174 The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618
he persuaded the Estates to designate his eldest son as heir apparent in
April 1620.
Assessing Friedrich’s own part in Palatine policy-making is hampered
by the fact noted by his biographer, that ‘he did not often take up the
pen himself’, so that his correspondence, other than his frequent and
essentially personal letters to his wife, was drafted by councillors and
secretaries. Thus ‘the emphasis on confessional considerations varied
over time and according to the audience, as the situation demanded’,
reflecting the carefully political approach of his more able and worldly-
wise advisers. In Bohemia he was little more than a figurehead, deprived
of effective power by the constitution and obliged to appoint a gov-
ernment comprising primarily the former directors, in which there was
no place for any of his Palatine councillors. Friedrich’s personal signif-
icance in the history of the war reduces to his decision to accept the
Bohemian crown in the first place, coupled with his subsequent stub-
born persistence in seeking total vindication and restitution during a
decade of exile and war. ‘Concern for his honour’, says his biographer,
‘rendered him nearly incapable of making peace on anyone’s terms but
his own.’^45
Later mockingly known as the ‘Winter King’, Friedrich passed that
one winter pleasantly in his new capital, celebrating the Christmas sea-
son as though still at home and at peace in Heidelberg, before setting
off in the spring to Moravia and Silesia for homage ceremonies, more
festivities, and an attempt to drum up money for the war. The wel-
come in Prague had already worn thin, as even there the hardships of
war became apparent. Shortage of money progressed towards financial
collapse, prompting an attempt to alleviate the problem by devaluing
the currency and increasing the number of gulden minted from a mark
(a unit of weight) of silver from 19 to 27. This served only to aggravate
the inflation which was already taking hold in the Habsburg lands, as
well as in much of the wider Empire, foreshadowing the collapsing cur-
rencies of the following years. In these circumstances the new queen’s
extravagance attracted criticism, as did her flighty English manners and
her inability to speak German, let alone Czech.
Perversely, Friedrich’s religious affiliation quickly became a further
source of tension, as even the Bohemian Brethren, although Calvinist
influenced, did not subscribe to the strict Puritan brand of Calvinism
brought in by the Palatine party. This was most dramatically demon-
strated when Friedrich allowed himself to be persuaded by his court
preacher Abraham Scultetus that he could not celebrate Christmas