620–1652) who also served in the English Civil War.
6. Louise Hollandine (1622–1709)
7. Louis (1623–1624), died in infancy.
8. Edward (1625–1663)
9. Henriette Marie (1626–1651)
10. Philip Frederick (1627–1650)
11. Charlotte (1628–1631)
12. King George I of Great Britain
    in 1714.
13. Gustavus (1632–1641), died young, of epilepsy.

References

• Pursell, Brennan C. (2003), The Winter King: Frederick V of the Palatinate and the Coming of the Thirty Years' War, London: Ashgate,
  ISBN 0-7546-3401-9
• ISBN 0-7100-7380-1

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick V, Elector Palatine.

• A declaration of the cavses, for the which, wee Frederick, by the grace of God King Bohemia, Covnt Palatine of the Rhine, Elector of the Sacred Empire, & c. haue accepted of the crowne of Bohemia, and of the covntryes thereunto annexed. (archived 28 May 2010)
• Portraits of Frederick V, King of Bohemia and Elector Palatine at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Frederick V of the Palatinate House of Palatine Simmern Cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach Born: 26 August 1596 Died: 29 November 1632
Regnal titles
Preceded by Frederick IV	Elector Palatine 1610–1623	Succeeded by Charles I Louis
Preceded by Ferdinand II	King of Bohemia 1619–1620	Succeeded by Ferdinand II