Louise Hollandine, Princess Palatine of the Rhine. The name suggests a variety of countries and certainly Louise would have no such country she could call home.
Louise was tall and slim with sharp and handsome features. Strong willed and intelligent, she thrived on unconventionality and loved having fun, despite her rank. She would often let the appearance of her hair and dress slip, causing her sisters to make fun of her. Louise preferred to be more tomboyish, inherited all of her mother’s charm and wit and was a good friend companion to be with.
Louise’s name, Hollandine, reminds us of the tragic events her family went through, before her birth in April 1622.
Her mother was Princess Elisabeth of England, sister of King Charles I. She married Frederick, the Elector Palatine, the champion of Protestantism and the leading Elector in the Holy Roman Empire. Frederick and Elisabeth were poles apart in nature, but united by their immense love for each other.
Frederick was urged in 1619 to accept the Bohemian’s offer of their throne, after they had revolted, against Ferdinand of Styria.
Frederick hesitated; to do so would be to risk his current lands and to incur the wrath of the powerful Emperor and the decision tormented him.
Eventually he accepted and was crowned King of Bohemia, but in 1620, they were forced out by the Emperor’s troops. Eventually the Palatine was captured and Frederick and Elizabeth were forced to flee with their growing family to Holland, where they arrived in April 1621.
It was there at The Hague, that Elizabeth gave birth to Louise, the second daughter and sixth child. She was named Hollandine after the country that gave her family refuge and seven more children were to follow her.
Childhood
Louise was brought up a Protestant like all of the children; Elisabeth abhorred Catholicism and this would show itself all too apparent in later years.
Louise was brought up in the city of Leyden, in the house called the Prinzenhof, which her father had bought. With her two brothers Frederick and Rupert, she was tutored by Madame de Plesseus, who was very strict with them. Plesseus had been her father’s governess and was assisted by her two daughters, who apparently looked older than her!
Routine began at seven, when she would have risen, prayed and read the bible, before dressing for half past eight and receiving tuition from several teachers. After dinner, the children were given time to rest, but resumed at two o’clock until six, when they supped. At eight thirty, it was time for bed again.
She and Rupert, of whom she was most like in appearance and nature, both enjoyed art. Louise would even dress in Rupert’s clothes in plays and actually be mistaken for him.
Gerard Honthorst, the brilliant painter who lived for a time in The Hague, tutored them in art. Honthorst’s tuition paid off and they both became great artists, Louise becoming much more of an expert. Honthorst would even sign Louise’s paintings, to add value to them when she sold them, so good were they. Louise seemed to have developed a childish crush on Honthorst.
In 1629 came a further tragedy, when her father’s heir, Prince Frederick Henry was drowned. Frederick himself never recovered from his son’s death and whilst on campaign, trying to recover his lands, he succumbed to the plague in November 1632.
Louise remained at The Hague with her mother and sisters, during all the upheaval of the English Civil Wars. Her brothers Rupert and Maurice both went to England to fight for their uncle, King Charles I, against Parliament.
In 1645, her brother Edward committed the unforgivable and converted to Catholicism to marry the sister of the Queen of Poland. Elisabeth was outraged, eventually forgiving, but not quite forgetting.
Flirtations
Louise seems to have been embroiled in several flirtatious affairs at this time. One with Lord George Goring, a royalist which could only have been flirting. Goring was not the type of man to give up the chance of bragging over his booze and cards and certainly if he had slept with Louise, he would have let it slip many a time.
The next event to catch the scandalmongers was when a Frenchman, Jacques de L’Epinay, who had no manners and a black reputation as a womaniser, began to hover around Elisabeth. He commenced a mild flirtation with her and Elisabeth was very protective of him, probably out of flattery. He would however have come into contact with Louise and soon de L’Epinay was boasting of enjoying the favours of both Elizabeth and Louise. This was purely absurd, for Elizabeth’s nature and devotion to her late husband, she never stopped mourning him, would never have allowed it. Louise’s younger brother Phillip, eventually stabbed De L’Epinay after his boasting, but Louise’s comments about the episode are not recorded.
It was about now that Louise’s life changed wildly and became more exciting, though mixed with another huge tragedy.
On January 30th,1649, her uncle King Charles was executed by the army, which had gained control of Parliament and England. The exiled royal family were plunged into grief. The late kings loyal commanders now left the England, which they no longer recognised and began arriving at The Hague and France.
One such man, James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, arrived in the first half of 1649. Montrose had fought expertly and bravely in Scotland during the recent war. He had ridden into Scotland in 1644 and from a scratch force of just himself and two other’s, he soon raised several thousand men and won battle after battle against huge odds. This caused much fear amongst the King’s enemies in Scotland and necessitating the recall of some of the rebel Scottish army from England, to rescue Scotland from Montrose. Time had run out though; the King was captured and he wrote to order Montrose to lay down his arms.
Now in 1649, Montrose kissed the hand of the young King Charles II and vowed to dedicate his life to restoring him to his murdered fathers throne. Whilst at The Hague, Montrose, like all other men of quality, visited the late kings sister, Louise’s mother.
Whilst there, he came into contact with Princess Louise and undoubtedly they fell in love with each other, the more they saw each other. Montrose was a widower and Louise had not yet married, nor had she any hope of a dynastic marriage while her family remained so poverty stricken.
Louise and Montrose were well matched and both respected the others abilities, seeing that they shared the same determination of spirit.
Time was short however and Montrose was sent back to Scotland to invade and capture it for the King. Once he arrived, things went from bad to worse, when support was not forthcoming. The King had come to an agreement with Montrose’s enemies, seeing them as providing more hope of winning his throne. This put men off committing to Montrose and effectively doomed his hopes. Louise must have been distraught with worry and anger.
Montrose was eventually beaten and forced to flee for his life through the highlands, before being turned in by a poor and selfish Laird. For the man’s cowardly and detestable behaviour, he received the reward of Ł30,000, which was issued in the Kings name!
Montrose was then hauled through the land, on his way to Edinburgh, with brutal treatment. He was paraded before the crowds who had been paid to stone and heckle him, but instead, they went silent in awe and respect for him. No one murmured a single derogatory word and he gained immense respect. On his way to prison, he managed to clap eyes on his greatest enemy the Marquis of Argyll, who stood hiding behind some shutters, peering out at Montrose. As Montrose’s eyes fell on him, Argyll slammed the shutter closed with fear. In 1651, Montrose was executed, but never did he show fear, but appeared dressed in his best clothes and tidy as though he were going to see the king.
Only Child Left
Back at The Hague, Louise was now the only child left with her mother. All the rest had gone to wars, died, married or moved back to the Palatine, which had recently been restored to Frederick’s eldest son, Charles Louis.
Louise’s reaction to Montrose’s death must have been terrible. In 1657, days before the Christmas festivities, Louise had gone missing. After a search, a letter was found addressed to her mother. In it she explained that she could not stay and receive the sacrament against her conscience and told her mother, “It has pleased God to discover to me the surest way of salvation, and to give me to know that the Catholic religion is that only way.”
Elisabeth’s anger was fired and she saw this as an act of betrayal and the greatest of affronts to her. To make it worse, Louise fled alone to Queen Henrietta Maria, the late King Charles I’s Queen. The Catholic Henrietta and Elizabeth had always been at loggerheads and Elizabeth was shamed and annoyed to be left to defend her daughter, against rumours that pregnancy was the cause of her flight.
Louise eventually entered the convent of Maubuisson, near Pontoise. She constantly received visits from her relatives, the French Royal Family and wrote to her brothers and sisters.
Her convent was ideal for her, as one of her nieces said, “It is indescribable how pleasant and playful the Princess of Maubuisson was. She said she had always liked a country life and fancied she lived like a country girl.”
In 1662, her mother died and all of her remaining jewels and possessions went to her surviving children -- except Louise. Louise, the forgotten Princess, was left out of the will.
Louise lived her role with pride and to a strict regime. She lay on a hard bed, would only have the use of a stool for sitting and ate no meat. She would rise at midnight every night and attend devotions.
Her niece added, “She is better tempered, more lively, sees, hears and walks better than I do. She is still able to read the smallest of print without spectacles, has all her teeth complete and is quite full of fun.”
Louise lived until she was eighty-eight, still retaining the mind and spirit of her younger days and painting almost up to the end.
Certainly Louise revelled in the midnight mass, telling her family that she loved nothing more than seeing the effects of the candles on the room in the night and admiring this scene with a keen old artist’s eye.
Her sister Sophia cast the final and revealing sentence upon Louise’s life as she remembered Montrose, “Since he was a very brave soldier and a man of high merit, he thought nothing impossible to his management and courage. He was sure he could restore the young king if His Majesty would make him Viceroy of Scotland and, if he did him so great a service, the King could not refuse him the hand of my sister Princess Louise.”
Louise and Montrose never did get the chance at marrying, but no doubt eventually were re-united, which was perhaps Louise’s only wish.
More Information
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~crossby/ECW/ -- A basic website with interesting links and information about the English Civil War, the leading players and battle tactics.
http://www.montrose-society.org.uk/ -- A professional website with information about the first Marquis of Montrose and his life. This is a society dedicated to his memory.
http://www.kingorparliament.com -- My own website with information about King Charles I, Louise’s uncle and the English Civil War.
The Wassenaer Hoff, The Hague - Louise’s parents house in exile, where she lived until she ran away in 1657.
The Banqueting House, Whitehall, London - The only remains of Whitehall Palace, which housed the Stuart Monarchy, Louise’s mother’s family.
Bibliography
Marshall, Rosalind, The Winter Queen, 1998
Morrah, Patrick, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, 1976
Plowden, Alison, The Stuart Princesses, 1997
Wedgwood, C V, Montrose, 1995
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© Copyright 2002 by Mark Turnbull.
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