page_title: Elizabeth of Luxembourg
section_title: Queenship
hierarchical_section_title: Elizabeth of Luxembourg / Queenship
caption_attribution_description: König Albrecht II. und seine Frau Elisabeth Ausschnitt aus dem Albrechtsaltar im Stift Klosterneuburg
context_page_description: Elizabeth of Luxembourg was queen consort of Germany, Hungary 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. Her rights were ignored by the Hungarian nobility when Sigismund died in 1437 and only her husband was accepted as monarch, with Elizabeth as mere consort.
  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' supporters. The conflict ended with the queen's death at the age of 33. Vladislaus himself died in battle in 1444, opening the path for Elizabeth's son to be recognized as king of Hungary.
context_section_description: By the end of 1437, Elizabeth's aging father was gravely ill. Realising that his death was imminent, he summoned Elizabeth and Albert to Znojmo and convened a meeting of the Bohemian nobility, who accepted the couple as his heirs at his request but reserved the right of a formal election. He died on 9 December. After his burial, Elizabeth and Albert travelled to Pressburg to meet with the Hungarian magnates. They requested that the couple reside in Hungary and that the kingdom's border with Austria remain unaltered. Afterwards, the Diet resolved that Albert, who was elected due to being Elizabeth's husband, should govern only "with her consent and approval". The couple accepted the conditions on 18 December and were elected king and queen of Hungary. Elizabeth later asserted that her sovereignty derived not only from her father's will, but also from the will of the people.
  A dispute immediately arose as to who was entitled to crown Elizabeth; the bishop of Veszprém claimed the right to crown Hungarian queens consort, but the archbishop of Esztergom argued that Elizabeth was a queen regnant and that he should therefore crown both her and Albert. The archbishop, probably bribed, eventually yielded and signed a deed resigning the function to the bishop, but only on that occasion. The couple's coronation took place at Székesfehérvár Basilica on 1 January 1438.
  In March 1438, the Imperial Diet elected Albert as Sigismund's successor on the German throne and Elizabeth consequently became queen of the Romans. Despite the Hussite attempts to enthrone Casimir of Poland, the Bohemian election in May ended in the couple's favour. Albert was crowned in June, but Elizabeth did not travel to Prague to take part in the ritual and spent the following summer governing Hungary.
caption: King Albert and Queen Elizabeth as depicted in Albrechtsaltar in Klosterneuburg Monastery
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