Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, T.O.S.F.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Bavarian artist (ca. 1520), Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg, France
Widow
Born July 7, 1207(1207-07-07)
Sárospatak (or Pozsony), Kingdom of Hungary (modern-day Bratislava, Slovakia)
Died November 17, 1231(1231-11-17) (aged 24)
Marburg, Landgraviate of Thuringia, Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Hesse, Germany)
Honored in Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Church
Lutheran Church
Canonized May 28, 1235, Perugia, Italy by Pope Gregory IX
Major shrine Elisabeth Church (Marburg)
Feast November 17
November 19 (General Roman Calendar 1670-1969)[1]
Attributes Roses, Crown, Food basket
Patronage hospitals, nurses, bakers, brides, countesses, dying children, exiles, homeless people, lace-makers, widows and the Third Order of St. Francis

Elizabeth of Hungary, T.O.S.F., (German: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, Hungarian: Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, July 7, 1207 – November 17, 1231)[2] was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary, Countess of Thuringia, Germany and a greatly-venerated Catholic saint.[3] Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. She then became one of the first members of the newly-founded Third Order of St. Francis, relinquished her wealth to the poor, and built hospitals, where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity in Germany and elsewhere after her death at the age of 24.

Contents

Early life and marriage

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. Her ancestry included many notable figures of European royalty, going back as far back as Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus. According to tradition, she was born in the castle of Sárospatak, Kingdom of Hungary, on July 7, 1207,[4][5][6] according to a different tradition she was born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary (modern-day Bratislava, Slovakia), where she lived in the Castle of Posonium until the age of four.

A sermon printed in 1497 by the Franciscan friar Osvaldus de Lasco, a church official in Hungary, is the first to name Sárospatak as the saint's birthplace, perhaps building on local tradition. The veracity of this account is not without reproach: Osvaldus also transforms the miracle of the roses (see below) to Elizabeth's childhood in Sárospatak, and has her leave Hungary at the age of five.[7]

Elizabeth was brought to the court of the rulers of Thuringia in central Germany, to become betrothed to Ludwig IV of Thuringia, a future bride who would reinforce political alliances between the families. (According to contemporary and very trustworthy sources, Elizabeth left Hungary at the age of four.) [8] She was raised by the Thuringian court, so she would be familiar with the local language and culture.

In 1221, at the age of fourteen, Elizabeth married Ludwig; the same year he was crowned Count (Landgrave) Ludwig IV, and the marriage appears to have been happy. In 1223, Franciscan friars arrived, and the teenage Elizabeth not only learned about the ideals of Francis of Assisi, but started to live them. Ludwig was not upset by his wife's charitable efforts, believing that the distribution of his wealth to the poor would bring eternal reward; he is venerated in Thuringia as a saint, though he was never canonized by the Church.

It was also about this time that the priest and later inquisitor Konrad von Marburg gained considerable influence over Elizabeth when he was appointed as her confessor.

In the spring of 1226, when floods, famine, and plague wrought havoc in Thuringia, Ludwig, a staunch supporter of the Hohenstaufen Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, represented Frederick II at the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) in Cremona. Elizabeth assumed control of affairs at home and distributed alms in all parts of their territory, even giving away state robes and ornaments to the poor. Below Wartburg Castle, she built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to them.

Elizabeth's life changed irrevocably on September 11, 1227 when Ludwig, en route to join the Sixth Crusade, died of the Black Death in Otranto, Italy. On hearing the news of her husband's death, Elizabeth is reported to have said, "He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today."[9] His remains were returned to Elizabeth in 1228 and entombed at the Abbey of Reinhardsbrunn.

Widowhood

After Ludwig's death, his brother Heinrich Raspe of Thuringia, assumed the regency during the minority of Elizabeth's eldest child, Hermann (1222–1241). After bitter arguments over the disposal of her dowry--a conflict in which Konrad was been appointed as the official Defender of her case by Pope Gregory IX--Elizabeth left the court at Wartburg and moved to Marburg in Hesse. Popular tradition has it that she was cast out by Heinrich, but this does not stand up to critical examination.

Following her husband's death, Elizabeth made solemn vows to Konrad similar to those of a nun. These vows included celibacy, as well as complete obedience to Konrad as her confessor and spiritual director. Konrad's treatment of Elizabeth was extremely harsh, and he held her to standards of behavior which were almost impossible to meet. Among the punishments he is alleged to have ordered were physical beatings; he also ordered her to send away her three children. Her pledge to celibacy proved a hindrance to her family's political ambitions. Elizabeth was more or less held hostage at Pottenstein, Bavaria, the castle of her uncle, Bishop Ekbert of Bamberg, in an effort to force her to remarry. Elizabeth, however, held fast to her vow, even threatening to cut off her own nose so that no man would find her attractive enough to marry.[10]

Elizabeth's second child Sophie of Thuringia (1224–1275) married Henry II, Duke of Brabant and was the ancestress of the Landgraves of Hesse, since in the War of the Thuringian Succession she won Hesse for her son Heinrich I, called the Child. Elizabeth's third child, Gertrude of Altenberg (1227–1297), was born several weeks after the death of her father; she became abbess of the monastery of Altenberg near Wetzlar.

She then built a hospital at Marburg for the poor and the sick with the money from her dowry, where she and her companions cared for them. Her official biography written as part of the canonization process describes how she ministered to the sick and continued to give money to the poor. In 1231, she died in Marburg at the age of twenty-four.

After her death Elizabeth was commonly associated with the Third Order of St. Francis, the primarily lay Franciscan branch of the Franciscan Order, though it is not sure that she actually formally joined them.[11] It must be kept in mind, though, that the Third Order was such a new development in the Franciscan movement, that no one official ritual had been established at that point. Elizabeth clearly had a ceremony of consecration in her new way of life, as noted above.

Legacy

Very soon after the death of Elizabeth, miracles were reported that happened at her grave in the church of the hospital, especially miracles of healing. On the suggestion of Konrad, and by papal command, examinations were held of those who had been healed between August, 1232, and January, 1235. The results of those examinations was supplemented by a brief vita of the saint-to-be, and together with the testimony of Elizabeth's handmaidens and companions (bound in a booklet called the Libellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum s. Elizabeth confectus), proved sufficient reason for the quick canonization of Elizabeth on 27 May 1235 in Perugia—no doubt helped along by her family's power and influence. Very soon after her death, hagiographical texts of her life appeared all over Germany, the most famous being Dietrich of Apolda's Vita S. Elisabeth, which was written between 1289 and 1297.

She was canonized by Pope Gregory IX. The papal bull declaring her a saint is on display in the Schatzkammer of the Deutschordenskirche in Vienna, Austria. Her body was laid in a magnificent golden shrine—still to be seen today—in the Elisabeth Church (Marburg). Unfortunately, her remains were removed and scattered by her own descendant at the time of the Reformation. It is now a Protestant church, but has spaces set aside for Catholic worship. Marburg became a center of the Teutonic Order, which adopted St. Elizabeth as its secondary patroness. The Order remained in Marburg until its official dissolution by Napoleon I of France in 1803.

Elizabeth was the first member of the Franciscan Third Order to be declared a saint, only recently founded in 1221. From her support of the friars sent to Thuringia, she was made known to the founder, St. Francis of Assisi, who sent her a personal message of blessing shortly before his death in 1226. Upon her canonization she was declared the patron saint of the Third Order of St. Francis, an honor she shares with St. Louis IX of France.

Elizabeth's shrine became one of the main German centers of pilgrimage of the 14th century and early 15th century. During the course of the 15th century, the popularity of the cult of St. Elisabeth slowly faded, though to some extent this was mitigated by an aristocratic devotion to St. Elizabeth, since through her daughter Sophia she was an ancestor of many leading aristocratic German families. But three hundred years after her death, one of Elizabeth's many descendants, the Landgrave Philip I "the Magnanimous" of Hesse, a leader of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important supporters of Martin Luther, raided the church in Marburg and demanded that the Teutonic Order hand over Elizabeth's bones, in order to disperse her relics and thus put an end to the already declining pilgrimages to Marburg. Philip also took away the crowned agate chalice in which St. Elizabeth's head rested, but returned it after being imprisoned by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The chalice was subsequently plundered by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War and is now on display at the National Museum in Stockholm. St Elizabeth's skull and some of her bones can be seen at the Convent of St Elisabeth in Vienna; some relics also survive at the shrine in Marburg.

Legends

Elizabeth is perhaps best known for the legend which says that whilst she was taking bread to the poor in secret, her husband asked her what was in the pouch; Elizabeth opened it and the bread turned into roses. How realistic this story is remains doubtful, since her husband, according to the vitae, was never troubled by her charity and in fact supported it. In some versions of the story, it is her brother in law, Heinrich Raspe, who questions her. The miracle, the earliest example of what came to be called the Miracle of the roses, is commemorated in many images of the saints—prayer cards, statues, paintings. One famous statue is in Budapest, in front of the neo-Gothic church dedicated to her at Roses' Square (Rózsák tere).[12]

Another popular story about St. Elizabeth, also found in Dietrich of Apolda's Vita, relates how she laid a leper in the bed she shared with her husband. When Ludwig discovered what she had done, he is said to have snatched off the bedclothes in great indignation, but at that instant "Almighty God opened the eyes of his soul, and instead of a leper he saw the figure of Christ crucified stretched upon the bed."

2007 centennial celebrations

The year 2007 was proclaimed "Elizabeth Year" in Marburg. All year, events commemorating Elizabeth's life and works were held, culminating in a town-wide festival to celebrate the 800th anniversary of her birth on July 7, 2007. Pilgrims came from all over the world for the occasion, which ended with a special service in the Elisabeth Church that evening.

A new musical based on Elisabeth's life, Elisabeth--die Legende einer Heiligen ("Elizabeth--Legend of a Saint"), starring Sabrina Weckerlin as Elizabeth, Armin Kahn as Ludwig, and Chris Murray as Konrad, premiered in Eisenach in 2007. It was performed in Eisenach and Marburg for two years, and closed in Eisenach in July, 2009.[13][14]

The entire Third Order of St. Francis in both its parts, the friars and sisters of the Third Order Regular and the Secular Franciscan Order, joined in this celebration through a two-year long program of study of her life. This was conducted throughout the Order, across the globe. There were also religious ceremonies held worldwide during that period. The yearlong observance of the centennial which began on her feast day in 2007 was closed at the General Chapter of the Order, held in Budapest in 2008. The New York region of the Order produced a movie of her life, produced by a sister of the Order, Lori Pieper, O.F.S., Ph.D.[15]

Ancestry

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 108
  2. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia "St. Elizabeth of Hungary". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05389a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia. 
  3. ^ "Saint Elizabeth of Hungary". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/184889/Saint-Elizabeth-of-Hungary. 
  4. ^ Albrecht, Thorsten; Atzbach, Rainer (2007). Elisabeth von Thüringen: Leben und Wirkung in Kunst und Kulturgeschichte. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag. p. 7. 
  5. ^ Ohler, Norbert (2006). Elisabeth von Thüringen: Fürstin im Dienst der Niedrigsten. Gleichen: Muster-Schmidt Verlag. p. 15. 
  6. ^ Zippert, Christian; Gerhard Jost (2007). Hingabe und Heiterkeit: Vom Leben und Wirken der heiligen Elisabeth. Kassel: Verlag Evangelischer Medienverband. p. 9. , 2007), 9.
  7. ^ Ortrud Reber, Elizabeth von Thüringen, Landgräfin und Heilige (Regensburg: Pustet, 2006), 33-34.
  8. ^ Some, however, (see the Catholic Encyclopedia) have suggested that Ludwig's brother Hermann was in fact the eldest, and that she was first betrothed to him until his death in 1232, but this is doubtful. An event of this magnitude would almost certainly be mentioned at least once in the many original sources at our disposal, and this is not the case. Rather, the 14th-century "Cronica Reinhardsbrunnensis" specifically names Hermann as the second son. In addition, the only contemporary document (dated May 29, 1214) that might support Hermann's claim to be the eldest by putting his name before Ludwig's relates to a monastery in Hesse. This, it has been suggested, actually supports the claim that Hermann was the younger of the two, as Hesse was traditionally the domain of the second son, and thus it would be normal that his name be mentioned first, as this document deals with his territory, see Ortrud Reber, Elisabeth von Thüringen, Landgräfin und Heilige (Regensburg: Pustet, 2006), 58, 199 n. 14.
  9. ^ Rainer Koessling, ed. and trans., Leben und Legende der heiligen Elisabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda (Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997), 52.
  10. ^ Rainer Koessling, ed. and trans., Leben und Legende der heiligen Elizabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda (Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997), 59.
  11. ^ See Kaspar Elm, "Die Stellung der Frau in Ordenswesen, Semireligiosentum und Häresie zur Zeit der heiligen Elisabeth" (Sankt Elisabeth: Fürstin, Dienerin, Heilige [Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1981; 7–28]), 7–8.
  12. ^ Rózsák terei Szent Erzsébet Templon [1](Hungarian)
  13. ^ http://www.spotlightmusical.de/
  14. ^ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_%E2%80%93_Die_Legende_einer_Heiligen_%28Musical%29
  15. ^ A Woman for our Times

External links