Elizabeth of Hungary

Life events

1. Born — 1207

   Born on 7 July 1207, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania, possibly at Sárospatak or Pozsony (present-day Bratislava); the Sárospatak tradition rests on a 1497 Franciscan sermon by Osvaldus de Lasco and is not corroborated by earlier sources.

2. Other — 1211

   Brought to the court of the Landgraves of Thuringia around age four to be betrothed to Louis IV, the future Landgrave; she was raised at the Thuringian court and became fluent in its language and culture.

3. Other — 1221

   Married Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, at age fourteen, the same year he was enthroned as landgrave; contemporary sources describe the marriage as happy and Louis as supportive of her charitable activities.

4. Other — 1223

   Franciscan friars arrived in Thuringia in 1223; Elizabeth began living out the ideals of Francis of Assisi and came under the spiritual direction of Konrad von Marburg, a priest and later inquisitor appointed as her confessor.

5. Other — 1226

   In spring 1226, while Louis represented Emperor Frederick II at the Imperial Diet at Cremona, Elizabeth assumed governance of Thuringia during floods, famine, and plague, distributing alms across the territory and giving away state robes and ornaments to the poor.

6. Other — 1227

   Louis died of fever on 11 September 1227 at Otranto, Italy, en route to the Sixth Crusade, weeks before the birth of Elizabeth's third child Gertrude; at twenty years old Elizabeth reportedly said, "He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today."

7. Other — 1228

   After disputes over her dowry following Louis' death, Elizabeth left the court at Wartburg and moved to Marburg in Hesse, where she built a hospital for the poor and sick with her dowry money and personally cared for patients; she also made solemn vows to Konrad including celibacy and adopted a Franciscan religious habit in a ceremony of consecration.

8. Died — 1231

   Died in Marburg on 17 November 1231 at age twenty-four; miracles reported at her grave led to a formal examination of healings between August 1232 and January 1235, culminating in canonization by Pope Gregory IX on 24 May 1235.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Elizabeth was an early member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and upon canonization was declared its patron saint, an honor she shares with Louis IX of France; Francis of Assisi sent her a personal message of blessing shortly before his death in 1226. (likely)
• The miracle of the roses legend was originally attributed to Elizabeth of Portugal and is absent from Elizabeth of Thuringia's earliest hagiography; it was only later transferred to her, and appears in the vitae of several other saints. (disputed)
• Konrad von Marburg subjected Elizabeth to extreme discipline including alleged physical beatings and ordering her to send away her three children; Charlotte Bronte's Villette cites this as an example of confessors wickedly abusing their office. (plausible)
• Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, a Protestant Reformation leader and Elizabeth's descendant, raided her Marburg shrine to end declining pilgrimages; he returned the crowned agate chalice after his imprisonment by Charles V, but Swedish troops plundered it during the Thirty Years' War. (likely)
• Her canonization dossier included the Libellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum s. Elizabeth confectus, a booklet of testimony from her four handmaidens compiled alongside a brief vita; this document remains a primary source for her biography. (certain)