Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (born Elizabeth of Scotland; 19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) was the eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. She was thus sister to King Charles I and cousin to King Frederick III of Denmark. With the demise of the Stuart dynasty in 1714, her direct descendants, the Hanoverian rulers, succeeded to the British throne. Elizabeth was born at Falkland Palace, Fife.[1] At the time of her birth, her father was still the King of Scots only. She was named in honor of the Queen of England, in an attempt by her father to flatter the old queen, whose kingdom he hoped to inherit. During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth's governess was the Countess of Kildare.[1] When Elizabeth was six years old, in 1603, Elizabeth I of England died and James succeeded to the thrones of England and Ireland. When she came to England, she was consigned to the care of Lord Harington, with whom she spent the years of her happy childhood at Combe Abbey in Warwickshire. Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth and put her onto the throne of England (and, presumably, Scotland) as a Catholic monarch, after assassinating her father and the Protestant English aristocracy. Among Elizabeth's suitors was King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, but she was eventually betrothed to the Elector Palatine in 1612. On 14 February 1613, she married Frederick V, then Elector of the Palatinate in Germany, and took up her place in the court at Heidelberg. Frederick was the leader of the association of Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire known as the Evangelical Union, and Elizabeth was married to him in an effort to increase James's ties to these princes. In 1619, Frederick was offered and accepted the crown of Bohemia. Elizabeth was crowned Queen of Bohemia on 7 November 1619, three days after her husband was crowned King of Bohemia.[2] Frederick's rule was extremely brief, and thus Elizabeth became known as the "Winter Queen." She was also sometimes called "Queen of Hearts" because of her popularity. Driven into exile, the couple took up residence in The Hague, and Frederick died in 1632. Elizabeth remained in Holland even after her son, Charles I Louis, regained his father's electorship in 1648. Following the Restoration of the English and Scottish monarchies, she travelled to London to visit her nephew, Charles II, and died while there. Elizabeth's youngest daughter, Sophia of Hanover, had in 1658 married the future Elector of Hanover. The Electress Sophia became the nearest Protestant relative to the English, Scottish and Irish crowns (later British crown). Under the English Act of Settlement, the succession was settled on Sophia and her issue, so that all monarchs of Great Britain from George I are descendants of Elizabeth.
The Story of Ruth- Thomas Matthews Rooke Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. Ruth 2:2 The gulf of incomprehension between Catholics and Christians from the ecclesial communities of the 'Reformation' (Protestants for short) on the subject of devotion to Mary is fuelled in part by the radically different ways the two traditions read the Old Testament scriptures. The man who inspired the 'Reformation' Martin Luther said "The Christian reader should make it his first task to seek out the literal sense, as they call it. For it alone is the whole substance of faith and Christian theology" This means that what appears on the surface of the written words is sufficient in itself to convey all that we need to know about God. Catholicism, by contrast sees four levels or senses of Scripture. The literal is the foundation of all the others but it does not exhaust the content of Divine revelation, so if we rest in it alone then we miss out on all that the Lord intends to convey to us via the medium of the sacred texts. For example, we can believe that the crossing of the Red Sea was both an historical event and a pre-figuring of baptism. Protestants will accept this because St Paul said so (1 Corinthians 10:1-2) They are reluctant however to apply the same kind of approach to those scriptures where there is no explicit scriptural mandate to do so. Catholics are not so timid. An allegorical reading of a passage which does not deny or contradict the literal sense, which is consonant with the faith received from the Apostles and which helps us to better understand and more deeply love God is a perfectly acceptable approach to studying scripture. By using it Catholicism arrives at the idea that the New Testament is hidden within the Old, that is, concealed under persons and events, and so the New reveals the meaning of the Old. Christians and Jews therefore will read these Scriptures in radically different ways unless the Christians adopt the Lutheran approach which bring them close to the Jewish methodology. And so we come to Mary. Catholics understand many OT passages to refer to the Mother of Jesus, her life, her personality and her role in the history of salvation. Since Protestants see nothing more in these passages than the events, persons or places described in them they simply don't 'get' what Catholics are on about when discussing our Lady and so accuse them of importing extra-biblical ideas and practices. In this blog, as my contribution to ecumenism, I propose to look at the eponymous heroine of the Book of Ruth and see in what way she prefigures Mary as refuge of sinners. Our Lady of Ransom In my earlier blog Mary & Eternal Life I looked at a number of the ways in which Ruth acted as a type or figure of our Lady here I will look at some others. By 'type' is meant that what is done in part and imperfectly in the OT is brought to fulfilment and perfection in the Gospel and forms part of the economy of salvation. So, Ruth sets out to glean the ears of corn which the reapers leave behind in order to be able to feed Naomi her mother-in-law and herself. When, in the Gospels, Jesus speaks of harvesting He usually means gathering in souls to the kingdom of heaven. Since He speaks through the Old Testament as well as the New it is worth considering the possibility that references to the same subject in the one will have the same purpose as in the other. When to this harvest is added the figure of Ruth following 'after him in whose sight I shall find grace' we are irresistibly reminded of the words of St Gabriel 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.' (Luke 1:30) It seems then legitimate to read this passage as an allusion to the role played by the Mother of God in bringing into the kingdom those who escape from the hands of the reapers. What Mary gleans are those who have heard the Good News about Jesus but have not benefited by it. They lie on the earth having missed salvation but not yet consigned to destruction. It seems likely to me that these are not necessarily greater sinners than the saved but they are guilty of the sin of despair. They feel themselves to be so wicked or to have committed such terrible acts that there is no possibility of them being forgiven and so they fear greatly to come into the presence of our Lord never doubting that condemnation will be the only outcome of that encounter. The Protestant approach is basically to say 'pull yourself together, Jesus will forgive you if you repent.' This is perfectly true of course but nonetheless it is a psychological fact that many people find themselves unable to overcome that fear of the Just Judge. So either we consign them (by them I mean of course me) to the flames or we offer them another route by which they can come without fear into the presence of the Saviour. The Church asks 'if you fear the Son do you also fear the mother?' And who can fear Mary? The despairing can turn to her and she will raise them from the earth, gather them in her arms and present them to her Divine Son who can refuse nothing from the hands of His most beloved mother. To the accusation that Catholics, through the cult of Mary, add an unnecessary barrier between Christians and Jesus we can reply that on the contrary Marian devotion give us a bridge that bring those who would otherwise be furthest from Him straight into His Sacred Heart. The labours of Ruth are described thus: 'This is the Moabitess who came with Noemi, from the land of Moab, And she desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain, following the steps of the reapers: and she hath been in the field from morning till now, and hath not gone home for one moment.' (Ruth 2:6-7) This sounds like Mary who went 'with haste' to support St Elizabeth (Luke 1:39) who stood unflinching at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25) and who constantly prayed at the heart of the Church (Acts 1:14) Her personality has not undergone a change for the worse since she was raised to heaven. If she worked tirelessly for the kingdom of her Son then how much more she does so now. The sinner, fallen from a state of grace and despairing of entering into it again will not call to her in vain. The field in which she works is filled precisely with the lost, the furthest from God, the ones guilty of the most gross sins. Those whose desire to be reconciled is finely balanced with their expectation of damnation will through Mary receive the grace and strength which they need to make that decisive choice, to be transformed through repentance leaving a life wholly given over to darkness behind them, entering the kingdom of light and themselves performing acts of light. Space does not permit me to say all I could on this subject. So as homework I will leave you to ponder on how much this prayer offered for Ruth was fulfilled in Mary 'The Lord make this woman who cometh into thy house, like Rachel, and Lia, who built up the house of Israel: that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrata, and may have a famous name in Bethlehem' (Ruth 4:11) To the separated brethren of the Protestant traditions I say do not close your eyes to the treasures hidden in Scripture, the whole substance of faith and theology consists in more than a description of events, persons and places. And to those who fear to be excluded from the company of Jesus because they know themselves to be so hardened in wickedness I say put you hand into Mary's hand, she will lead you into His presence and He will have only smiles and love to offer to anyone who accompanies His mother. Mary, refuge of sinners, pray for us. Like the Catholic Scot Blog Page on Facebook Follow @stevhep on Twitter, Google+ and Tumblr. Follow Catholic Scot on Pinterest. Madonna under the Fir Tree- Lucas Cranach the Elder
Princess Anne (with the Duke of Edinburgh behind) in Yellowknife, Canada, 1970
Prince Louis of Battenberg, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven (1854-1921), pictured with his wife, Princess Victoria of Hesse (1863-1950) and their three eldest children - Prince George of Battenberg (1892-1938), later George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, (middle). Our beautiful Wall Art and Photo Gifts include Framed Prints, Photo Prints, Poster Prints, Canvas Prints, Jigsaw Puzzles, Metal Prints and so much more #MediaStorehouse
A look back at an extraordinary royal existence.
RICHARD KAY: Usually it is the most poignant of departures, but there will be no such wrench when the Queen leaves Balmoral later this month.
@LambersAlie @RitaCobix @Amyperuana @SuzanneArtMusic @MariangelaSant8 @ceconomou56 @deOzAlice @SilvanaMarucci3 @ritamay1 @Papryka5 @cmont4560 @albertopetro2 @VicoLudovico @Asamsakti @olgatuleninova @GucciPatrizia @scastaldi9 @FedericaAnto2 @_Vivi2013 @licprospero @BrindusaB1 @mariaireneali @Natanaelmiangel @paoloigna1 @Tramanera @angelicadisogno @PatriziaRametta @v_diocesano @SusanScCastaldi @BaroneZaza70 @BPerrionni @lagatta4739 @JacopoVeneziani @CarmenAurora25 @GuernseyJuliet @ataturca @piotr408 @artmajcar @mirianagrassi1 @velocevolo @JaoreroR @elamigojavi @amparofashion @jukkaisorinne @makarowa_l @peterschiedam @emanuelaneri14 @MarieFrettoloso @MaurilioVitto @huskorkut Dank je lieve Alie🌹 Fijne week #friends Madonna and Child❤️ #ArtLovers 🎨Lionel Noel Royer
Die Königin Marie und ihre Tochter Mary im Schloss Marienburg by Wilhelm von Kaulbach, 1866
Spectacular Heirlooms of the Rothschild Family are on permanent display in the ‘A Rothschild Treasury’ Exhibition at Waddesdon Manor, which were owned by the recently deceased 4th Baron Rothschild
The Annunciation (Mikhail Nesterov 1901) There are, indeed, many things that we Orthodox and those of the Latin confessions (for Protestants are nothing but the bastard children of Rome) share. How…
Kalie, Canada. Historic photos of royalty and aristocracts, mostly British, in the 19th and 20th...
Precious Moments. Mary Louise Gow (1851-1929). Gow received her training at Queen’s Square School of Art and the Heatherley School of Fine Art and often exhibited at the Royal Society of British...
The Queen Mother died 10 years ago - on 30 March 2002 - aged 101.
It won't be long now before Kate and William leave St Mary's Hospital in Paddington cuddling their new bundle of joy
People.com | Celebrity News, Exclusives, Photos and Videos
This article was written by Marie. Joan is the bride whose mother took off with the groom. In this case, the frisky mother was Isabelle of Angoulême: a widowed queen on the look-out for a new husband. But as Joan was only ten at the time, it can’t have been too much of a snub. She probably wasn’t that close [read more]
Settant’anni di Regno, una super nonna di otto nipoti e 11 pronipoti, ma com’era la Regina Elisabetta da bambina? Aria furba, occhi chiari e...
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 1939, very elegant, very glamorous and very chic in a dress by Sir Norman Hartnell and beautifully photographed by Sir Cecil Beaton in the Summer House, attributed to William Kent, of Buckingham Palace Garden. www.royal.uk
Henry Tudor was the least likely candidate to become King of England. A descendant of King Edward III, he was born to a teenage Lancastrian mother during the precarious time in English history that…
The fascinating and complicated history of one of beer’s most revered figures In the annals of beer history, St. Hildegard of Bingen holds a unique distinction. The 12th century German abbess is responsible for the earliest surviving writings on […]
A look back at an extraordinary royal existence.
Mary looked chic for her sporty engagement
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch, has died at 96.
