| Elisabeth of Poland | |
|---|---|
| Elisabeth of Poland with her sons | |
|
|
|
| Tenure | 1320–1342 |
| Spouse | Charles I of Hungary |
| Issue | |
| Louis I of Hungary and Poland Andrew, Duke of Calabria Stephen, Duke of Slavonia Catherine, Duchess of Świdnica? Elizabeth of Hungary? Charles of Hungary Ladislaus of Hungary |
|
| House | House of Piast (by birth) House of Anjou (by marriage) |
| Father | Władysław I the Elbow-high |
| Mother | Jadwiga of Greater Poland |
| Born | 1305 |
| Died | 29 December 1380 |
Elisabeth of Poland (Polish: Elżbieta Łokietkówna) (1305 – 29 December 1380) was Queen consort of Hungary and regent of Poland. She is also known as Elisabeth of Kujavia and Elisabeth Piast.
Contents |
She was a member of the Polish royal clan of Piast, the daughter of Władysław I the Elbow-high, prince of Kujavia and Jadwiga of Greater Poland, she was the sister of Casimir III the Great, King of Poland and the last ruler of Piast dynasty, who died in 1370. Her sister was Kunigunde of Poland, who was married to Bernard of Świdnica.
Before her father became King of Poland, life was very dangerous for Elisabeth and her family. She went to live in hiding with her mother, brother and sister. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia died in 1305, when Elisabeth was born. His son, Wenceslaus III of Bohemia took over as King of Poland. Although, Elisabeth's father, Władysław had a better claim to the crown, being the great-grandson of Casimir II the Just.
The sixteen year old Wenceslaus III was assassinated while on campaign in Poland. In Poland, Elisabeth's father inherited the crown. In Bohemia there was trouble over who inherited.
She was married on 6 July 1320 to Charles Robert (Charles I), King of Hungary,[1] son of Charles Martel of Anjou and Klementia of Habsburg. Elisabeth was Charles' third wife. The marriage brought an alliance between Poland and Hungary.
Charles' two previous marriages are believed not to have left surviving issue, at least no surviving sons. Charles' first wife Maria of Bytom was believed to have been barren but it is also believed she bore two daughters: Katherine and Elisabeth. Others however believe that the two girls were daughters of Elisabeth.
Charles married again at Maria's death to Beatrix of Luxembourg, sister of John of Luxembourg, this marriage also ended badly. Beatrix became pregnant aged only fourteen in 1319 but mother and child both died when the child was born.
While at court in Hungary, Elisabeth is credited as having been the first to introduce perfume, then known as Hungary Water, to Europe and the western world.
Elisabeth and Charles Robert had five sons and possibly two daughters:
Charles Robert died 16 July 1342 leaving Elisabeth a widow and to raise her surviving children.
Elisabeth wished to make a good marriage for her eldest surviving son, who would become the next King of Hungary on the death of his father. Elisabeth had her son betrothed to Margaret of Bohemia, daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife, Blanche of Valois. They married in 1342 but the marriage didn't last because, seven years into the marriage, the fourteen year old Margaret died, childless. Elisabeth now needed for her son to remarry and produce and heir.
The branch of the Kuyavian Piast family was popular in Hungary, and several members lived in Louis' court. The influence of Elisabeth extended far beyond any other queen consort, and years before, Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia married Elizabeth of Kuyavia, the daughter of the Duke Casimir II of Kuyavia, queen Elisabeth's cousin. Stephen II of Bosnia had a young daughter named Elisabeth, and after learning about her, the Hungarian queen insisted immediately on bringing her to the Hungarian Court for fostering. Stephen was reluctant at first, but eventually dispatched Elizabeth. After three years of life in the Hungarian Court, Elizabeth fell in love with Louis, and Elisabeth invited Stephen II to Hungary and arranged a marriage so that Elizabeth could marry Louis.
On 20 June 1353, Elizabeth of Bosnia married Elisabeth's son, Louis, achieving a huge diplomatic success for her father.[4][5] However, Stephen became seriously ill and could not be present at the actual wedding, after the planning with Elisabeth.
Louis and Elizabeth had four daughters, the two of them to survive were Mary of Hungary and Jadwiga of Poland. Both daughters later became Queens in their own right.
Elisabeth was heir to her brother Casimir's throne after the death of their sister, Kunigunde. Her claim passed to Louis after the death of his two elder brothers. Casimir had married four times but none of his wives had given him surviving sons. He instead had four surviving daughters. Among them was another Elisabeth of Poland, whom had married Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and was the mother of Elizabeth of Pomerania. Elizabeth had married Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and had six children. Her son was Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, who would have had a claim to the Polish crown through his maternal grandmother.
Casimir also had two other surviving daughters from his fourth marriage to Jadwiga of Żagań. One of these daughters, Anna married William, Count of Celje. Anna had been a possible candidate to marry Louis. She had a daughter, Anna of Celje who married a future King of Poland, Jogaila. They had one daughter, Jadwiga of Lithuania, whom after the death of Elisabeth and Louis, claimed the throne of Poland, being the only surviving member of the House of Piast. Jogalia was a member of the House of Jagiellon and had two sons from his fourth marriage to Sophia of Halshany. Many Polish nobles wished for Jadwiga and a husband to succeed Jogalia. But Jadwiga didn't since she was supposedly poisoned by her stepmother, Sophia.
Both of these claims plus one from two other daughters were bypassed because Casimir wanted a male heir. Casimir had five surviving nephews from Elisabeth and Kunigunde. Kunigunde's sons being Bolko II the Small and Henry II of Świdnica. Casimir chose to leave Louis the crown of Poland thus Hungary and Poland being united under one monarch.
Elisabeth's second surviving son, Andrew married Joan I of Naples, she was three years his senior and they were both still young at the time. Andrew wished to be made King of Naples and rule jointly with his wife, but Joan refused to share her power with Andrew. He was made Duke of Calabria, the title given to the heir of Naples, but Andrew still wanted the crown. Joan was crowned Queen of Naples in 1344, with the approval of Pope Clement VI. Fearing for his life, Andrew wrote to Elisabeth that he would soon flee the kingdom. She intervened, and made a state visit; before she returned to Hungary, she bribed Pope Clement to reverse himself and permit the coronation of Andrew. She also gave a ring to Andrew, which was supposed to protect him from death by blade or poison, and returned with a false sense of security to Hungary.
The ring didn't work. Hearing of the Pope's reversal, a group of noble conspirators (the involvement of Queen Joan remaining unproved but Elisabeth's involvement proved) determined to forestall Andrew's coronation. During a hunting trip at Aversa, Andrew left his room in the middle of the night and was set upon by the conspirators. A treacherous servant barred the door behind him; and as Joan cowered in their bed, a terrible struggle ensued, Andrew defending himself furiously and shrieking for aid. He was finally overpowered, strangled with a cord, and flung from a window.
After Andrew's death Joan bore Elisabeth a grandson, Charles Martel whom died young.
Louis was absent from Poland between 1370-1375. Rather than leaving Poland in the hands of his wife, Elizabeth of Bosnia, he left Elisabeth as regent to conveniently eliminate her from his Court.[6] Still, Elisabeth had some justification for taking part in the affairs and quarrels of Poland: she had been a Polish princess before marrying Charles I of Hungary. The Poles hated to pay taxes and loved to quarrel among themselves and with the Court, especially with the domineering dowager Elisabeth. Elisabeth's regency turned out to be a failure, her background notwithstanding. In 1375, the Poles killed 160 of her Hungarian bodyguards and Elisabeth escaped to Hungary lest she, too, be killed by her compatriots. Louis reconed with the rebels, and strengthened his power, at his mother's expense.
After her tragic regency and her return to Hungary, Elisabeth spent her final years in a monastery outside of Buda, where she wrote her will. It specifies her desire to rest in the monastery of Saint Starobudzińskim. Elisabeth also left money and possessions to her family: she left Louis several golden vessels, daughter-in-law, Elizabeth of Bosnia - Buda Castle, granddaughter, Mary - a gold wreath, granddaughter, Hedwig - wreath of lilies, and her niece, Hedwig - a ring. She also left money to some churches.[7]
Elisabeth had at least seven grandchildren from her three surviving sons. From Louis she gained four granddaughters: Mary of Hungary, Hedwig of Poland, Catherine and Mary. Only Mary and Hedwig live to adulthood, Catherine and another daughter named Mary died in childhood. From Andrew she had a short-lived grandson, Charles Martel. From Stephen she gained a granddaughter and a grandson: Elisabeth of Slavonia and John of Slavonia. Elisabeth's family line ends with the death of her granddaughter, Elisabeth. None of her grandchildren had surviving offspring, although it is believed by some [8] that Elisabeth had one or two daughters, Catherine and Elisabeth. If this is so, then Elisabeth's line may still have died out but would have lasted longer. Katherine was mother of Anne of Schweidnitz, who married Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and had two surviving children: Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, and Elizabeth of Bohemia. The line would have ended there since Wenceslaus and Elisabeth did not have children, although both did marry. It is unknown if Elisabeth of Hungary had children.
Elisabeth's ancestors in three generations
|
Elisabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary
Born: 1305 Died: 1380 |
||
| Preceded by Beatrice of Luxembourg |
Queen consort of Hungary 1320–1342 |
Succeeded by Margaret of Luxembourg |