Elisabeth of Bohemia

Elisabeth of Bohemia
Queen consort of Bohemia
Tenure	1310-1330
Coronation	7 February 1311
Spouse	John of Luxembourg
Issue
Margaret, Duchess of Bavaria Bonne, Duchess of Normandy Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor John Henry, Margrave of Moravia Anna, Duchess of Austria
House	House of Přemyslid
Father	Wenceslaus II of Bohemia
Mother	Judith of Habsburg
Born	20 January 1292
Died	28 September 1330 (aged 38) Bohemia

For other people with the same name, see Elisabeth of Bohemia

Elisabeth of Bohemia (Czech: Eliška Přemyslovna) (20 January 1292 – 28 September 1330) was Queen of Bohemia and mother of King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.

Childhood

She was the daughter of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Judith of Habsburg. When Elisabeth was five years old, her mother died. Of the ten children only four of them lived to adulthood; Wenceslaus, Anne, Elisabeth and Margaret. Elisabeth and her siblings also had a half-sister called Agnes. Six years after the death of her mother, her father Wenceslaus re-married. He chose to marry a Polish princess called Elisabeth Richeza of Poland from the Piast dynasty. Elisabeth's father then gained the Crown of Poland.

Many notable events occurred during Elisabeth's youth; a devastating fire at Prague Castle in 1303, the death of her father and the assassination of her brother Wenceslaus. Elisabeth was orphaned by the age of thirteen and lived with her sister, Anne. Her other sister, Margaret had married at the age of seven to Bolesław III the Generous, after he had come to the court of Bohemia with his mother, Elisabeth of Greater Poland.^[1]

Elisabeth went to live with her aunt Kunigunde in a nunnery near Prague Castle. Elisabeth was influenced by her aunt, since she had no mother from whom she would normally learn.

Her sister-in-law, Viola Elisabeth of Cieszyn as well as her stepmother, Elisabeth Richeza came to live with Anna and Elisabeth until the relationship between the sisters became bad.

The fight for the throne

In 1306, after the murder of Elisabeth's brother Wenceslaus, Elisabeth's brother-in-law Henry became King of Bohemia. Elisabeth was now the only single princess in the family, she was fourteen years of age so was a good age to marry and she became one of the key players in the power disputes for the Kingdom of Bohemia.

The quarrels of the Bohemian throne between Henry of Bohemia and Rudolph of Habsburg resulted in Rudolph taking Bohemia and marrying Elisabeth Richeza of Poland (Elisabeth's stepmother). Elisabeth went to live in Prague Castle with her brother's widow, Viola Elisabeth of Cieszyn. But in 1307 the throne returned to her brother-in-law and sister, because of Rudolph's death. They wanted Elisabeth to marry the lord of Bergova (Otto of Löbdaburg) for political reasons. Elisabeth refused to marry Otto and so Elisabeth and Anne fell out with each other.

An opposition group was formed against Henry and Anne, with Elisabeth as the figurehead.

Marriage to John of Luxembourg

Wedding of John of Luxembourg and Elisabeth in Speyer in 1310

Elisabeth married the son of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, John of Luxembourg. The wedding took place on September 1310, after John was forced to invade Bohemia. Henry and Anne fled to Carinthia where Anne died in 1313. The coronation of John and Elisabeth took place on 7 February 1311.

The marriage was at first a disaster, Elisabeth needed to give birth to a son to prevent the inheritance of the descendants of her sisters, Margaret and Agnes. Elisabeth didn't have a son until six years into the marriage, when she gave birth to Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

After a while Elisabeth grew jealous of John, who had listened to her but had different political opinions than her. Then in 1319 a plot was uncovered which had planned to dispose of Elisabeth and John and replace them with their eldest son Charles. John had the culprits punished but Elisabeth locked herself away at Mělník Castle and took her children with her.

John decided to prevent his wife from interfering in the education of their children. John later took the three eldest children: Margaret, Bonne, and Charles off Elisabeth.

Elisabeth fleeing Prague in disguise

Later years

Elisabeth was in total isolation and abandoned by all, she left Bohemia and lived in exile in Bavaria. Some of the proceedings were considered an act of open hostility towards John, and his noble likes. In exile Elisabeth gave birth to her last children; twin daughters Anne and Elizabeth. John sent Elisabeth funding during her exile. Elisabeth returned to Bohemia in 1325, with her only one of her daughters Anne, since Elizabeth had died months before. When she returned, John found Elisabeth to be ill but she still lived for another five years. She eventually died of Tuberculosis in 1330 aged thirty eight.^[2][3]

This was later written:

"The news was that the King, distraught for the loss of his wife manifested his feelings using mourning clothes, after all, they were married for twenty years, and yet remained completely himself with a brief time, this was in Bohemia, the other side used to be mostly in their county or elsewhere, where he discussed the matter."

Children

Elisabeth and John were parents to seven children

• Margaret (8 July 1313–11 July 1341, Prague), married in Straubing 12 August 1328 to Henry XIV, Duke of Bavaria.
• Bonne/ Jutta (21 May 1315–11 September 1349, Maubuisson Abbey, Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône), married in Melun 6 August 1332 to King John II of France.
• Charles IV (14 May 1316–29 November 1378), King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor.
• Ottokar ("Otto") (22 November 1318–20 April 1320), Prince of Bohemia.
• John Henry (Jan Jindrich) (12 February 1322, Mělník–12 November 1375), Margrave of Moravia.
• Anna of Bohemia (1323–3 September 1338), twin of Elisabeth, married 16 February 1335 to Duke Otto of Austria.
• Elisabeth (1323–1324), twin of Anne ^[4]

Ancestors

References

1. ^ Élisabeth Przemyslide
2. ^ Ancestry in Genealogics
3. ^ Translation from Czech Wikipedia
4. ^ Ancestors of Élisabeth Przemyslide

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