Commemorating the marriage of the Winter Queen

With the recent 400th anniversary of the wedding of Elizabeth of Bohemia and Frederick, Elector Palatine, there has been a series of programmes on the BBC commemorating the couple and their marriage. There was a feature on the wedding music on the  Early Music Show on Radio 3 on 16th February. Unfortunately this isn't available to listen again but you can download it as a podcast here. The wedding celebrations were organised by Sir Francis Bacon and included over a week of lavish entertainments including music by Robert Johnson, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Campion and John Coperario. There were also 17th century ballads, dances and catches.

In A Point of View on Radio 4 on 24th February Lisa Jardine spoke not only of the celebrity style of the couple, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge of their day, but also of Elizabeth as a powerful political force in 17th century Europe. You can hear Professor Jardine's programme here and there is an article based on it here.

History Today also featured an article on the marriage of the Winter Queen which is available here. To celebrate the event we are posting up not the portrait of Elizabeth that we have hanging in the collection at Ashdown which shows her in her widowhood but the miniature of her painted in her youth by Nicholas Hilliard. This shows why she was considered to be one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe!