Elizabeth of Luxembourg family House of Luxembourg
Elizabeth of Luxembourg (Hungarian: Luxemburgi Erzsébet; 7 October 1409 – 19 December 1442) was queen consort of Hungary, queen consort of Germany and Bohemia.
The only child of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Elizabeth was expected to ascend his thrones along with her husband, Albert of Austria. After her father's death, Elizabeth and her husband were elected by the Hungarian estates as de facto equal rulers. She could not completely assert her position though, because the Veszprém bishop refused to give up on his right to crown the queen (the monarch was traditionally crowned by the Esztergom bishop). She was however recognized as co-ruler and played an active part in the government. After Albert's death though, she was unable to prevent the election of a new king.Albert died in 1439, leaving Elizabeth a pregnant dowager with two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth. Bohemian nobility proclaimed an interregnum, while King Vladislaus III of Poland was crowned new king of Hungary in May 1440, three months after Queen Elizabeth delivered a son, Ladislaus the Posthumous. She was determined to contend for her patrimony on her son's behalf, which led to a civil war between hers and Vladislaus's supporters. The conflict ended with the queen's death at the age of 33.Childhood
Elizabeth was born into the powerful House of Luxembourg. Her parents were the 41-year-old King Sigismund of Hungary and his second wife, the 17-year-old Barbara of Cilli. Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, the rebellious baron with whom Sigismund had recently come to terms, was the infant's godfather. The year after her birth, Elizabeth's father was elected King of the Romans.
As the king's only child, Elizabeth was seen as de facto heir presumptive to the throne, or at least as the princess whose eventual marriage would provide a king. In 1411, Sigismund managed to have the Hungarian estates promise that they would recognize Elizabeth's right to the Holy Crown of Hungary and elect her future husband as king –an agreement that would have great consequences after Sigismund's death. Elizabeth's hereditary right was in fact rather slim, as her father had acquired it by marrying his first wife, Queen Mary, from whom Elizabeth was not descended. The same year, Sigismund betrothed Elizabeth to the Habsburg Duke Albert V of Austria, then aged 14.Queen Barbara was very unpopular among the nobility, who resented her sympathy for the Hussites, forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. In 1418, they accused her of having committed adultery while her husband was attending the Council of Constance. The resulting strain in the royal marriage led to the queen's banishment and confinement, first in Várad and subsequently in Szakolca, between 1418 and 1419. The fact that Elizabeth accompanied her mother into the exile and presumably endured the same harsh treatment despite being recognized as heiress to the throne suggests that Sigismund may have doubted her paternity during that period. Nevertheless, Sigismund simultaneously negotiated her marriage to the Habsburg Duke Albert V of Austria. The Habsburgs, Sigismund's long-standing friends and allies, evidently did not question Elizabeth's legitimacy or, at least, were not deterred by the accusations made against her mother. Sigismund reconciled with Barbara in 1419 and Elizabeth returned to his favour along with her mother. The same year, he inherited the Bohemian crown from his elder brother, King Wenceslaus IV.
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