1-153-110 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Heidelberg Castle and town viewed across the Neckar river, Germany, in 1620. Heidelberg was the home of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia (1619-1620) and Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England (James VI of Scotland), from their marriage in 1613 until the defeat of the Protestant Bohemian forces at the Battle of the White Mountain near Prague in 1620. Frederick was offered the crown of Bohemia when the kingdom's Protestant Diet deposed the Catholic King Ferdinand II, the Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick accepted, and was crowned in Prague in November 1619. Unfortunately for Frederick, he did not receive the support he expected from James I and the Protestant League, an alliance of German states, and he was defeated and overthrown at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. The brevity of his reign earned him the derisive title of the Winter King.