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Elisabeth of Bohemia’s Aristocratic Upbringing and Education at the Prinsenhof, Rapenburg 4–10, Leiden, c. 1627/8–32

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Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680): A Philosopher in her Historical Context

Part of the book series: Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences ((WHPS,volume 9))

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Abstract

This chapter is a note on the education of Elisabeth, Princess Palatine, and as such presents what information there is regarding the instructors, curriculum and atmosphere she would have experienced at the so-called Prinsenhof, the school-cum-court of the Palatine princes and princesses that was located in Leiden, a mere three-hour journey from their parents and the court-in-exile in The Hague. While the limited sources allow only for mere glimpses of the education Elisabeth received, they do reveal new information, such as the texts she is likely to have read between the ages of ten and fourteen and the discovery that her first engagement with philosophy was most likely with either François du Ban or Daniel Berckringer rather than René Descartes. It also underlines the importance of her mother, Elizabeth Stuart, sometime Queen of Bohemia, in determining how Elisabeth would experience and benefit from this education, as her children enjoyed privileges that she was denied as a child, not least the companionship of siblings and a relatively ungendered education, particularly when it came to learning the classical languages.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A. Köcher’s Memoiren der Sophie nachmals Kurfürstin von Hannover (Leipzig: Hirzel, 1879) was the first edition of the French text based on Leibniz’ copy. It was quickly followed by an English translation: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, ed. and trans. by H. Forester, 1888. Page references throughout are to the most scholarly English translation to date: Sophia of Hanover, 1680, Memoirs (1630–1680), ed. and trans. by Sean Ward, published in The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe/The Toronto Series 25 (Toronto: Iter Inc / Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2013).

  2. 2.

    For the use of ‘La Grecque’ see, for instance, Edward to Charles Louis, 12 July [1658], Paris (Hauck 1908, 140, no. 175). For the use of ‘Signora Antica’ see, for instance, Sophia to Charles Louis, 2 June 1666, Iburg (Bodemann 1885, 104, no. 112).

  3. 3.

    King James to the Earl of Mar, 24 July 1595, as qtd. in Stewart 2003, 141.

  4. 4.

    Marc Antonio Correr and Anzolo Contarini to the Dodge and Senate, 15 June 1626; CSP Venice XIX, no. 621.

  5. 5.

    Carleton to J. Moulton, 3/13 March 1624, The Hague, TNA, SP 84/116, fo. 192r.

  6. 6.

    The editors refer, among other sources, to Municipal Archive Leiden, Secretarie Archief II, 683, fos. 157, 200, 276, and 295. These manuscripts are now re-catalogued as SA 187.

  7. 7.

    Having matriculated at Oxford in 1606, Dinley subsequently spent several years with Wotton on different embassies, acting as his assistant secretary between 1621 and 1623. Because he was a life-long correspondent of Sir Henry Wotton, some biographical information is to be found in Smith 1907, ii. 470. For his time as secretary to Wotton see Bell 1990, entry V16.

  8. 8.

    Municipal Archive Leiden, DTB Dopen, Baptisms NH Pieterskerk, Part 221, Period: 1621–1644, Leiden, inventory no. 221, 10 June 1637, baptisms Pieterskerk 1621 - 3 June 1644.

  9. 9.

    Barbara Kiefer Lewalski notes that Sorbière included Latin, but unfortunately Sorbière is not specific. See Lewalski, 1993, 47, in particular endnote 14, in which she erroneously refers to Sorbière, 1660, 74, rather than Sorbière 1660, 71.

  10. 10.

    I thank Dirk van Miert for translating the Latin original.

  11. 11.

    On van Schurman, see Mirjam de Baar’s essay in this volume.

  12. 12.

    Green strings some sentences together and paraphrases ‘The History of Prince Rupert’, undated, BL, Lansdowne MS 817, fos. 157–166.

Abbreviations

Album :

Album studiosorum Academiae lugduno batavae (1875). Du Rieu, William N. (Ed.). Hagae Comitum apud Martinum Nijhoff

BL:

British Library (London)

CES :

The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011-), ed. Nadine Akkerman

CSP Venice :

Calendar of State Papers Venice

NNBW :

Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek (1914). Molhuysen, P.C. & Blok, P.C. (Eds). Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff’s Uitgevers Maatschappij

SP:

State Papers

SP 14:

State Papers Domestic, James I

SP 16:

State Papers Domestic, Charles I

SP 75:

Secretaries of State: State Papers Foreign, Denmark

SP 84:

Secretaries of State: State Papers Foreign, Holland, c. 1560–1780

TNA:

The National Archives (Kew), formerly PRO/Public Record Office.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. English Language and Literature, Leiden University, Arsenaal, Arsenaalstraat 1, 2311 CT, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Nadine Akkerman

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Correspondence to Nadine Akkerman .

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  1. Section for Philosophy, Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Sabrina Ebbersmeyer

  2. Department of Philosophy, University of York, York, UK

    Sarah Hutton

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Akkerman, N. (2021). Elisabeth of Bohemia’s Aristocratic Upbringing and Education at the Prinsenhof, Rapenburg 4–10, Leiden, c. 1627/8–32. In: Ebbersmeyer, S., Hutton, S. (eds) Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680): A Philosopher in her Historical Context. Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71527-4_1

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