- Frederick V
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born Aug. 26, 1596, Amberg, Upper Palatinatedied Nov. 29, 1632, MainzElector palatine of the Rhine (1610–23) and king of Bohemia (as Frederick I) for one winter (1619–20).The Protestant Bohemian estates revolted against the Catholic emperor Ferdinand II and offered the crown to Frederick (1619), making him head of the Protestant union against Catholic Austria at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was soon abandoned by his allies and was routed in the Battle of White Mountain. In 1622 he went into exile in Holland. In 1623 he was deprived of his rights as an elector, and in 1628 the Upper Palatinate was annexed by Bavaria.
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▪ elector Palatine of the Rhineborn Aug. 26, 1596, Amberg, Upper Palatinate [Germany]died Nov. 29, 1632, Mainzelector Palatine of the Rhine, king of Bohemia (as Frederick I, 1619–20), and director of the Protestant Union.Brought up a Calvinist (Calvinism), partly in France, Frederick succeeded his father, Frederick IV, both as elector and as director of the Protestant Union in 1610, with Christian of Anhalt as his chief adviser. In 1613 he married Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England. In 1618 the Protestant estates of Bohemia revolted against their king, the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, and, after his death the following year, offered the crown to Frederick. Confident of support from the German Protestants, from England, and from the Dutch Republic, he accepted and was crowned in Prague (Nov. 4, 1619). Little foreign assistance materialized, however, and the forces of the Catholic League under Johann Tserclaes, count von Tilly (Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, Graf von), routed the Bohemians under Anhalt at the Battle of White Mountain (White Mountain, Battle of), near Prague (Nov. 8, 1620). Frederick fled, and his short reign earned him the nickname “the Winter King.”Frederick eventually found refuge in The Hague as Spanish and Bavarian troops occupied his German territories. Peter Ernst, count von Mansfeld (Mansfeld, Ernst, Graf von), and Christian of Brunswick raised armies and fought for Frederick's cause in western Germany, but Tilly defeated them; meanwhile, Matthias's successor, Emperor Ferdinand II, declared Frederick an outlaw. In 1623 Ferdinand transferred Frederick's electoral dignities to Maximilian I, duke of Bavaria (Maximilian I). Five years later Bavaria annexed the Upper Palatinate. Although many Protestant rulers called for the restoration of Frederick, they failed; he therefore continued to live in exile at The Hague on meager subsidies provided by the Dutch. After Gustav II Adolf of Sweden defeated Tilly at the Battle of Breitenfeld (Breitenfeld, Battle of) in 1631, Frederick joined the victors and, the following year, took part in the Swedish invasion of Bavaria, driving Maximilian out of his duchy, playing tennis on his enemy's courts, and plundering his library. He died a few months later.N. Geoffrey Parker▪ king of Denmark and Norwayborn March 31, 1723, Copenhagendied Jan. 14, 1766, Copenhagenking of Denmark and Norway (1746–66) from the death of his father, Christian VI. The reign of this likable but ineffective king was marked by Danish neutrality in the Seven Years' War (1756–63) and a consequent improvement in the nation's foreign trade; by a narrow escape from war with Russia (1762); and by the start of government-sponsored reforms in farming methods. In addition, the arts flourished without pietistic restraint. Real power was exercised in Frederick's name by two outstanding ministers, Adam Gottlob, Count Moltke, and J.H.E. von Bernstorff.In 1743 Frederick married Louisa, a daughter of King George II of England. After her death (1751) the King in 1752 married Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
