WEBVTT - The Winter Queen

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Mankie Listener Discretion advised in Custrein

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<v Speaker 1>a fortified castle in the German countryside, a woman paced

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<v Speaker 1>nervously pregnant with her fifth child. She was waiting on

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<v Speaker 1>news about her husband. Things were bad. Back in Prague,

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<v Speaker 1>the city they'd lived in for just over a year.

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<v Speaker 1>It was under siege, with Catholic armies closing in on

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<v Speaker 1>all sides. She hadn't wanted to leave her husband, but

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<v Speaker 1>rising tensions, paired with her growing physical vulnerability, made staying impossible,

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<v Speaker 1>and so she fled to this castle, fifty miles outside Berlin.

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<v Speaker 1>When word finally came, it was exactly what she had feared.

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<v Speaker 1>Things had not gone their way her Her husband was

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<v Speaker 1>no longer the King of Bohemia, which meant that she

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<v Speaker 1>was no longer the queen. She had been Queen of

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<v Speaker 1>Bohemia for just one year, a year of ruling a

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<v Speaker 1>kingdom that had never quite accepted her and her husband

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<v Speaker 1>watching as he navigated political waters so treacherous that they'd

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately pulled them both under. One calendar year and it

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<v Speaker 1>was already over. How had it come to this. How

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<v Speaker 1>had a princess born into one of Europe's most powerful

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<v Speaker 1>families ended up in exile waiting for news of a

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<v Speaker 1>kingdom lost. I'm Dana Schwartz and this is Noble Blood.

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<v Speaker 1>In previous episodes, we've discussed King James the First of England,

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<v Speaker 1>James the sixth of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen

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<v Speaker 1>of scott and he is a fascinating man with a

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<v Speaker 1>whole host of adult eccentricities and superstitions. But today we're

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the life of his daughter, Elizabeth. She was

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<v Speaker 1>born into royalty, the subject of a botched kidnapping plot

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<v Speaker 1>in her childhood. Elizabeth's life was dramatic from the beginning,

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<v Speaker 1>but perhaps no period of her life was more chaotic

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<v Speaker 1>than the twelve months she and her husband spent as

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<v Speaker 1>King and Queen of Bohemia. They would forever be known

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<v Speaker 1>as the Winter King and Queen because their reign lasted

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<v Speaker 1>for only one calendar year, but it's hardly fair to

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<v Speaker 1>blame them. They were set up to fail and let

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<v Speaker 1>down by on all sides, including by the royal bloodline

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<v Speaker 1>that was Elizabeth's birthright. Elizabeth Stewart, aka the Winter Queen

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<v Speaker 1>was born in fifteen ninety six to the King and

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<v Speaker 1>Queen of Scotland, her father then known as James the sixth,

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<v Speaker 1>her mother and of Denmark. In sixteen o three, when

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<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth was still a child, her father became King James

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<v Speaker 1>the First of England, uniting the Scottish and English crowns.

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<v Speaker 1>Seven year old Elizabeth was moved from Scotland down to

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<v Speaker 1>England and placed in the care of family friends. By

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<v Speaker 1>this point, religious tensions in England had reached a fever pitch.

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<v Speaker 1>Catholics and Protestants were locked in deadly conflict, and plots

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<v Speaker 1>to remove James from power seemed endless, the most famous

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<v Speaker 1>being sixteen o five's Gunpowder plot, in which conspirators planned

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<v Speaker 1>to assassinate King James and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap nine

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<v Speaker 1>year old Elizabeth, and install her as a puppet Catholic queen.

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<v Speaker 1>Luckily for the young princess, the plot fell through. That

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<v Speaker 1>brief terrorde, Elizabeth's childhood was relatively normal. At the end

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<v Speaker 1>of sixteen o eight, when she was twelve years old,

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<v Speaker 1>she took up residence at Court. There she deepened her

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<v Speaker 1>bond with her brilliant older brother, Henry, whom she worshiped.

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<v Speaker 1>She was an excellent student and letter writer, fluent in

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<v Speaker 1>multiple languages, though notably not Latin, as her father James

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<v Speaker 1>believed it made women cunning. By her teenage years, Elizabeth

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<v Speaker 1>had become one of the most eligible brides in Europe. Kings,

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<v Speaker 1>princes and heirs across the continent threw their hats in

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<v Speaker 1>the proverbial ring, but her father would make the final call.

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<v Speaker 1>A royal marriage was far too valuable a political tool

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<v Speaker 1>to leave to chance or teenage sentiment. Eventually, a front

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<v Speaker 1>runner emerged, Frederick, the fifth Count Palatine of the Rhine.

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<v Speaker 1>The match offered significant advantages, cement an alliance between England

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<v Speaker 1>and the Protestant Union, a coalition of German princes and

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<v Speaker 1>free cities led by the Palatinate. James envisioned himself as

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<v Speaker 1>Europe's peacemaker, and this marriage fit perfectly into his broader

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<v Speaker 1>diplomatic vision. A Count Palatine isn't exactly a king, but

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<v Speaker 1>he still had a court and a swatch of land

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<v Speaker 1>under his control, which made it a pretty good match.

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<v Speaker 1>And Elizabeth actually fell in love with Frederick, which wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>required of her, but was definitely a nice change of pace.

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<v Speaker 1>More importantly, her beloved brother Henry approved of the match

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<v Speaker 1>and grew close with Frederick himself. But before Elizabeth and

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick could wed, tragedy struck. In late sixteen twelve, Prince

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<v Speaker 1>Henry died suddenly, most likely of typhoid fever. Elizabeth was devastated.

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<v Speaker 1>Her brother had been her hero and her closest confidant,

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<v Speaker 1>and now he was gone. Queen Anne saw an opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>to push for a different husband for her daughter. She

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<v Speaker 1>thought Frederick was a sub par choice, but Elizabeth stood firm.

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<v Speaker 1>The two were married on Valentine's Day sixteen thirteen, in

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<v Speaker 1>a ceremony so extravagant it nearly bankrupted King James. Elizabeth

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<v Speaker 1>joined Frederick's electoral court in Heidelberg, where she received a

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<v Speaker 1>warm welcome. They had three children there and amassed a

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<v Speaker 1>menagerie of animals, and by all accounts, they were genuinely

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<v Speaker 1>happy together. But conflict was brewing across the continent, and

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<v Speaker 1>the young family would soon find itself collateral damage. Europe

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<v Speaker 1>was being torn apart by religious wars, and the Bohemian

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<v Speaker 1>Palatinate sat at the center of the storm. Bohemia was

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<v Speaker 1>part of the Holy Roman Empire, but it was also

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<v Speaker 1>its own kingdom. It was essentially an aristocratic republic where

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<v Speaker 1>nobles elected their monarch. In March sixteen nineteen, Holy Roman

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<v Speaker 1>Emperor Matthias died. Holy Roman emperors were also elected by

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<v Speaker 1>the rulers of its constituent kingdoms. They voted that his

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<v Speaker 1>heir should be Archduke Ferdinand a Habsburg, like Matthias had been.

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<v Speaker 1>Ferdinand had been crowned King of Bohemia two years earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>but he was a fervent Catholic who had ruthlessly targeted

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<v Speaker 1>Protestants in his home territory. The Bohemian Protestant nobles faced

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<v Speaker 1>an impossible choice except Ferdinand both as King of Bohemia

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<v Speaker 1>and as Holy Roman Emperor, or take extreme measures and

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<v Speaker 1>depose him of the former deposition. They also chose to

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<v Speaker 1>throw a few of his regents out a council room

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<v Speaker 1>window in what's now known as the defenestration of Prague.

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<v Speaker 1>It was more symbolic than anything, but it got the

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<v Speaker 1>message across. The people were ready for change, and when

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<v Speaker 1>the Bohemian throne needed a new occupant, they turned to

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<v Speaker 1>the handsome young noble married to an English and Protestant princess.

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<v Speaker 1>In sixteen nineteen, Frederick was offered the throne of Bohemia.

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<v Speaker 1>He hesitated, excepting the throne would change everything, but would

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<v Speaker 1>it be for better or for worse. What the couple

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't have known at the time was that it was

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<v Speaker 1>far more than just an offer of a throne. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a trap disguised as an opportunity. When Frederick received

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<v Speaker 1>a word that the Bohemian nobles wanted him as their king,

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<v Speaker 1>he panicked away from home. He sent an urgent letter

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<v Speaker 1>to his wife, Elizabeth, asking for her advice. Her response

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<v Speaker 1>was characteristically supportive. This must be God's will, and whatever

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<v Speaker 1>he decided, she'd stand by her husband. But standing by

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick proved challenging because he genuinely couldn't make up his mind.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a very risky offer. Accepting the Bohemian throne

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<v Speaker 1>could cost Frederick his existing position as Count Palatine, possibly

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<v Speaker 1>even cost him his life. The Catholic Habsburgs wouldn't take

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<v Speaker 1>kindly to being deposed and replaced by this young outsider,

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<v Speaker 1>and Frederick would be surrounded by hostile forces with uncertain

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<v Speaker 1>support from his Protestant allies. Yet refusing the crown meant

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<v Speaker 1>abandoning Bohemian Protestants to priss secution and ignoring what some

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<v Speaker 1>saw as a divine calling to defend his faith. Frederick spiraled,

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<v Speaker 1>imagining all the ways the situation could go sideways. A

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<v Speaker 1>Protestant monarch dropped into hostile Catholic territory. How could that

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<v Speaker 1>even work? What would happen to his family if everything collapsed?

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<v Speaker 1>But Frederick also felt the weight of religious obligation. God

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<v Speaker 1>chose kings, and kings had responsibilities to their faith and

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<v Speaker 1>their people, no matter the cost. Elizabeth continued to assure

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<v Speaker 1>her husband that she would support his choice. The trouble

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<v Speaker 1>was he still couldn't decide. He fired off letters to

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<v Speaker 1>everyone he knew, asking for opinions. His mother's advice was unequivocal,

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<v Speaker 1>don't risk your own inheritance for some foreign adventure. His

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<v Speaker 1>father in law, King James, stayed silent for weeks, though

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<v Speaker 1>word filtered back that he thought the whole thing was reckless.

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<v Speaker 1>The Archbishop of Canterbury saw it as a righteous duty.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of Frederick's advisors urged caution, but a few close

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<v Speaker 1>friends pushed him to accept. Frederick consulted the Protestant Union.

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<v Speaker 1>They all said yes, so did the Dutch, so did

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<v Speaker 1>his uncle. He ordered special prayers in every church in

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<v Speaker 1>his territories, hoping for divine clarity. When the Bohemian representatives

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<v Speaker 1>finally showed up expecting their answer, Frederick explained that he

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<v Speaker 1>was still waiting to hear from his father in law,

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<v Speaker 1>the King of England. The representatives told him bluntly that

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<v Speaker 1>if he couldn't decide immediately, they would elect someone else.

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<v Speaker 1>His hand now forced, Frederick accepted the throne immediately. He

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<v Speaker 1>started second guessing himself, especially with regards to where Elizabeth

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<v Speaker 1>should go. Maybe she should go back to England for

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<v Speaker 1>her safety, or stay in Heidelberg, in the home they'd

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<v Speaker 1>loved so dearly. Elizabeth shut down both ideas instantly. She

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<v Speaker 1>was going with her husband, of course, and of discussion,

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<v Speaker 1>the two youngest children would stay behind with Frederick's mother,

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<v Speaker 1>since they were too small for such a long journey,

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<v Speaker 1>but their eldest son, Frederick Henry, would come with his parents. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>as the couple was preparing to leave, King James finally

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<v Speaker 1>weighed in. In James's mind, Frederick had acted hastily and

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<v Speaker 1>without permission, he was willing to chalk it up to

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<v Speaker 1>youthful exuberance, but the king wouldn't commit to any support

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<v Speaker 1>until he was convinced the election was lawful. He certainly

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't dragging England into a potentially unjust and even more

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<v Speaker 1>importantly fruitless war, even for a son in law. People

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<v Speaker 1>left for Prague without James's express blessing, but hopeful for

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<v Speaker 1>the chance to do some good. Frederick was crowned King

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<v Speaker 1>of Bohemia on November fourth, sixteen nineteen. Elizabeth was crowned

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<v Speaker 1>queen three days later. In December, she gave birth to

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<v Speaker 1>their fourth child, a boy named Rupert. Initially the couple

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<v Speaker 1>was met with goodwill and mostly open arms, but the

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<v Speaker 1>honeymoon period was incredibly brief, followed immediately by a culture clash.

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick was a strict Calvinist, which alienated both Catholics and

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<v Speaker 1>many non Catholics who had hoped for a more moderate

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<v Speaker 1>Protestant ruler. His chaplain ordered the removal of Catholic statues

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<v Speaker 1>and icons from churches. When a particularly revered crucifix was

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<v Speaker 1>removed from a bridge, overnight, citizens marched on the castle

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<v Speaker 1>demanding its return. The new king had no choice but

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<v Speaker 1>to back down. Elizabeth was Presented with her own set

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<v Speaker 1>of problems, she and the Bohemian court ladies around her

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<v Speaker 1>could barely communicate. She spoke very little German, while the

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<v Speaker 1>Bohemian court ladies knew almost no French or English. Elizabeth

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<v Speaker 1>was unfamiliar with local customs, inadvertently offending various nobility right

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<v Speaker 1>and left, and in general. People were scandalized by her

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<v Speaker 1>low cut dresses, and by the irregular hours she kept,

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<v Speaker 1>and by her roving menagerie of pets, including dogs and monkeys,

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<v Speaker 1>that followed her everywhere. She made genuine attempts to connect

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<v Speaker 1>with her subjects, but it seemed like everything she did

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<v Speaker 1>rubbed people the wrong way. Meanwhile, the political situation deteriorated

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<v Speaker 1>by the day. The Catholic Habsburgs had no no intention

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<v Speaker 1>of accepting their removal from power. The Emperor demanded Frederick

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<v Speaker 1>abdicate within thirty days. Frederick made things worse, replying that

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<v Speaker 1>as elector Palatine, he outranked the Emperor, not the other

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<v Speaker 1>way around. Then Frederick took Elizabeth hunting, apparently unconcerned about

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<v Speaker 1>the armies currently massing against them, But he should have

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<v Speaker 1>been concerned. Frederick had left the Palatinate relatively undefended, and

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<v Speaker 1>European powers were choosing sides. An assortment of different Catholic

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<v Speaker 1>armies began to target the Bohemian king, setting the stage

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<v Speaker 1>for the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, one of

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<v Speaker 1>the deadliest conflicts in European history. In August sixteen twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth's new English secretary arrived in Prague and within two

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<v Speaker 1>weeks was sending a large reports back to London about

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<v Speaker 1>the dangerous, almost desperate situation. Half of Frederick's court didn't

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<v Speaker 1>seem to grasp the danger. The other half understood perfectly

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<v Speaker 1>well and had already given hope of resisting the Habsburg

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<v Speaker 1>Holy Roman Emperor. In September, Spanish forces had entered the

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<v Speaker 1>Palatinate with twenty five thousand troops. Frederick's mother fled with

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<v Speaker 1>the grandchildren that she had been watching. Elizabeth wrote desperately

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<v Speaker 1>to her brother Charles, begging him to convince their father

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<v Speaker 1>to make good on his promise not to let the

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<v Speaker 1>Palatinate be taken, but as ever, King James was slow

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<v Speaker 1>to respond. Catholic armies were closing in on Prague. Despite

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<v Speaker 1>her advanced pregnancy, Elizabeth refused to leave her husband's side

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<v Speaker 1>until growing concern for hers and the baby's safety for

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<v Speaker 1>her to take baby Rupert and flee. And so Elizabeth

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<v Speaker 1>found herself pacing in that cold castle outside Berlin, heavily

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<v Speaker 1>pregnant with a baby in tow, waiting for news from Frederick,

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<v Speaker 1>news about whether they'd lost everything already. When that news arrived,

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<v Speaker 1>her worst fears were confirmed. On November eighth, sixteen twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick's forces made their stand on White Mountain, a low

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<v Speaker 1>plateau just outside Prague, Believing that their enemy wouldn't risk

0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.960
<v Speaker 1>a winter attack. They were wrong. In a couple hours time,

0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:46.920
<v Speaker 1>the Catholic armies crushed Frederick's forces and the capital surrendered immediately.

0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:53.000
<v Speaker 1>The defeat was complete. Frederick's reign had lasted exactly one

0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:59.439
<v Speaker 1>year and four days. A Platinate was occupied, Prague was gone.

0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.919
<v Speaker 1>All Elizabeth and Frederick had left was each other and

0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:08.160
<v Speaker 1>whatever future they could salvage from the ruins. They had

0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:12.639
<v Speaker 1>gone from royal family to refugees in the blink of

0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:19.920
<v Speaker 1>an eye. On January sixth, sixteen twenty one, at Custrin

0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:24.800
<v Speaker 1>Castle outside Berlin, Elizabeth gave birth to a son named Maurice.

0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:30.040
<v Speaker 1>The delivery was surprisingly quick and uncomplicated. A small mercy

0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:34.119
<v Speaker 1>after everything she'd endured. But there would be no returning

0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:38.800
<v Speaker 1>to Prague. The military defeat had made that impossible, and

0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:43.919
<v Speaker 1>the Palatinate was now occupied by Catholic forces. They had

0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:48.360
<v Speaker 1>nowhere to go, no home to return to. They were

0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:55.040
<v Speaker 1>royals humiliated in exile. Then the Prince of Orange extended

0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:59.520
<v Speaker 1>an invitation, and in spring sixteen twenty one, Elizabeth arrived

0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.560
<v Speaker 1>at the Hay with barely any attendants. The Dutch city

0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.920
<v Speaker 1>would be her home for the next forty years. Exile

0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:11.639
<v Speaker 1>didn't really slow her down. Over the following years, she

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:16.480
<v Speaker 1>had eight more children, four sons and four daughters, bringing

0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:20.720
<v Speaker 1>her total to thirteen, and motherhood didn't stop her from

0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.000
<v Speaker 1>trying to extract Frederick from the political disaster that they

0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:29.520
<v Speaker 1>had stumbled into. The dynamic of their marriage had now shifted.

0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.639
<v Speaker 1>Where she had once deferred to him, she now became

0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:38.560
<v Speaker 1>something closer to an equal partner, maybe even a stronger partner.

0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:43.960
<v Speaker 1>Frederick spiraled easily into despair, but Elizabeth had a talent

0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:48.400
<v Speaker 1>for winning people over. Her supporters in Germany and England

0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:53.000
<v Speaker 1>responded to her energy and determination in ways they didn't

0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:57.760
<v Speaker 1>respond to her husband's gloom. She was striking charming and

0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:02.680
<v Speaker 1>seemed utterly unwilling to accept defeat. People grew to see

0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:08.080
<v Speaker 1>her as the embodiment of Protestant resistance. Elizabeth launched a

0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:13.320
<v Speaker 1>correspondence campaign that never let up. She wrote letters constantly

0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:17.919
<v Speaker 1>advocating for her family's rights, pressing anyone with influence to

0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.080
<v Speaker 1>support their cause, arguing their case to anyone who would

0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.720
<v Speaker 1>listen at all. Her charms and persistence made her far

0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.960
<v Speaker 1>more effective than Frederick at maintaining their network of allies,

0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:34.480
<v Speaker 1>and despite everything, she refused to abandon her royal lifestyle.

0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:37.800
<v Speaker 1>She may not have been a queen, but she was

0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:42.760
<v Speaker 1>still the daughter of a king. Before financial constraints forced

0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:47.320
<v Speaker 1>serious cutbacks, their household continued to go all out with

0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:53.679
<v Speaker 1>lavish hunting parties, theatrical performances, and elaborate dinners. But by

0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:57.760
<v Speaker 1>sixteen twenty three, Frederick had been stripped of even his

0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:03.240
<v Speaker 1>electoral title, which the Emperor transferred to Maximilian of Bavaria.

0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:09.679
<v Speaker 1>The couple lost their territories, their titles, and their income everything,

0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:15.760
<v Speaker 1>but Elizabeth kept writing letters, kept making connections, kept insisting

0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:21.200
<v Speaker 1>their rights would eventually be restored. Then, in sixteen thirty two,

0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:26.000
<v Speaker 1>Frederick fell sick while traveling. An infection had been weakening

0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.840
<v Speaker 1>him for weeks, and he died November twenty ninth. Before

0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:34.600
<v Speaker 1>he returned home, he was only thirty six. When Elizabeth

0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:37.840
<v Speaker 1>got the news, she collapsed with grief and took to

0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.480
<v Speaker 1>her bed. She was thirty seven years old, with ten

0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:47.640
<v Speaker 1>living children, and suddenly entirely on her own. Charles, her

0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:51.080
<v Speaker 1>younger brother, who was now King Charles the First of England,

0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:54.920
<v Speaker 1>begged her to come home, but she wouldn't hear of it.

0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:59.000
<v Speaker 1>Returning to England would mean abandoning all claims to the

0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:01.959
<v Speaker 1>Palatinate for her head, her self, and her children. She

0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:05.600
<v Speaker 1>had come too far and sacrificed too much to give

0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.800
<v Speaker 1>up now, so she stayed in the Netherlands. She and

0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.200
<v Speaker 1>Frederick had built a country house a few years earlier,

0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.840
<v Speaker 1>and she spent increasing amounts of time there. She also

0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:21.280
<v Speaker 1>became a patron of the arts and commissioned portraits honoring

0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:25.560
<v Speaker 1>Frederick's memory. She doubled down on her letter writing, advocating

0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:30.080
<v Speaker 1>for her family's rightful claims, arranging marriages for her children,

0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:35.040
<v Speaker 1>lobbying for more support. Between Frederick's death and her own

0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:39.520
<v Speaker 1>death three decades later, she buried four more of her children.

0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:45.399
<v Speaker 1>Her son Charles Louis, did eventually regain the electorship in

0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:49.760
<v Speaker 1>sixteen forty eight, but even that victory didn't entice Elizabeth

0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:53.720
<v Speaker 1>to leave the Hague. In sixteen forty nine, her brother

0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:59.720
<v Speaker 1>Charles was executed by English revolutionaries. The news pushed Elizabeth

0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:04.200
<v Speaker 1>for into isolation. Her relationships with most of her children

0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:09.360
<v Speaker 1>were tense. Later accounts would criticize her as emotionally distant,

0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.439
<v Speaker 1>though by the standards of seventeenth century royalty, she was

0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:18.360
<v Speaker 1>probably typical. Even today, British royalty isn't known for being

0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:23.679
<v Speaker 1>warm and fuzzy with their offspring. Elizabeth prioritized letter writing

0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:27.800
<v Speaker 1>and political maneuvering, although in later years she was apparently

0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:32.280
<v Speaker 1>quite fond of spending time with her grandchildren. By her

0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:36.480
<v Speaker 1>final decade, the world had changed around her. The Thirty

0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:42.240
<v Speaker 1>Years War had ended, reshaping Europe entirely. The militant Protestant

0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:46.000
<v Speaker 1>ideals she had championed in her youth had no place

0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:50.399
<v Speaker 1>in this new order. She had become a relic, someone

0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:54.800
<v Speaker 1>who belonged to an earlier era, with no country that

0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:59.800
<v Speaker 1>truly felt like home. And then, in sixteen sixty this

0:23:59.840 --> 0:24:03.359
<v Speaker 1>stuart were restored to the throne in the form of

0:24:03.480 --> 0:24:08.520
<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth's nephew, who became King Charles the Second. As soon

0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:12.120
<v Speaker 1>as he became King of England, he began pressing Elizabeth

0:24:12.240 --> 0:24:17.160
<v Speaker 1>to come home after more than forty years away. Elizabeth

0:24:17.320 --> 0:24:23.000
<v Speaker 1>finally agreed. She arrived in England in May sixteen sixty one,

0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:27.719
<v Speaker 1>no longer a fresh faced newlywed, but now a widow

0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:30.719
<v Speaker 1>in her sixties with a hell of a lot of

0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:35.200
<v Speaker 1>life behind her. She found London well suited to her

0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:39.000
<v Speaker 1>new life and decided not to return to the Netherlands.

0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:43.760
<v Speaker 1>Her second chance at English life would be brief. In

0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:48.760
<v Speaker 1>January sixteen sixty two, she came down with pneumonia. Elizabeth

0:24:48.800 --> 0:24:54.120
<v Speaker 1>died just after midnight on February thirteenth, sixteen sixty two,

0:24:54.680 --> 0:24:59.040
<v Speaker 1>the day before her wedding anniversary. Her death didn't make

0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:02.639
<v Speaker 1>much of a splash. She was estranged from many of

0:25:02.680 --> 0:25:06.840
<v Speaker 1>her children, and most Londoners knew her only as the

0:25:06.880 --> 0:25:12.040
<v Speaker 1>mother of Rupert, the famous military commander. On February seventeenth,

0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:16.639
<v Speaker 1>when her coffin left Somerset House for burial, Rupert was

0:25:16.680 --> 0:25:19.560
<v Speaker 1>the only one of her sons present for the funeral

0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:23.960
<v Speaker 1>procession to Westminster Abbey. She was laid to rest near

0:25:24.000 --> 0:25:29.080
<v Speaker 1>her beloved brother Henry in the family vault, where her grandmother, Mary,

0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:34.760
<v Speaker 1>Queen of Scot's, was also buried. Elizabeth Stuart is mostly forgotten,

0:25:34.840 --> 0:25:38.919
<v Speaker 1>now remembered, if she's remembered at all. For her comically

0:25:39.080 --> 0:25:44.200
<v Speaker 1>short reign, She's often portrayed as a romantic tragic figure,

0:25:44.640 --> 0:25:48.800
<v Speaker 1>the Winter Queen who lost everything, but that story misses

0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:54.440
<v Speaker 1>important details. Frederick and Elizabeth's decision to accept the Bohemian

0:25:54.520 --> 0:25:59.639
<v Speaker 1>crown helped ignite the Thirty Years War, which devastated Central

0:25:59.680 --> 0:26:04.200
<v Speaker 1>Europe and left eight million dead. Elizabeth has often been

0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:09.200
<v Speaker 1>scapegoaded for her husband's bad decision, making accused of pushing

0:26:09.240 --> 0:26:12.240
<v Speaker 1>him to accept the crown out of her own personal

0:26:12.280 --> 0:26:17.400
<v Speaker 1>ambition or sense of entitlement. But consider her life's trajectory.

0:26:17.920 --> 0:26:22.040
<v Speaker 1>At age nine, conspirators had plotted to kidnap her and

0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:26.760
<v Speaker 1>install her as a puppet queen. Instead, she helped to

0:26:26.920 --> 0:26:30.920
<v Speaker 1>choose her own crown as an adult, and then watched

0:26:30.920 --> 0:26:35.240
<v Speaker 1>it vanish in twelve months. She was a woman who

0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:41.240
<v Speaker 1>refused to accept defeat, who fought for decades against impossible odds,

0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:45.760
<v Speaker 1>who maintained her dignity even as everything crumbled around her.

0:26:46.359 --> 0:26:50.280
<v Speaker 1>The sheer force of will she demonstrated in defending her

0:26:50.320 --> 0:26:55.880
<v Speaker 1>ideals and her family's interests with almost no resources, relying

0:26:55.920 --> 0:27:00.399
<v Speaker 1>more on charm and reputation rather than actual power, remain

0:27:00.760 --> 0:27:06.439
<v Speaker 1>remarkable In a turbulent period full of religious wars and bold,

0:27:06.720 --> 0:27:11.520
<v Speaker 1>violent land grabs. The Winter Queen is both a cautionary

0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:19.760
<v Speaker 1>tale and a symbol of strength. That's the story of

0:27:19.880 --> 0:27:23.040
<v Speaker 1>the Winter Queen. But keep listening after a brief sponsor

0:27:23.119 --> 0:27:27.360
<v Speaker 1>break to hear a little bit more about Elizabeth Stuart's legacy.

0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:43.600
<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth Stewart may not have been a particularly warm mother.

0:27:44.040 --> 0:27:47.040
<v Speaker 1>It said that she was more interested in writing letters

0:27:47.080 --> 0:27:52.400
<v Speaker 1>than raising children, but she accomplished something that outlasted everything

0:27:52.440 --> 0:27:56.119
<v Speaker 1>else she ever did. She became the ancestor of every

0:27:56.359 --> 0:28:01.320
<v Speaker 1>British monarch who followed. Her youngest daughter, Sophia, married into

0:28:01.359 --> 0:28:06.000
<v Speaker 1>the Hanoverian family. At the time, Elizabeth didn't think highly

0:28:06.080 --> 0:28:09.240
<v Speaker 1>of the match, chalking it up to her daughter's rebellion.

0:28:09.800 --> 0:28:14.719
<v Speaker 1>But nearly forty years after Elizabeth died, English Parliament faced

0:28:14.760 --> 0:28:20.080
<v Speaker 1>a succession crisis. They needed to ensure the crown stayed Protestant,

0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:23.159
<v Speaker 1>and in seventeen oh one they passed the Act of

0:28:23.240 --> 0:28:27.639
<v Speaker 1>settlement which named Sophia's line as heirs to the crown.

0:28:28.400 --> 0:28:32.520
<v Speaker 1>All those years Elizabeth had spent fighting for her children's claims,

0:28:32.800 --> 0:28:36.479
<v Speaker 1>all those endless letters arguing for their rights, all of

0:28:36.520 --> 0:28:39.520
<v Speaker 1>her stubborn refusal to give up. None of it had

0:28:39.560 --> 0:28:43.200
<v Speaker 1>restored Bohemia or the Palatinate the way she had hoped,

0:28:43.720 --> 0:28:47.440
<v Speaker 1>but it had kept her bloodline. In the conversation. In

0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:53.479
<v Speaker 1>seventeen fourteen, Sophia's son became King George the First of

0:28:53.520 --> 0:29:00.840
<v Speaker 1>Great Britain, Elizabeth's grandson. Every single British monarch since descended

0:29:00.960 --> 0:29:05.360
<v Speaker 1>from him, which means they all descended from her. The

0:29:05.720 --> 0:29:09.800
<v Speaker 1>entire line. The Georgia's Victoria, Elizabeth the Second, and now

0:29:10.000 --> 0:29:15.160
<v Speaker 1>Charles the Third, his son William. William's children George, Charlotte

0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:19.680
<v Speaker 1>and Louis, all of them carry Elizabeth Stewart's noble blood.

0:29:20.480 --> 0:29:24.920
<v Speaker 1>The winter Queen, who ruled Bohemia for a single chaotic year,

0:29:25.520 --> 0:29:41.560
<v Speaker 1>founded a royal line that has endured for centuries. Noble

0:29:41.600 --> 0:29:45.560
<v Speaker 1>Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild

0:29:45.600 --> 0:29:49.840
<v Speaker 1>from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz,

0:29:50.240 --> 0:29:54.200
<v Speaker 1>with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,

0:29:54.360 --> 0:29:58.520
<v Speaker 1>Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is

0:29:58.680 --> 0:30:03.640
<v Speaker 1>edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima

0:30:03.800 --> 0:30:08.280
<v Speaker 1>Il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and

0:30:08.360 --> 0:30:13.920
<v Speaker 1>Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:30:14.160 --> 0:30:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.