Elisabeth of Bohemia (1409-1442)

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For other people with the same name, see Elisabeth of Bohemia
Elisabeth of Bohemia
Elisabeth of Bohemia

Elisabeth of Bohemia (probably Visegrád, Hungary, 7 October 1409[1] – Győr (Raab in German), Hungary, 19 December 1442) was the only daughter of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, king of Hungary and Bohemia, by his second wife Barbara of Celje. Her father was the last male descent of the House of Luxemburg on the Imperial Throne.

Contents

[edit] Family and claims to thrones

Elisabeth was not the daughter of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor's first wife Mary of Hungary, and thus not descended from Angevin kings of Hungary (but in many ways, she descended from the old Árpád kings of Hungary.)

Her paternal grandparents were Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Elisabeth of Pomerania. Her maternal grandfather was Count Herman II of Celje, whose parents were the Slovenian ruler Count Herman I of Celje and Catherine of Bosnia (who apparently descended also from Nemanjic kings of Serbia and from Catherine of Hungary, a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary). In right of the paternal grandparents, she was, through Emperor Charles, an heiress of Bohemia, and through Elisabeth of Pomerania, an heiress of Poland, of its Kujavian Piast branch of kings. Thus, she was a leading claimant to several Slavic kingdoms and principalities.

She was also a descendant of Árpád kings of Hungary, through her great-grandmother Elisabeth I of Bohemia, who herself was granddaughter of Kunguta Rostislavna of Halicia, whose mother Anna was a daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary. Admittedly, this was not a very close Hungarian connection, but all the other extant descendants of Árpáds were approximately as distant at that time. Additionally, she descended from Ottokar I of Bohemia's second wife Constance of Hungary, daughter of Bela III of Hungary.

[edit] Marriage

On September 28, 1421, Pozsony, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia, Pressburg in German) Elisabeth married Archduke Albrecht of Austria, who after her father died, was elected king of Hungary, King of Bohemia and king of Germany. She was thus Queen of Hungary, and Queen of Bohemia and Queen of Germany.

She died three years after her husband, leaving her children minors. Her mother Barbara of Celje survived her.

Her only son Ladislas V the Posthumous of Austria, king of Bohemia and Hungary (born 1440) died a teenager without issue, leaving the remaining kingdoms of the family to be succeeded by elected rulers.

Her daughters Anna, Duchess of Thuringia (1432-1462) and Elisabeth, Queen of Poland (1437-1505) continued the family which afterwards regained some of these kingdoms.

[edit] Ancestors

Elisasbeth's ancestors in three generations
Elisabeth II of Bohemia Father:
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor		 Paternal Grandfather:
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor		 Paternal Great-Grandfather:
John I of Bohemia
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Elisabeth I of Bohemia
Paternal Grandmother:
Elizabeth of Pomerania		 Paternal Great-Grandfather:
Bogislaw V
Paternal Great-Grandmother:
Elisabeth of Poland, Duchess of Pomerania
Mother:
Barbara of Celje		 Maternal Grandfather:
Hermann II of Celje		 Maternal Great-Grandfather:
Hermann I, Count of Celje
Maternal Great-Grandmother:
Katerina of Bosnia
Maternal Grandmother:
Anna of Schaunberg		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Heinrich III von Schaunberg
Maternal Great-Grandmother:
Ursula von Gorz
Preceded by
Johanna of Bavaria		 Duchess of Austria
1422-1439		 Succeeded by
Eleanor of Portugal
Preceded by
Barbara of Celje		 German Queen
1438-1439
Preceded by
Barbara of Celje		 Queen of Bohemia
1437-1442		 Succeeded by
Johana z Rožmitálu
Queen of Hungary
1437-1442		 Succeeded by
Catherine of Podebrady
Queen of Croatia
1437-1442

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ According to Béla Baranyai (1926) her real birth date can be calculated in virtue of a letter of King Sigismund to Kéméndi Petew fia János (John, son of Peter Kemendi), Lord-lieutenant of Zala County dated 26 April 1410 (sabbato post festum s. Georgii) at Végles, Hungary (now Vígľaš, Slovakia) and sealed with Queen Barbara of Celje's seal, who also stayed there and in which the king informs him about his daughter's birth alias circa festum beati Francisci confessoris. Because this feast falls on 4 October, it must have happened in the previous year, that is, 1409 and in October. He argues that the usage of circa can allow some variations towards September but if it had occurred in September, he would have referred to the feast of Saint Michael which falls on 29 September instead of that of Francis of Assisi. The only remaining question, namely the exact day is educed from the engagement date of his daughter to Archduke Albrecht which was held on 7 October 1411, Pozsony, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia, Pressburg in German) and probably may have adjusted to a former important event because it belongs to no religious feasts. The birth place is also inferential and is traced back to the traditional place for the queen's labours that was in Visegrád and which is referred to in her Memoirs by Helene_Kottannerin in the case of Queen Elisabeth advanced in pregnancy with Ladislas V in early 1440. In addition, Itinerary of King Sigismund shows that he stayed in Visegrad between 9 - 19 October 1409. In the end one concludes that her birth in Prague, on 28 February 1409, similarly to the date of 27 November this year which in reality was her christening day, is based on false sources.

[edit] Bibliography