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, Dutch Republic
Died	9 January 1641(1641-01-09) (aged 8) The Hague, Dutch Republic
Burial	Kloosterkerk
House	Palatinate-Simmern
Father	Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Mother	Elizabeth Stuart
Religion	Protestant

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.

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

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)