by the anarchist Luigi Luccheni, on the 10th of September 1898, and died
of the wound within a few hours. This aimless and dastardly crime
completed the list of misfortunes of the Austrian house, and aroused
intense indignation throughout Europe.
See A. de Burgh, _Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, a Memoir_ (London,
1898); E. Friedmann and J. Paves, _Kaiserin Elisabeth_ (Berlin, 1898);
and the anonymous _Martyrdom of an Empress_ (1899), containing a
quantity of court gossip.
ELIZABETH (1596-1662), consort of Frederick V., elector palatine and
titular king of Bohemia, was the eldest daughter of James I. of Great
Britain and of Anne of Denmark, and was born at Falkland Castle in
Fifeshire in August 1596. She was entrusted to the care of the earl of
Linlithgow, and after the departure of the royal family to England, to
the countess of Kildare, subsequently residing with Lord and Lady
Harington at Combe Abbey in Warwickshire. In November 1605 the Gunpowder
Plot conspirators formed a plan to seize her person and proclaim her
queen after the explosion, in consequence of which she was removed by
Lord Harington to Coventry. In 1608 she appeared at court, where her
beauty soon attracted admiration and became the theme of the poets, her
suitors including the dauphin, Maurice, prince of Orange, Gustavus
Adolphus, Philip III. of Spain, and Frederick V., the elector palatine.
A union with the last-named was finally arranged, in spite of the
queen's opposition, in order to strengthen the alliance with the
Protestant powers in Germany, and the marriage took place on the 14th of
February 1613 midst great rejoicing and festivities. The prince and
princess entered Heidelberg on the 17th of June, and Elizabeth, by means
of her English annuity, enjoyed five years of pleasure and of
extravagant gaiety to which the small German court was totally
unaccustomed. On the 26th of August 1618, Frederick, as a leading
Protestant prince, was chosen king by the Bohemians, who deposed the
emperor Ferdinand, then archduke of Styria. There is no evidence to show
that his acceptance was instigated by the princess or that she had any
influence in her husband's political career. She accompanied Frederick
to Prague in October 1619, and was crowned on the 7th of November. Here
her unrestrainable high spirits and levity gave great offence to the
citizens. On the approach of misfortune, however, she showed great
courage and fortitude. She left Prague on the 8th of November 1620,
after the fatal battle of the White Hill, for Küstrin, travelling thence
to Berlin and Wolfenbüttel, finally with Frederick taking refuge at the
Hague with Prince Maurice of Orange. The help sought from James came
only in the shape of useless embassies and negotiations; the two
Palatinates were soon occupied by the Spaniards and the duke of Bavaria;
and the romantic attachment and services of Duke Christian of Brunswick,
of the 1st earl of Craven, and of other chivalrous young champions who
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