Portrait of the King Frederick V of Bohemia, the Winter King (1596-1632), half-length, in armour with the riband and the lesser George of the Order of the Garter

The son of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, and Louise Juliana, Countess of Nassau, Frederick V succeeded his father to the Electorate in 1610. In 1619, he was elected King of Bohemia following the death of the Emperor Matthias. The Protestant nobility of Bohemia had the year before risen in revolt against the Romanist policies of Matthias, and their choice of the Protestant Frederick was in direct opposition to the wishes of the new Emperor, Ferdinand, a staunch Catholic. These acts were the effective catalysts for the Thirty Years' War, which was precipitated in full the next year, 1620, by Ferdinand's invasion of Bohemia and expulsion of Frederick and Elizabeth. Subsequently known as the Winter King and Queen due to the brevity of their rule, they fled to the United Provinces, where they remained in The Hague under the protection of the Stadtholder.