German Friedrich known as Frederick the Winter King
born Aug. 26, 1596, Amberg, Upper Palatinate
died Nov. 29, 1632, Mainz
Elector palatine of the Rhine (1610–23) and king of Bohemia (as Frederick I) for one winter (1619–20).
The Protestant Bohemian estates revolted against the Catholic emperor Ferdinand II and offered the crown to Frederick (1619), making him head of the Protestant union against Catholic Austria at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War . He was soon abandoned by his allies and was routed in the Battle of White Mountain . In 1622 he went into exile in Holland. In 1623 he was deprived of his rights as an elector, and in 1628 the Upper Palatinate was annexed by Bavaria.