Princess Elizabeth of the Palatinate - Part 2

After that she was wedded to philosophy, and gave up the thought of marriage. Descartes was introduced to Elizabeth and the Palatinate family by the Count Dohna, an adept in the Cartesian philosophy, and became her teacher. He was soon delighted and surprised to find in her a scholar so capable of exploring with him erudite questions and of comprehending sublime truths. This appointment of Descartes as her tutor proved very helpful to him. For in this noble family he first found the supporters necessary to help him on to fame. He, therefore, in order to be near them, lived at Eyndegeest, about a mile and a half from Rheten, for two years. And when he went to North Holland afterwards, he continued his correspondance, especially with Elizabeth, and would often visit the Hague, so as to meet his favorite pupil. This little court of the Palatinate family, although in exile, thus became famous for its beauty and learning, so that it was called "the home of the muses and graces." Among them all, Elizabeth had the greatest talent for learning. Bromley says that "of the three illustrious sisters of that family, Louisa was the greatest artist, Sophia the most perfect lady in Europe, but Elizabeth was the most learned." She made such progress in philosophy, that she became famous as "the Star of the North." In order to appreciate the greatness of this, it is to be remembered that up to that time women had taken little part in learning. For it was supposed that it was above the sphere or power of woman to excel in philosophy. So her learning astonished the world. It happened, too, just at that time, that another woman appeared as a great thinker, Anna Schurman. And yet, although Schurman was talented with both the chisel and the pencil, Madame de Guebriant confessed that she was inferior to the Palatinate princess, Elizabeth. Elizabeth continued her correspondance with Descartes, and in their letters they discussed the deepest questions of philosophy and theology, such as the union of soul and body, God's omnipotence and omniscience, and man's free agency and virtue. Descartes dedicated his leading philosophical work, "The Principles of Philosophy," to her. She would often in her letters express doubts as to his positions and offer criticisms, while he on his part was not backward in reminding her when she seemed to him to be wrong in her ideas, yet the correspondence was mutually agreeable and helpful. Thus when in 1645 her younger brother went over to the Romish faith and she was by it thrown on a bed of sickness, Descartes criticized her for her want of liberality toward the Catholics.

In 1647 she left Holland for Brandenburg, where at the court of her uncle, the Elector of Brandenburg, she seems to have found quite a congenial home. She soon gained fame among scholars there, through a disputation that she had with the celebrated Thomas Kresbesch, which revealed her ability and gained for her great applause. She, too, succeeded in disseminating Descartes' books to some extent in Eastern Germany, where as yet he was comparatively unknown. She thus perhaps scattered seed that harvested itself afterward in the new university of Duisburg, whose first professors were followers of Descartes. It was while she was staying there that she learned of great sorrow of the death of her teacher Descartes in 1650. True to him in her friendship, she, however, had never allowed his philosophy of doubt to undermine her faith, but she rather sought to utilize what was good in it to strengthen her faith in religion and in God. Had the rationalists of the next century used Descartes' principles thus, they would never have landed in the maelstrom of thought that had threatened to shipwreck them.

After the Thirty Year's War was over, she went to the old family home at Heidelberg, which she had left when four years old. Here her philosophical tastes and literary talents brought her into intimacy with the professors of the university, especially with Professor John Henry Hottinger. He compared her to Olympia Morata, who had come to Heidelberg university in the preceding century, and who was a great scholar and correspondant of Melanchthon. Through a relative she was also made acquainted with the celebrated theologian, John Crocius, whose broader theological views suited her taste. But her stay at Heidelberg became uncomfortable for her, for her brother's parsimony made it unpleasant. And when her brother put away his wife, Princess Charlotte of Hesse Cassel, and married the Raugrafin Louisa of Degenfeld, she sympathized with Charlotte and aided her to escape; and so felt the disgrace of her brother, that she left Heidelberg (1662) and went to Cassel, where she lived with her sister-in-law. In 1667 she was very fortunate in recieving the appointment from the Elector of Brandenburg as abbess of Herford. This had been an old Romish abbey, which had become Lutheran in the Reformation.