A bridegroom for Elizabeth: diplomatic negotiations for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, 1610 – 1613

After 1603 there was an outbreak of wedding fever at the English court, aptly summed up by John Chamberlain, who writes that ‘all the talke now is of masking and feasting at these towardly marriages.’ In these early years of James VI & I’s reign, marriage played a key role in defining his identity as Rex Pacificus. After a flurry of high-profile court weddings aimed in some way or another at stabilising political tensions, protracted negotiations with several European nations culminated in Princess Elizabeth, only surviving daughter of James and Anna of Denmark, marrying Frederick, Elector Palatine, on Valentine’s Day, 1613. This paper will uncover some of the proposed bridegrooms offered for Elizabeth, and will examine the negotiations which took place to allow James to settle on Frederick V