Frederick Henry, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate

Electoral Prince of the Palatinate

Prince Frederick Henry
Electoral Prince of the Palatinate
Portrait by Jan van Ravesteyn, 1610s
Born	1 January 1614 Heidelberg, Holy Roman Empire
Died	7 January 1629(1629-01-07) (aged 15) IJ, Dutch Republic
Burial	Kloosterkerk
House	Palatinate-Simmern
Father	Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Mother	Elizabeth of Bohemia

Frederick Henry, Electoral Prince of the Palatinate, (German: Heinrich Friedrich; 1 January 1614 – 7 January 1629) was the eldest son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and so-called "Winter King" of Bohemia, and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James VI of Scotland and I of England.

Celebration of his birth

As soon as the prince was born, Elizabeth ordered "pieces" using the English word, meaning the firing of cannon to celebrate the birth.^[1] He was named after his father and his late uncle Henry, Prince of Wales, who had died less than two years earlier during the celebrations leading up to his parents' wedding.^[2]^[3] As a gift to celebrate Frederick Henry's birth, King James rewarded Elizabeth with a pension of 12,000 crowns a year for life and money and gold worth an additional 25,000 crowns.^[4]

Successor to the throne of Bohemia

In 1618, Frederick was elected King of Bohemia. Frederick Henry was the only one of his siblings to accompany his parents to Prague for the coronation and was elected successor to the Crown a few days before the birth of his brother Rupert.^[5] In September 1620, he was sent on a royal progress through Bohemia and the Upper Palatinate with a guard of 4,000 men, which ended in Leeuwarden where his kinsman Ernst Casimir, Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe, took custody of him.^[6]

Exile in the Hague

After his parents lost control of Bohemia and the Palatinate, they fled to exile in the Hague. Frederick Henry joined them by May 1621, when he wrote a letter from the Hague to King James.^[7] In June 1623, his parents set up a separate royal court for their children at a building three hours away in Leiden, known as the Prinsenhof or the Princes' court. Frederick Henry also formally enrolled as a student at Leiden University.^[8]^[9]

Marriage negotiations

As part of various efforts to fight or negotiate an end to the Thirty Years War, several potential marriages were considered for Frederick Henry. These include marriages to a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and a niece of Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria.^[10]

Drowning

In 1629, Frederick Henry went with his father to Amsterdam to see the captured Spanish treasure fleet. While crossing Haarlemmermeer, their boat was struck by a barge and capsized. Frederick was rescued but Frederick Henry drowned and his body was not found until the next day.^[11] He was buried in the Kloosterkerk, in the Hague.^[12]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Frederick Henry, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate

16. Frederick III, Elector Palatine

8. Louis VI, Elector Palatine

17. Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

4. Frederick IV, Elector Palatine

18. Philip I of Hesse

9. Elisabeth of Hesse

19. Christine of Saxony

2. Frederick V, Elector Palatine

20. William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen

10. William I, Prince of Orange 'the Silent'

21. Juliana of Stolberg-Werningerode

5. Louise Juliana of Nassau

22. Louis, Duke of Montpensier

11. Charlotte of Bourbon

23. Jacqueline de Longwy

1. Henry Frederick, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate

24. Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox

12. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

25. Margaret Douglas

6. James I of England

26. James V of Scotland

13. Mary, Queen of Scots

27. Mary of Guise

3. Elizabeth Stuart

28. Christian III of Denmark

14. Frederick II of Denmark

29. Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg

7. Anne of Denmark

30. Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow

15. Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

31. Elizabeth of Denmark

References

^ HMC Downshire, vol. 4 (London, 1940), p. 283.
^ Goldstone, Nancy (2018). Daughters of the Winter Queen : four remarkable sisters, the crown of Bohemia, and the enduring legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots (First ed.). New York, NY. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-316-38791-0. OCLC 1029552788.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. pp. 136–7. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. pp. 142–3. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ HMC 3rd Report, Rev Hopkinson (London, 1872), p. 265.
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. pp. 188–9. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Goldstone, Nancy (2018). Daughters of the Winter Queen : four remarkable sisters, the crown of Bohemia, and the enduring legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots (First ed.). New York, NY. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-316-38791-0. OCLC 1029552788.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. pp. 184–5, 199–202. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Goldstone, Nancy (2018). Daughters of the Winter Queen : four remarkable sisters, the crown of Bohemia, and the enduring legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots (First ed.). New York, NY. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-316-38791-0. OCLC 1029552788.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Akkerman, Nadine (2021). Elizabeth Stuart, queen of hearts. Oxford. pp. 252–3. ISBN 978-0-19-164528-0. OCLC 1285494517.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)