In the Service of the Electress

This chapter begins by looking at Elizabeth Stuart's use of jewellery to understand the complex networks of honour and obligation she was negotiating. By the middle of 1615, the atmosphere in Heidelberg had changed, and for the better. Elizabeth asserted her authority in Heidelberg by taking responsibility for a small area of the soon-to-be-famous Heidelberger Gardens, the Hortus Palatinus, and with the full approval of her husband. She employed French architect and engineer Salomon de Caus to design the Hortus Palatinus; he stayed with Elizabeth until 1619, collaborating with her on the designs of several masques. Meanwhile, the Schomberg marriage and its celebrations served not only to unite the Anglo-Scottish and German factions at the Heidelberg Court, but also indicate a general improvement in relations between Frederick V and Elizabeth, something which may be put down to the retirement of the Dowager Electress. The chapter then recounts the death of Elizabeth's chief lady-in-waiting, Anne Dudley. It also illustrates the arrival of Elizabeth's first daughter, Palatine princess Elisabeth; it was Elizabeth's children who began the long process of binding her to Germany. By June of 1619, she was pregnant with her fourth child, Rupert, but still Elizabeth wished to return to England.