Gustavus Adolphus of the Palatinate

Prince Gustavus Adolphus
Prince Gustavus (left), with his oldest sister, Elisabeth of the Palatinate (right) by Gerard van Honthorst.
Born(1632-01-14)14 January 1632
The Hague, Netherlands
Died9 January 1641(1641-01-09) (aged 8)
HousePalatinate-Simmern
FatherFrederick V, Elector Palatine
MotherElizabeth Stuart
ReligionProtestant

Gustavus Adolphus of the Palatinate (Prince Palatine Gustavus Adolphus; 14 January 1632 – 9 January 1641), was the last son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (of the House of Wittelsbach), the "Winter King" of Bohemia, by his consort, the British princess Elizabeth Stuart. Gustavus was born in the Dutch Republic, where his family had sought refuge after the sequestration of the Electorate during the Thirty Years' War. Gustavus's brother Charles Louis was, as part of the Peace of Westphalia, restored to the Palatinate.[1]

Biography

Prince Gustavus was born in The Hague, where his parents lived in exile after his father lost the Battle of White Mountain and was driven from the thrones of both Bohemia and the Palatinate. He was named after King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a close friend of both his parents. His paternal grandparents were Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana of Nassau and his maternal grandparents were James VI and I and Anne of Denmark. His father, a Calvinist, died on 29 November 1632, when Gustavus was a baby.

Gustavus died of epilepsy on 9 January 1641, at 8 years of age.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Gustavus 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, Landgrave of Hesse
9. Elisabeth of Hesse
19. Christine of Saxony
2. Frederick V, Elector Palatine
20. William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen
10. William the Silent
21. Juliana of Stolberg-Werningerode
5. Louise Juliana of Nassau
22. Louis III de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier
11. Charlotte of Bourbon-Montpensier
23. Jacqueline de Longwy
1. Prince Gustavus Adolphus
24. Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
12. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
25. Margaret Douglas
6. James I of England
26. James V of Scotland
13. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland
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. Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
31. Elizabeth of Denmark

References

  1. ^ Georg Wilhelm Hopf: Bayerische Geschichte in Zeittafeln, Schmid, 1865, S. 134

Bibliography

  • Carl Eduard Vehse: Geschichte der deutschen Höfe seit der Reformation: 4. Abth., Geschichte der Höfe der Häuser Baiern, Würtemberg, Baden und Hessen; 2. Th, Band 24, Hoffmann und Campe, 1853, S. 101 (in German)