Story Comments

This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »

The Star Palace sits in a walled former hunting park. Almost directly outside the south-west corner of the park, and west of the city of Prague, on 8th November 1620, one of the earliest and most significant battles of what became the 30-years war took place, less than a year after Frederick, the Elector Palatinate, and his bride arrived in Prague, full of hope, to become the King and Queen of Bohemia. The Battle of the White Mountain had some curious aspects. Though the Catholic forces outnumbered the Protestants, the latter occupied the higher ground. According to accounts from the time a mysterious cloud appeared out of nowhere and the Catholic forces attacked under its cover. Some kind of "magical activity" has sometimes been ascribed to this phenomenon. The battle was over in 1 or 2 hours [differing versions exist] and in short order frederick and Elizabeth had to flee, making their home in exile in Holland.

0 Replies