Elisabeth of Austria, Duchess of Lorraine

Elisabeth of Austria (c. 1285 – 19 May 1353), also known as Isabelle, was a daughter of Albert I of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol. She was a member of the House of Habsburg.

Family

Elisabeth was the tenth of twelve children. Her siblings included: Rudolph I of Bohemia, Frederick the Fair, Leopold I, Duke of Austria, Albert II, Duke of Austria, Otto, Duke of Austria and Agnes, Queen of Hungary and Anna, Margravine of Brandenburg.

Elisabeth's maternal grandparents were Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia and Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Germany. Her paternal grandparents were Rudolph I of Germany and his first wife, Gertrude of Hohenburg. Elisabeth of Bavaria was daughter of Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria and his wife Agnes of the Palatinate.

Life

Elisabeth was betrothed at a young age to one of the sons of Philip IV of France, so her father could make stronger connections with France. On May 25, 1300 Elisabeth's eldest brother Rudolph I of Bohemia married Blanche of France, a daughter of Philip III. After this marriage, Elisabeth's betrothal to one of Philip's sons was scrapped.

Elisabeth was instead married to Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine. The contract was signed on 6 August 1306 and they married in 1307. From this marriage Elisabeth became Duchess of Lorraine and Frederick was able to support Elisabeth's brother Frederick the Fair, to become Holy Roman Emperor. Elisabeth's husband was captured at the Battle of Mühldorf, where he was fighting for Elisabeth's brother and was released by the King of France. Elisabeth became known as Isabelle^[1] in Lorraine.

We know that Elisabeth outlived Frederick but his date of death is disputed, he either died on April 21, 1329 or August 23, 1329, he may have also died during 1328. However, Frederick left Lorriane to their young son Rudolph who was not yet ten. Elisabeth became regent for her son. Her regency lasted from 1329 to 1331. Rudolph married aged only ten to Eleanor of Bar and made his father-in-law Edward I of Bar regent in place of Elisabeth.

Elisabeth died in Nancy, capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, on 19 May 1353 and was buried in the cemetery of the Poor Clare monastery in Königsfelden in the County of Tyrol.

Children

Elisabeth and Frederick were married for twenty two years, in that time the couple had six children:^[2]

• Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (1320 – 26 August 1346), successor of his father
• Frederick, Earl of Luneville
• Margaret (died 9 August 1376), married Jean de Chalon, lord of Auberive (died 1350), then Conrad, count of Friburg, and lastly Ulrich (died 1377), lord of Rappoltstein
• Agnes (died young)
• Theobald (died young)
• Albert (died young)

Many of the couple's children died during childhood, only Rudolph and Margaret lived to adulthood.

Ancestry

References