Elisabeth of Carinthia
Queen Elizabeth, donor portrait, 15th century
Queen consort of the Romans
Tenure27 July 1298 – 1 May 1308
Bornc.1262
Munich, Bavaria
Died28 October 1312
Königsfelden, Swabia
Burial
SpouseAlbert I of Germany
Issue
Detail
Rudolph I of Bohemia
Frederick the Fair
Leopold I, Duke of Austria
Albert II, Duke of Austria
Henry the Gentle
Otto, Duke of Austria
Anna, Margravine of Brandenburg and Duchess of Wrocław
Agnes, Queen of Hungary
Elizabeth, Duchess of Lorraine
Catherine, Duchess of Calabria
HouseHouse of Gorizia
FatherMeinhard, Duke of Carinthia
MotherElisabeth of Bavaria

Elisabeth of Carinthia (also known as Elisabeth of Tyrol; c.1262 – 28 October 1312), was a Duchess of Austria from 1282 and Queen of the Romans from 1298 until 1308, by marriage to King Albert I of Habsburg.

Life

Born in Munich, Bavaria, Elisabeth was the eldest daughter of Count Meinhard of Gorizia-Tyrol,[1] and Elizabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Germany, widow of the late Hohenstaufen King Conrad IV of Germany.

Elizabeth thus was a half-sister of Conradin, King of Jerusalem and Duke of Swabia. Elizabeth was in fact better connected to powerful German rulers than her future husband: a descendant of earlier monarchs, for example Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, she was also a niece of the Bavarian dukes, Austria's important neighbors.

Duchess and Queen

Elisabeth was married in Vienna on 20 December 1274 to Count Albert I of Habsburg,[1] eldest son and heir of the newly elected Rudolf I, King of the Romans, thus becoming daughter-in-law of the King of the Romans and Emperor-to-be. After Rudolf had defeated his rival King Ottokar II of Bohemia in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld, he invested his son Albert with the duchies of Austria and Styria at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg on 17 December 1282.[2]

Albert initially had to share the rule with his younger brother Rudolf II, who nevertheless had to waive his rights according to the Treaty of Rheinfelden the next year. Duke Albert and Elizabeth solidified their rule in what was to become the Habsburg "hereditary lands", also with the help of Elizabeth's father Meinhard, who in his turn was created Duke of Carinthia by King Rudolf I in 1286.[2]

Elizabeth was described as shrewd and enterprising, in possession of some commercial talents. The construction of the Saline plant in Salzkammergut goes back to her suggestion.

Upon the death of Albert's father in 1291, the princes elected Count Adolf of Nassau German king, while Duke Albert himself became entangled in internal struggles with the Austrian nobility. Not until Adolf's deposition in 1298, Elizabeth's husband was finally elected King of the Romans on 23 June 1298. Two weeks later, Adolf was defeated and killed in the Battle of Göllheim.[3] In 1299, Elizabeth was crowned Queen of the Romans in Nuremberg.

Later life

On 1 May 1308 her husband was murdered by his nephew John "the Parricide" near Windisch, Swabia (in modern-day Switzerland). After Albert's assassination, Elizabeth had the Poor Clare monastery of Königsfelden erected at the site, where she died on 28 October 1312 and was also buried. Today her mortal remains rest at Saint Paul's Abbey in Carinthia.

Königsfelden monastery church

Issue

Elizabeth's and Albert's children were:

  1. Anna (1275, Vienna 19 March 1327, Breslau).
    1. married in Graz ca. 1295 to Margrave Herman, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel (ca. 1275 1308);
    2. married in Breslau 1310 to Duke Heinrich VI of Breslau (1294-1335).
  2. Agnes (18 May 1281 10 June 1364, Königsfelden)
    1. married in Vienna on 13 February 1296 to King Andrew III of Hungary (ca. 1265-1301).
  3. Rudolf III (ca. 1282 4 July 1307), married but line extinct. He predeceased his father.
    1. married on 25 May 1300 to Duchess Blanche of France (ca. 1282 1305);
    2. married in Prague on 16 October 1306 to Elizabeth Richeza of Poland (1288 1335).
  4. Elisabeth (1285 19 May 1353).
    1. married in 1304 to Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (1282 1328).
  5. Frederick I (1289 13 January 1330).
    1. married on 11 May 1315 to Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Germany (1305 1330) but line extinct.
  6. Leopold I (4 August 1290 28 February 1326, Strassburg).
    1. married in 1315 to Catherine of Savoy (1284 1336).
  7. Catherine (1295 18 January 1323, Naples).
    1. married in 1316 to Charles, Duke of Calabria (1328 1298).
  8. Albert II (12 December 1298, Vienna 20 July 1358, Vienna).
    1. married in Vienna on 15 February 1324 to Joanna of Pfirt (ca. 1300 1351).
  9. Henry the Gentle (1299 3 February 1327, Bruck an der Mur).
    1. married Countess Elizabeth of Virneburg but line extinct.
  10. Meinhard (1300 1301).
  11. Otto (23 July 1301, Vienna 26 February 1339, Vienna).
    1. married on 15 May 1325 to Elizabeth of Bavaria, Duchess of Austria (ca. 1306 1330);
    2. married on 16 February 1335 to Anne of Bohemia, Duchess of Austria (1323 1338).
  12. Jutta (1302 5 March 1329).
    1. married in Baden 26 March 1319 to Count Ludwig VI of Öttingen.

References

  1. 1 2 Štih 2010, p. 336.
  2. 1 2 Lodge 1906, p. 10.
  3. Clauss 2010, p. 189.

Sources

  • Lodge, Richard (1906). The Close of the Middle Ages, 1272-1494. Rivington.
  • Clauss, Martin (2010). "Germany". In Rogers, Clifford J. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press.
  • Štih, Peter (2010). The Middle Ages between the Eastern Alps and the Northern Adriatic. Brill.
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