Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618 - 1680). Elisabeth of the Palatinate, also known as Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate, or Princess-Abbess of Herford Abbey, was the eldest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, and Elizabeth Stuart. Elisabeth of the Palatinate was a philosopher best known for her correspondence with René Descartes. She was critical of Descartes' dualistic metaphysics and her work anticipated the metaphysical concerns of later philosophers. Elisabeth Simmern van Pallandt was born on December 26, 1618 in Heidelberg. She was the third of thirteen children and eldest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, and Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England and sister of Charles I. Much of Elisabeth's early life outside of her familial relations is unknown. After a short, unsuccessful reign in Bohemia, Elisabeth's parents were forced into exile in the Netherlands in 1620. Elisabeth stayed with her grandmother Louise Juliana of Nassau in Heidelberg before moving to the Netherlands at the age of nine. Elisabeth had a wide ranging education, studying philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, jurisprudence, history, modern and classical languages. Her siblings nicknamed her La Grecque based on her skill with the ancient language. Elisabeth also studied the fine arts including painting, music and dancing. She may have been tutored by Constantijn Huygens. In 1633, Elisabeth received a proposal of marriage from Wladyslaw IV Vasa, King of Poland. The marriage would have been beneficial to the Palatine fortunes, but the king was a Catholic, and Elisabeth refused to convert from her Protestant faith in order to facilitate the marriage. Edward Reynolds dedicated his Treatise on the passions and the faculties of the soule of man to Elisabeth. Although the exact context of the dedication is unknown, the dedication suggests that Elisabeth had seen a draft of the work. In 1642, Elisabeth read Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. In 1646, Elisabeth's brother Philip killed a man in a duel. Elisabeth was sent to stay with family in Germany where she tried to interest professors in Descartes' work. In 1660, Elisabeth entered the Lutheran convent at Herford, and in 1667 she became abbess of the convent. While the convent was Lutheran, Elisabeth was a Calvinist. Although the previous abbess had also been a Calvinist, this difference in faith created some initial distrust. As abbess, she presided over the convent and also governed the surrounding community of 7,000 people. While Elisabeth was abbess, the convent became a refuge from religious persecution for people and she welcomed more marginal religious sects, including the Labadists. When Robert Barclay's father David was imprisoned, Elisabeth intervened and helped to get him released. Elisabeth died on February 12, 1680. She was buried in the Abbey Church of Herford. Throughout her adult years, Elisabeth corresponded with many renowned intellectuals of her time. By 1639, Elisabeth was corresponding with Anna Maria van Schurman, a learned woman, called the Dutch Minerva. In an early letter van Schurman offered Elisabeth guidance on what subjects to study, arguing for the usefulness of history. Elisabeth's correspondence with Descartes began in 1643 and continued until Descartes's death in early 1650. At her request, Descartes became her teacher in philosophy and morals, and in 1644 he dedicated to her his Principia. Many of Descartes's letters to Elisabeth were published in the volumes of his correspondence edited by Claude Clerselier, but Elisabeth refused the request to publish her side of the exchange. Elisabeth's side of the correspondence was first published in 1879 by Louis-Alexandre Foucher de Careil, after he was alerted to its existence by an antiquarian bookseller, Frederick Müller, who had found a packet of letters in Rosendael. Elisabeth also corresponded with a number of prominent Quakers, including Robert Barclay and William Penn. There are letters written both by and to her concerning political and financial matters in the English Calendar of State Papers.