FREDERICK IV, ELECTOR PALATINE

'Frederick IV', Elector Palatine of the Rhine (March 5, 1574 – September 19, 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" (in German, ''Friedrich Der Aufrichtige''; in French ''Frédéric IV le juste''). Born in Amberg, his father had died in October 1583 and Frederick came under the guardianship of his uncle John Casimir, an ardent Calvinist. The Calvinist mathematician and astronomer Bartholemaeus Pitiscus served as Frederick's tutor and later became court preacher.
In January 1592, Frederick assumed control of the government of the Palatinate upon the death of John Casimir. Frederick continued John Casimir's anti-Catholic measures and in 1608 became the head of the Protestant military alliance known as the Protestant Union.

Contents

Ancestors

Family and children

Ancestors

' Frederick's ancestors in three generations'

'Frederick IV, Elector Palatine'	'Father:' Louis VI, Elector Palatine	'Paternal Grandfather:' Frederick III, Elector Palatine	'Paternal Great-grandfather:'
			'Paternal Great-grandmother:'
		'Paternal Grandmother:' Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbach	'Paternal Great-grandfather:' Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
			'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Susanna of Bavaria
	'Mother:' Elisabeth of Hesse	'Maternal Grandfather:' Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse	'Maternal Great-grandfather:' William II, Landgrave of Hesse
			'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Anna of Mecklenburg
		'Maternal Grandmother:' Christine of Saxony	'Maternal Great-grandfather:' George, Duke of Saxony
			'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Barbara of Poland

Family and children

In 1593 he married Louise Juliana of Nassau, the daughter of William I of Orange and Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier. They had eight children:
# Luise Juliane (b. Heidelberg, 16 July 1594 - d. Meisenheim,28 April 1640), married in 1612 to Pfalzgraf John II of Pfalz-Zweibrücken.
# Katharina Sofie (b. Heidelberg, 10 June 1595 - d. Köln an der Spree, 28 June 1626).
# Frederick V, Elector Palatine (b. Jagdschloß Deinschwang, 16 August 1596 - d. Mainz, 29 November 1632).
# Elisabeth Charlotte (b. Neumarkt, 19 November 1597 - d. Crossen a.O, 26 April 1660), married in 1616 to Elector George William of Brandenburg.
# Anna Eleonore (b. Heidelberg, 4 January 1599 - d. Heidelberg, 10 October 1600).
# Ludwig Wilhelm (b. Heidelberg, 5 August 1600 - d. Heidelberg, 10 October 1600).
# Moritz Christian (b. Heidelberg, 18 September 1601 - d. Heidelberg, 28 March 1605).
# Ludwig Philipp of Pfalz-Simmern-Kaiserslautern (b. Heidelberg, 23 November 1602 - d. Krossen, 6 January 1655).
In 1619, his son Frederick V, Elector Palatine accepted the crown of Bohemia, an act that initiated the Thirty Years' War, a war that proved disastrous to the Palatinate.
He died in Heidelberg.