Elisabeth of Hungary

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Elizabeth of Hungary (Elizabeth of Thuringia) (1207–31), queen. Born at Pressburg, the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, she was brought up in Thuringia and in 1221 married its Landgrave, Louis IV. Ardent, passionate, and handsome, she enjoyed a married life of extraordinary happiness, bore three children, and was generous to a fault, spending enormous sums on almsgiving, founding hospitals, and providing for helpless children, especially orphans. But in 1227 Louis went on a Crusade under Frederick II; less than three months after, he died of the plague. Elizabeth was first incredulous, then distraught almost to insanity; Louis' death was the turning-point in her life.

Her brother-in-law Henry drove her from the court; some advisers wished her to marry again but she refused; in 1228 she settled at Marburg under the spiritual direction of her confessor, Conrad of Marburg, whom she had known since 1225. She became a Franciscan tertiary, expressing her ardour in love of poverty, the relief of the sick, the poor, and the elderly through building, and working in, a hospital close to her very modest house. Conrad's direction seems to have been domineering, severe, and insensitive. Elizabeth provided for others to educate her children. Conrad made her dismiss her favourite ladies-in-waiting for whom he substituted two harsh companions, and would punish her with slaps in the face and blows with a rod. She refused an offer to return to Hungary, preferring to live out her days in good-humoured and resilient exile. She would occupy herself with menial tasks like spinning and carding, or cleaning the homes of the poor and fishing to help feed them. Her new regime lasted only two or three years: she died at the early age of twenty-four, her life shortened by her own austerities and the almost sadistic direction of one who had been a successful inquisitor of heretics.

She was canonized in 1235 by Gregory IX; in 1236 her relics were translated to the church of St. Elizabeth at Marburg where they remained as the object of enthusiastic popular pilgrimage until 1539, when they were removed to an unknown place by the Lutheran Philip of Hesse. She is depicted on a screen at Tor Brian (Devon) of c.1500 holding a double crown, and in a 20th-century stained-glass window at Eversley (Hants). Feast: 17 (formerly 19) November

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

• Early Lives by Theodoric of Apolda (ed. H. Canisius, Antiquae Lectiones, v (1604), 147–217), by Caesarius of Heisterbach (ed. A. Huyskens in Annalen des historischen vereins für den Niederrhein, lxxxvi (1908), 1–59) and by Conrad of Malburg, ed. by id., Quellenschriften zur Geschichte der hl. Elisabeth Landgräfin von Thuringen (1908), pp. 110–40, also id., Libellus de dictis Quattuor Ancillarum Sanctae Elisabeth in N.A., xxxiv (1908), 427–502; for these cf. Anal. Boll., xxvii (1908), 493–7 and xxviii (1909), 333–5. Modern Lives by C. R. F. Montalembert (1836, Eng. tr. 1904), W. Canton (1913), and J. Ancelet-Hustache (1946, Eng. tr. 1963), who also wrote in D.H.G.E., xv (1963), 225–8; see also the stimulating essay of I. Coundenhove, The Nature of Sanctity (1932); B.L.S., xi. 144–7

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) devoted her life and her financial resources to the improvement of the lives of the sick and poor. The daughter of the King of Hungary, she renounced her privileged life and worked to serve the less fortunate, creating such charitable institutions as a hospital for lepers and the first orphanage in Central Europe.

Elizabeth of Hungary was a thirteenth-century member of the Hungarian and German royalty who devoted her energy and fortune to the assistance of the sick and poor in the German region of Thuringia. Her work included feeding the hungry, building a hospital, and creating the first orphanage in Central Europe. A beloved figure of selflessness and charity among her people, her death brought reports that she had worked miracles on the behalf of those who prayed for her intervention. She was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1235.

Elizabeth was born into the royal family of Hungary in 1207 in Sárospatak. Her father was King Andrew II of Hungary and her mother was Gertrud of Andechs-Meran, who was the victim of a political murder plot in 1213. Elizabeth was also connected to powerful figures in the Roman Catholic Church; her uncle Berthold was the Patriarch of Aquileia and her uncle Echbert was the Bishop of Bamberg. In 1211, a marriage was arranged for the four-year-old princess to the eldest son of Hermann I, Landgrave of the German region of Thuringia. The match provided advantages for both families - Thuringia would profit from the financial wealth Elizabeth would bring, and Hungary stood to gain political support against other German princes who threatened to invade the country. With a lavish dowry, including gold pieces and a solid silver bathtub, the young Elizabeth was sent to live at the Thuringian court at Wartburg castle near Eisenach.

Married into Thuringian Royalty

At Wartburg, an engagement celebration was held for Elizabeth and her fiancee by Hermann I and his wife, Sophia. In her new life in the Thuringian court, she was educated in subjects such as poetry, the history of royal families, art, Latin, and religion. She was surrounded by poetry and art at Wartburg, where Hermann I provided patronage for a number of writers and artists of the day. She also enjoyed the playing games, riding horses, and saying prayers in the castle's chapel. Elizabeth was an enthusiastic child with a loud laugh, but she was instructed early on by her future mother-in-law that being boisterous was not appropriate for a woman of the royal court.

After learning of the violent death of her mother in 1213, Elizabeth's disposition was changed. She took on a simple mode of dress and spent an increasing amount of time in prayer. Despite a vivid dream in which she saw the bloody body of her murdered mother, she prayed for the souls of the killers. When she was nine years old, tragedy again struck. Her fiancee died, and a year later his father was dead as well. Elizabeth's position at the court became unclear, but her status was secured when the younger son of Herman I, Louis, decided that he would marry her. The two, who had developed a close friendship, were married in 1221. The following year, the couple journeyed to visit Elizabeth's father, during which time they viewed the incredible destruction that had befallen the country with the Golden Bull revolt of the Hungarian nobles.

Built Hospital and Orphanage

Upon their return to Thuringia, Elizabeth began to focus even more heavily on the development of her spiritual life. She received religious instruction and counseling from her confessor, the Franciscan friar Father Rodinger. During this time, she also turned to public charity work, building an orphanage and founding a hospital for lepers, where she would tend the afflicted herself. Her husband was called to serve in a military campaign in 1225, leaving Elizabeth as the ruler of Thuringia. She used her increased authority to extend her work, providing food for hundreds of the poor each day. But she was a firm believer in empowering the disadvantaged to help themselves and not rely on charity; she donated tools to men who were out of work and she showed women how to spin. When natural disasters occurred, she helped people to rebuild and recover. In addition, she carried on the official duties of the court, hosting important visitors and joining in entertainments such as hunting parties.

While pregnant with her third child, Elizabeth's husband was called to war again, leaving to join in a Crusade in 1227. He never returned, falling ill and dying during his journey. Louis's brothers were concerned about Elizabeth's practice of spending large sums on the poor, and so they arranged to keep her from controlling her own money. The discord at court caused her to leave Wartburg in the fall of 1227. Unable to find refuge nearby, she placed her children in the care of others and, with two of her servants, began living in the stable of an inn and spinning to earn money. She was delivered from this situation by the abbess of Kitzingen, who provided her with a place to live in the abbey.

Turned to Life of Humble Poverty

Elizabeth received offers to return to her privileged world; her uncle, the Bishop of Bamberg, invited her to take up residence at one of his castles. He also tried to arrange a marriage between her and Emperor Frederick II. But Elizabeth declined both offers. Her only worldly interest in property and fortune was to provide for her children's future and for the poor, and with the assistance of a court official in Thuringia, she successfully fought for the control of the wealth she had inherited from her husband. With that accomplished, she turned to an austere life of material deprivation and spiritual devotion. She had come under the mentorship of a Franciscan mystic by the name of Conrad of Marburg. Under his guidance, she took religious vows rejecting earthly attachments and her own free will. She then moved to an simple earthen house in the town of Wehrda, where she worked in the leper hospital she had built and supported herself by spinning.

Conrad's methods of subjugating Elizabeth's will and forcing her to abandon all worldly things took an extreme form. As a means of teaching her denial, he limited her indulgences in charity, allowing her to donate only small amounts of money to the poor and instructing her to only give a single slice of bread to those she fed. He also forced her to endure beatings and flagellation to increase her humility. Even in her reduced physical and material state, Elizabeth used what few resources she had to aid others. She placed a boy suffering from dysentery in her own bed, where she nursed him until he died. Then she took in a leprous girl, placed her in her bed, and cared for her. But soon, the physical trials took their toll. Aware that she dying, Elizabeth arranged for her estate to be distributed to her children and the poor, and then took to her bed.

Canonized after Reports of Miracles

For the last two weeks of her life, Elizabeth remained bed-ridden, attended only by Conrad. She died on November 17, 1231, at the age of 24. Dressed in the attire of a poor woman, her body was laid in state at the Franciscan church in Eisenach for four days. People from across Thuringia came to the coffin and prayed for the assistance of the woman who had devoted her life to spiritual matters. After she was buried, miracles were said to have occurred at her grave site. After reporting her death to Pope Gregory IX, Conrad was charged with making preparations for Elizabeth's canonization. Conrad was murdered two years later, however, and the process was continued by the Bishop of Hildsheim. As part of the evidence gathered for the canonization, the testimony of four of Elizabeth's servants were written down. Elizabeth officially was named a saint of the Catholic church on May 26, 1235. One of her brothers-in-law constructed the first church in her honor at Marburg, Germany. On May 1, 1236, her remains were brought to the church and placed on the altar in a ceremony attended by her children and in-laws as well as several bishops and archbishops. Large crowds of religious pilgrims from across Europe also came to pay tribute to the woman who had provided an inspiring example of a life of service to others.

Further Reading

See also Bihl, Michael, "Elizabeth of Hungary," Catholic Encyclopaedia, Volume 5, 1909, pp. 389-91; and Butler, Alban, "St. Elizabeth of Hungary," Lives of the Saints, Volume 4, edited by Herbert Thurston and Donald Attwater, P. J. Kennedy and Sons, 1956.

Princess Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
The Charity of St. Elizabeth of Hungary by Edmund Blair Leighton (1895)
Widow
Born	July 7, 1207(1207-07-07), Pressburg, Kingdom of Hungary (modern-day Bratislava, Slovakia)
Died	November 17, 1231 (aged 24), Marburg, Landgraviate of Thuringia, Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Hesse, Germany)
Venerated 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 (on some Protestant calendars, some local calendars and among Traditional Roman Catholics)
Attributes	Roses, Crown, Food basket
Patronage	hospitals, nurses, bakers, brides, countesses, dying children, exiles, homeless people, lacemakers, tertiaries and widows

Saint Elisabeth of Hungary (German: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen or Heilige Elisabeth von Ungarn, Hungarian: Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, July 7, 1207 – November 17, 1231)^[1] is a Hungarian Catholic saint, princess of Hungary.^[2] According to tradition, she was born in the castle of Sárospatak, Hungary, on July 7, 1207.^[3][4][5] She was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Andechs-Merania, and at age four was brought to the court of the rulers of Thuringia in Central Germany, to become a future bride who would reinforce political alliances between the families. Elisabeth was married at the age of fourteen, widowed at twenty, relinquished her wealth to the poor, built hospitals, and became a symbol of Christian charity in Germany and elsewhere after her death at the age of twenty-four.

Contents 1 Early life and marriage 2 Widowed at the age of twenty 3 Legacy 4 Gallery 5 References 6 External links

Early life and marriage

A sermon printed in 1497 by the Franciscan 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 Elisabeth's childhood in Sárospatak, and has her leave Hungary at the age of five.^[6]

According to more contemporary and very trustworthy sources, Elisabeth left Hungary at the age of four, to become betrothed to Ludwig IV of Thuringia. Some 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.^[7]

In 1221, at the age of fourteen, Elisabeth married Ludwig; the same year he was crowned Ludwig IV, and the marriage appears to have been happy. In 1223, Franciscan monks arrived, and the teenage Elisabeth 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 (without being canonized by the Church, unlike his wife).

It was also about this time that the priest and later inquisitor Konrad von Marburg--a harsh man and a true product of his age--gained considerable power over Elisabeth, 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. Elisabeth assumed control of affairs and distributed alms in all parts of their territory, even giving away state robes and ornaments to the poor. Below the Wartburg Castle, she built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to them.

Elisabeth's life changed irrevocably on September 11, 1227 when Ludwig, en route to join the Sixth Crusade, died of the plague in Otranto, Italy. His remains were returned to Elisabeth in 1228 and deposited in Reinhardsbrunn; on hearing the news of her husband's death, Elisabeth is reported to have said, "He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today."^[8]

Widowed at the age of twenty

After Ludwig's death, his brother Heinrich Raspe of Thuringia assumed the regency during the minority of Elisabeth's eldest child, Landgrave Hermann II, Landgraf of Thuringia (1222–1241).

After bitter arguments over the disposal of her dowry, a conflict in which Konrad had been appointed as her defensor by Pope Gregory IX, Elisabeth 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, Elisabeth 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 adviser. Konrad's treatment of Elisabeth 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. In fact, Elisabeth 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 consider remarrying. Elisabeth, 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.^[9]

Elisabeth'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. Elisabeth's third child, Gertrude of Altenberg (1227-1297), was born several weeks after the death of her father; she became abbess of the convent of Altenberg near Wetzlar.

After unsuccessful attempts to force her to remarry, she became affiliated with the Third Order of St. Francis, a lay Franciscan group, but perhaps without becoming an official Tertiary, and built a hospital at Marburg for the poor and the sick with the money from her dowry.

In 1231, Elisabeth died in Marburg at only twenty-four years of age, either from physical exhaustion due to Konrad's treatment, or from disease.

Legacy

Elisabethkirche in Marburg

Floorplan of Elisabethkirche

Elisabeth church Grave, The Netherlands

Very soon after the death of Elisabeth, 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 Elisabeth's handmaidens (bound in a booklet called the Libellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum s. Elisabeth confectus), proved sufficient reason for the quick canonization of Elisabeth 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 in the year 1235. This papal charter 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). 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 Elisabeth as its second patroness. The Order remained in Marburg until its official dissolution by Napoleon I of France in 1803.

Elisabeth 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; Elisabeth opened it and the bread turned into roses, although this is probably not true, because Ludwig was never upset with Elisabeth for serving the poor. This miracle is commemorated in almost all 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) [1].

Another popular story about St. Elisabeth, 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."

Elisabeth'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 Elisabeth, since through her daughter Sophia she was an ancestor of many leading aristocratic German families. But three hundred years after her death, one of Elisabeth'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 Elisabeth'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. Elisabeth'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 Elisabeth'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.

In Portugal, the legend of the miracle of the roses is taught as having happened to Queen St. Elizabeth of Aragon (1271–1336, Raínha Santa Isabel), wife of King Denis of Portugal. When Portuguese tourists visit Germany or Hungary and are surprised to hear the same legend, it is explained to them that the Portuguese Queen, a granddaughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and his second wife, was named after her great-aunt.

The legends are very similar - the Portuguese Queen, when admonished by her husband that she was too generous with the poor who took advantage of her charity, let her folded apron fall and say "But they are only roses, my Lord!" and the bread became roses. Also, like her ancestor, she was a member of the Franciscan Third Order. This Elizabeth also had the reputation of being a very loving and kind person. Like her namesake, she is remembered today as a great saint who always cared for the sick, young, and those who live in poverty.

Also, founded in 1921 in Oakland, CA St. Elizabeth High School was opened.The year 2007 was proclaimed "Elisabeth Year" in Marburg. All year, events commemorating Elisabeth'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" ["Elisabeth -- Legend of a Saint"], starring Sabrina Weckerlin as Elisabeth, 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.^[10][11]

Gallery

From Sint Elisabethskerk, Grave, Netherlands	From Sint Elisabethskerk, Grave, Netherlands	From Sint Elisabethskerk, Grave, Netherlands	From Sint Elisabethskerk, Grave, Netherlands
German 10 euro coin, 2007	The Elizabeth Bower, Wartburg.	Philip Hermogenes Calderon, St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Great Act of Renunciation (1891)

File:Marianne Stokes St Elizabeth of Hungary Spinning for the Poor.jpg

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elisabeth of Hungary

References

1. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Elizabeth of Hungary"
2. ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/184889/Saint-Elizabeth-of-Hungary
3. ^ Thorsten Albrecht and Rainer Atzbach, Elisabeth von Thüringen: Leben und Wirkung in Kunst und Kulturgeschichte (Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2007), 7.
4. ^ Norbert Ohler, Elisabeth von Thüringen: Fürstin im Dienst der Niedrigsten (Gleichen: Muster-Schmidt Verlag, 2006), 15.
5. ^ Christian Zippert and Gerhard Jost, Hingabe und Heiterkeit: Vom Leben und Wirken der heiligen Elisabeth (Kassel: Verlag Evangelischer Medienverband, 2007), 9.
6. ^ Ortrud Reber, Elisabeth von Thüringen, Landgräfin und Heilige (Regensburg: Pustet, 2006), 33-34.
7. ^ Ortrud Reber, Elisabeth von Thüringen, Landgräfin und Heilige (Regensburg: Pustet, 2006), 58, 199 n. 14.
8. ^ Rainer Koessling, ed. and trans., Leben und Legende der heiligen Elisabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda (Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997), 52.
9. ^ Rainer Koessling, ed. and trans., Leben und Legende der heiligen Elisabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda (Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997), 59.
10. ^ http://www.spotlightmusical.de/
11. ^ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_%E2%80%93_Die_Legende_einer_Heiligen_%28Musical%29

External links

• "St. Elizabeth of Hungary", on the online Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 edition
• "Saint Elizabeth of Hungary", on the Patron Saints Index
• "Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, 1207-2007", biographical article by Michel Aaij

Persondata
NAME	Elisabeth of Hungary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen; Szent Erzsébet
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Hungarian saint
DATE OF BIRTH	July 7, 1207
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sárospatak, Hungary
DATE OF DEATH	November 17, 1231
PLACE OF DEATH	Marburg, Germany

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