At the time of Elizabeth's birth at
Falkland Palace, Fife, her father was still the
King of Scots only. She was named in honour of the
Queen of England, in an attempt by her father to flatter the old queen, whose kingdom he hoped to inherit. When the younger Elizabeth was six years old, in
1603, her namesake died and James succeeded to the thrones of
England and
Scotland, making his daughter a much more attractive bride.
Part of the intent of the
Gunpowder Plot of
1605 was to put the nine year old Elizabeth onto the throne of England (and, presumably, Scotland) as a
Catholic monarch, after
assassinating her father and the
Protestant English aristocracy. At the time of the plot she was staying at
Coombe Abbey in
Warwickshire, from where the conspirators planned to kidnap her.
On
14 February 1613, she married
Frederick V, then
Elector of the
Palatinate, and took up her place in the court at
Heidelberg. Frederick was the leader of the association of Protestant princes in the
Holy Roman Empire known as the
Evangelical Union, and Elizabeth was married to him in an effort to increase James's ties to these princes. In
1619, Frederick was offered and accepted the crown of
Bohemia, but his rule was brief, and Elizabeth became known as the "Winter Queen". She was also sometimes called "Queen of Hearts" because of her popularity.
Driven into exile, the couple took up residence in
The Hague, and Frederick died in
1632. Elizabeth remained in Holland even after her son,
Charles I Louis, regained his father's electorship in
1648. Following the
Restoration of the English & Scottish monarchies, she travelled to
London to visit her nephew,
Charles II, and died while there. Her daughter was known later as
Sophia of Hanover; pursuant to the English
Act of Settlement 1701, the Electress Sophia and her issue were made heirs to the English & Scottish thrones (later British throne), so that all monarchs of Great Britain from
George I are descendants of Elizabeth.
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