Elisabeth of Bosnia
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth of Bosnia (c. 1339 – 16 January 1387) was Queen of Hungary from 1353 until 1382 and Queen of Poland from 1370 until 1382 as the second wife of King Louis the Great. After her tenure as queen consort, Elizabeth served as regent
for her daughter Mary
.
As queen consort, Elizabeth was overshadowed by her domineering mother-in-law. Later, as regent, Elizabeth was faced with several rebellions led by Croatian
noblemen who wished to take advantage of Mary's insecure reign. Modern historians describe her as a formidable woman, while her contemporaries regarded her as an efficient, but ruthless politician who used political intrigues to protect her daughter's interests. Elizabeth was murdered after being imprisoned by the rebels but she had succeeded in defending her daughter's rights.
. Her mother was Elizabeth of Kuyavia
, a member of the House of Piast and grandniece of Władysław I the Elbow-high. Her only sibling was Catherine, Countess of Cilli
.
Her father refused a proposal from Tsar Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia for her marriage to his son, as he was not willing to cede the territories which Dušan wanted to be Elizabeth's dowry. Those lands were surrendered to Elizabeth's husband by her cousin, Tvrtko I of Bosnia
, in 1357.
Elisabeth of Poland
, the mother of the King of Hungary
, had heard that Stephen II had a young daughter named Elizabeth, and she insisted immediately on bringing her to the Hungarian court for fostering. Stephen was reluctant at first, but eventually dispatched Elizabeth. After three years of life in the Hungarian court, the queen mother invited Stephen II to Hungary and arranged a marriage between Elizabeth and Louis. The first wife of Louis I, Margaret of Bohemia
, had died earlier leaving Louis childless.
. It was discovered that Elizabeth and Louis were related in the fourth degree through a common ancestor, Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia
. The Roman Catholic Church
regarded the marriage to be within a prohibited degree of consanguinity
and some clergymen were tempted to anathema
tize the couple. Later in the same year Pope Innocent IV
wrote to the bishop of Zagreb granting a dispensation
for the marriage and forgiving the sin.
In 1370, Louis became King of Poland too. Elizabeth, though Queen of Poland, was never crowned as such
. She is one of only five queens of Poland who were never crowned.
Elizabeth was never crowned
Queen of Hungary either. She completely subjected herself to her controlling mother-in-law. The fact that the young queen's retinue included the same persons who had served the queen mother suggests that the former did not even have her own court. Early in the marriage, Elizabeth was completely powerless. As she came from a region where high-ranking women significantly influenced the politics, Elizabeth must have endured a long period of unhappiness until her mother-in-law was sent to govern Poland as regent.
Elizabeth and Louis had no children for the first seventeen years of marriage. Elizabeth was considered barren and a succession crisis was expected to happen after Louis's death. For a couple of years, her niece and namesake, Elizabeth of Slavonia, was promoted as heiress presumptive. However, a daughter was born to Louis and Elizabeth in 1370, which secured the succession to some point. The daughter, named Catherine
, was followed by two more daughters, Mary
(born in 1371) and Hedwig
(born in 1373). Elizabeth and her daughters are represented on Saint Simeon
's chest, whose creation Elizabeth commissioned.
Catherine died aged eight and Elizabeth's second eldest daughter, Mary, was intended to inherit both her father's kingdoms, Hungary and Poland
. Louis secured the succession rights of his daughters by granting the nobles Privilege of Koszyce
. Elizabeth is known to have written a book for the education of her daughters, a copy of which was sent to France in 1374; however, all copies have been lost.
, acted as regent
from 1382 onwards on behalf of Mary. The Hungarian holdings were de facto
ruled by Elizabeth, but the Poles discontinued her regency in Poland. In Hungary, Elizabeth was helped by Palatine Nicholas I Garay
.
However, a number of Croatian and Hungarian noblemen were opposed to Elizabeth's rule. The first to rise against her was John of Paližna
, Ban of Croatia
and the Prior of Vrana. He was mainly opposed to the centralizing policy which Elizabeth's husband had enforced. He hoped to regain local independence by rising against Elizabeth. Elizabeth's own first cousin, Tvrtko I of Bosnia
, with whom she was raised, decided to take advantage of Louis' death and Elizabeth's unpopularity by trying to recover the Dalmatian lands he had lost to Louis in 1357. John asked Tvrtko for help but was ultimately defeated by Elizabeth's army and forced to flee to Bosnia.
, as their sovereigns. They wanted to end the personal union
with Hungary. Elizabeth proposed her youngest daughter Hedwig as Louis' successor in Poland. After two years' negotiations, Hedwig unexpectedly became sovereign of Poland
, but Elizabeth was reluctant to let her leave and live in Poland. She delayed Hedwig's arrival, hoping to drive Sigismund out of Hungary by having him elected King of Poland. Elizabeth finally allowed Hedwig to be taken to Poland, where she was crowned king
in November 1384. Hedwig married Jogaila of Lithuania
, as agreed in the Act of Kreva, where Elizabeth, as her daughter's guardian, was one party to the negotiations. Elizabeth was also requested to legally adopt Jogaila as her son, thus giving him right to retain the Crown of Poland in the event of Hedwig's death.
, the governor of Croatia-Dalmatia, who had gained the Crown of Naples by having his aunt Joan
murdered, threatened to invade Hungary; the former intended to marry Mary and reign together with her, while the latter intended to depose Mary. Either way, Elizabeth would have lost her power. Thus, in 1384, Elizabeth started negotiating with King Charles V of France
about the possibility of his son Louis marrying her daughter Mary, notwithstanding Mary's engagement to Sigismund. Louis had already been engaged to Elizabeth's eldest daughter Catherine
and was expected to succeed to the throne of Hungary. If Elizabeth had made this proposal in 1378, after Catherine's death, the fact that the French king and the Hungarian king did not recognize the same pope would have represented a problem. However, Elizabeth was desperate in 1384 and was not willing to let the schism stand in the way of the negotiations. Pope Clement VII
issued a dispensation which annulled Mary's betrothal to Sigismund and the proxy marriage
was celebrated in April 1385. However, the marriage was not recognized by the Hungarian noblemen who adhered to Pope Urban VI
.
Four months after the proxy marriage, Sigismund invaded Hungary and had himself married to Mary by Demeter, Archbishop of Esztergom, regardless of Elizabeth's opposition and the proxy marriage. Elizabeth wanted to retaliate to the marriage by trying to deprive the archbishop of his see.
on 24 February. She managed to have the crown restored to her daughter and immediately rewarded those who helped her. She gave Jelenec
Castle to Blaise Forgach, the Master of the Cupbearers, whose blow had mortally wounded Charles.
Having Charles murdered did not help Elizabeth as much as she hoped it would. His heir was his underage son Ladislaus. Noblemen who had supported Charles immediately rose up in arms to support Ladislaus who would spend his entire adulthood attempting to conquer Hungary, but despite some support in Hungary itself, did not succeed. Rebellions against Elizabeth continued and were even supported by her first cousin, the King of Bosnia.
with her daughter Mary. According to Fine, Elizabeth was going to Đakovo, while Duggan asserts that the two queens were heading towards Zagreb
. Either way, they did not arrive at their destination, as they were ambushed en route and attacked by John Horvat. Their entourage fought the attackers but were all killed, while Elizabeth and her daughter were taken prisoner. The heads of Elizabeth's defenders were sent to Naples to console Charles of Durazzo's grieving widow. Elizabeth took all blame for the rebellion and begged the attackers to spare her daughter's life.
The two queens were then sent to the coast of the Adriatic Sea
and were imprisoned in Novigrad
. She managed to smuggle out plans for their relief to the Venetians, but this was discovered by the jailers. Her son-in-law marched into Slavonia, with the intention to reach Novigrad and rescue the queens, but his attempt failed. Charles's widow Margaret, who was at first against her husband's plan to invade Hungary, now insisted that Elizabeth be murdered. On 16 January 1387, Elizabeth was strangled before Mary's eyes on the orders of John of Paližna
, their jailer and ally of Elizabeth's cousin Tvrtko.
At the moment of her death, Sigismund was on his way to rescue his wife and mother-in-law. Mary was rescued from that captivity by the troops of her husband Sigismund soon after Elizabeth had been murdered. Mary promised not to take revenge on the murderers of her mother, but nevertheless had them executed and their families banished. Queen Elizabeth was secretly buried in the Church of St Chrysogonus in Zadar
and remained buried there for four years. On 16 January 1390, the third anniversary of her death, her body was moved to Székesfehérvár
.
's casket in 1381. The casket, located in Zadar
is of great importance for the history of the city, as it depicts various historical events – such as the death of her father – and Elizabeth herself. According to legend, Elizabeth paid for the creation of the casket in order to atone for stealing the saint's finger. The casket contains a scene which allegedly depicts the queen gone mad after stealing the saint's finger. A street in Zadar is named after Elizabeth of Bosnia. Its full name is "Street of Queen Elizabeth Kotromanić, donor of St. Simeon's casket" .
Neither of Elizabeth's daughters left surviving children; Mary died heavily pregnant and Saint Hedwig died from birth complications shortly after the death of her own daughter, Elizabeth Bonifacia, named after Elizabeth of Bosnia and Pope Boniface IX
. Elizabeth of Bosnia's line became extinct with the deaths of her youngest daughter Hedwig in 1399.
|-
|-
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
for her daughter Mary
Mary of Hungary
Mary of Anjou was queen regnant of Hungary from 1382 until her death in 1395.-Childhood:...
.
As queen consort, Elizabeth was overshadowed by her domineering mother-in-law. Later, as regent, Elizabeth was faced with several rebellions led by Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
noblemen who wished to take advantage of Mary's insecure reign. Modern historians describe her as a formidable woman, while her contemporaries regarded her as an efficient, but ruthless politician who used political intrigues to protect her daughter's interests. Elizabeth was murdered after being imprisoned by the rebels but she had succeeded in defending her daughter's rights.
Descent and early years
Born around 1339, Elizabeth was the daughter of Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia, the head of the House of KotromanićHouse of Kotromanic
The Kotromanić dynasty was a ruling house that ruled in the medieval Bosnia and the surrounding lands, from the 13th century as Bans until the crowning with the Bosnian crowns in 1377 and then as kings until the Ottoman conquest conquest in 1463....
. Her mother was Elizabeth of Kuyavia
Elizabeth of Kuyavia
Elizabeth of Kuyavia was the only daughter of Casimir II of Kuyavia and his wife, whose name and origins are unknown. Elisabeth was Baness of Bosnia by her marriage.- Family :...
, a member of the House of Piast and grandniece of Władysław I the Elbow-high. Her only sibling was Catherine, Countess of Cilli
Catherine of Bosnia, Countess of Cilli
Catherine of Bosnia was a Bosnian noblewoman. She was Countess of Cilli by her marriage to Hermann I, Count of Cilli, and a member of the House of Kotromanić by birth.- Family :...
.
Her father refused a proposal from Tsar Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia for her marriage to his son, as he was not willing to cede the territories which Dušan wanted to be Elizabeth's dowry. Those lands were surrendered to Elizabeth's husband by her cousin, Tvrtko I of Bosnia
Tvrtko I of Bosnia
Stjepan Tvrtko I was a ruler of medieval Bosnia. He ruled in 1353–1366 and again in 1367–1377 as Ban and in 1377–1391 as the first Bosnian King....
, in 1357.
Elisabeth of Poland
Elisabeth of Poland
Elisabeth of Poland was Queen consort of Hungary and regent of Poland. She is also known as Elisabeth of Kujavia and Elisabeth Piast.-Early life:...
, the mother of the King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
, had heard that Stephen II had a young daughter named Elizabeth, and she insisted immediately on bringing her to the Hungarian court for fostering. Stephen was reluctant at first, but eventually dispatched Elizabeth. After three years of life in the Hungarian court, the queen mother invited Stephen II to Hungary and arranged a marriage between Elizabeth and Louis. The first wife of Louis I, Margaret of Bohemia
Margaret of Bohemia (1335–1349)
Margaret of Bohemia , also known as Margaret of Luxembourg, was the second child of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor by his first wife Blanche of Valois. She was a member of the House of Luxembourg and was Queen consort of Hungary by her marriage.- Family :Margaret was the second child of her...
, had died earlier leaving Louis childless.
Marriage
On 20 June 1353, Elizabeth married the King of Hungary, achieving a huge diplomatic success for her father. However, her father became seriously ill and could not be present at the actual wedding, celebrated in BudaBuda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
. It was discovered that Elizabeth and Louis were related in the fourth degree through a common ancestor, Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia
Casimir I of Kuyavia
Casimir I of Kuyavia was Prince of Kujawy, Mazovia and Wielkopolska, from 1233 until his death. He was the son of Konrad I of Masovia, King of Poland, and his wife Agafia of Rus.- Life :...
. The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
regarded the marriage to be within a prohibited degree of consanguinity
Consanguinity
Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
and some clergymen were tempted to anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
tize the couple. Later in the same year Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV , born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 25, 1243 until his death in 1254.-Early life:...
wrote to the bishop of Zagreb granting a dispensation
Dispensation (Catholic Church)
In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, a dispensation is the suspension by competent authority of general rules of law in particular cases...
for the marriage and forgiving the sin.
In 1370, Louis became King of Poland too. Elizabeth, though Queen of Poland, was never crowned as such
Royal coronations in Poland
Royal coronations in Poland officially began in 1025 and continued until 1764, when the final King of an independent Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, was crowned at St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw. Most Polish coronations took place at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, but crownings also occurred...
. She is one of only five queens of Poland who were never crowned.
Elizabeth was never crowned
Coronation of the Hungarian monarch
The Coronation of the Hungarian Monarch was a ceremony in which the King or Queen of the Kingdom of Hungary was formally crowned and invested with regalia...
Queen of Hungary either. She completely subjected herself to her controlling mother-in-law. The fact that the young queen's retinue included the same persons who had served the queen mother suggests that the former did not even have her own court. Early in the marriage, Elizabeth was completely powerless. As she came from a region where high-ranking women significantly influenced the politics, Elizabeth must have endured a long period of unhappiness until her mother-in-law was sent to govern Poland as regent.
Elizabeth and Louis had no children for the first seventeen years of marriage. Elizabeth was considered barren and a succession crisis was expected to happen after Louis's death. For a couple of years, her niece and namesake, Elizabeth of Slavonia, was promoted as heiress presumptive. However, a daughter was born to Louis and Elizabeth in 1370, which secured the succession to some point. The daughter, named Catherine
Catherine of Hungary (1370-1378)
Catherine of Hungary was the eldest child of King Louis I of Hungary and his second queen, Elizabeth of Bosnia.-Heiress presumptive:Catherine's birth was long expected, as her parents' marriage was childless for the first seventeen years...
, was followed by two more daughters, Mary
Mary of Hungary
Mary of Anjou was queen regnant of Hungary from 1382 until her death in 1395.-Childhood:...
(born in 1371) and Hedwig
Jadwiga of Poland
Jadwiga was monarch of Poland from 1384 to her death. Her official title was 'king' rather than 'queen', reflecting that she was a sovereign in her own right and not merely a royal consort. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of...
(born in 1373). Elizabeth and her daughters are represented on Saint Simeon
Simeon Stylites
Saint Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite was a Christian ascetic saint who achieved fame because he lived for 39 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo in Syria. Several other stylites later followed his model...
's chest, whose creation Elizabeth commissioned.
Catherine died aged eight and Elizabeth's second eldest daughter, Mary, was intended to inherit both her father's kingdoms, Hungary and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Louis secured the succession rights of his daughters by granting the nobles Privilege of Koszyce
Privilege of Koszyce
The Privilege of Koszyce was a set of concessions made by Louis I of Hungary to the Polish szlachta in 1374. The privileges were granted in Košice...
. Elizabeth is known to have written a book for the education of her daughters, a copy of which was sent to France in 1374; however, all copies have been lost.
Widowhood and regency
On 16 September 1382, Louis died. The next day, ten-year-old Mary was crowned "king" of Hungary. Queen Elizabeth, now queen dowagerQueen Dowager
A queen dowager or dowager queen is a title or status generally held by the widow of a deceased king. In the case of the widow of a deceased emperor, the title of empress dowager is used...
, acted as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
from 1382 onwards on behalf of Mary. The Hungarian holdings were de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
ruled by Elizabeth, but the Poles discontinued her regency in Poland. In Hungary, Elizabeth was helped by Palatine Nicholas I Garay
Nicholas I Garay
Nicholas I Garay , Croatia of Gorjani/Gara, form city Đakovo, the chief governor of Bratislava, was a palatine to the King of Hungary . He was Palatine of Pozsony and he was Count of Pozsony ; Count of Baranya ; and Duke of Mаčva...
.
However, a number of Croatian and Hungarian noblemen were opposed to Elizabeth's rule. The first to rise against her was John of Paližna
John of Palisna
John of Palisna was a Croatian knight and warrior, prior of Vrana, and Ban of Croatia.-Prior of Vrana:It is unclear when John of Palisna became prior of Vrana. In May 1381 he was already prior, because the citizens of Zadar were complaining about him to the King of Hungary and Croatia...
, Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...
and the Prior of Vrana. He was mainly opposed to the centralizing policy which Elizabeth's husband had enforced. He hoped to regain local independence by rising against Elizabeth. Elizabeth's own first cousin, Tvrtko I of Bosnia
Tvrtko I of Bosnia
Stjepan Tvrtko I was a ruler of medieval Bosnia. He ruled in 1353–1366 and again in 1367–1377 as Ban and in 1377–1391 as the first Bosnian King....
, with whom she was raised, decided to take advantage of Louis' death and Elizabeth's unpopularity by trying to recover the Dalmatian lands he had lost to Louis in 1357. John asked Tvrtko for help but was ultimately defeated by Elizabeth's army and forced to flee to Bosnia.
Hedwig's accession in Poland
Although Louis had designated Mary as his successor in both Hungary and Poland, the Polish nobility were not willing to recognize Mary and her fiancé, Sigismund of LuxembourgSigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
, as their sovereigns. They wanted to end the personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with Hungary. Elizabeth proposed her youngest daughter Hedwig as Louis' successor in Poland. After two years' negotiations, Hedwig unexpectedly became sovereign of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
, but Elizabeth was reluctant to let her leave and live in Poland. She delayed Hedwig's arrival, hoping to drive Sigismund out of Hungary by having him elected King of Poland. Elizabeth finally allowed Hedwig to be taken to Poland, where she was crowned king
Royal coronations in Poland
Royal coronations in Poland officially began in 1025 and continued until 1764, when the final King of an independent Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, was crowned at St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw. Most Polish coronations took place at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, but crownings also occurred...
in November 1384. Hedwig married Jogaila of Lithuania
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
, as agreed in the Act of Kreva, where Elizabeth, as her daughter's guardian, was one party to the negotiations. Elizabeth was also requested to legally adopt Jogaila as her son, thus giving him right to retain the Crown of Poland in the event of Hedwig's death.
Mary's marriage issue
Sigismund, his powerful brother King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia and many noblemen of Hungary were opposed to the formidable Elizabeth and the Palatine. They, on the other hand, were not enthuasiastic about Sigismund reigning together with Mary. Both Sigismund and Mary's relative, Charles of DurazzoCharles III of Naples
Charles the Short or Charles of Durazzo was King of Naples and titular King of Jerusalem from 1382 to 1386 as Charles III, and King of Hungary from 1385 to 1386 as Charles II. In 1382 Charles created the order of Argonauts of Saint Nicholas...
, the governor of Croatia-Dalmatia, who had gained the Crown of Naples by having his aunt Joan
Joan I of Naples
Joan I , born Joanna of Anjou, was Queen of Naples from 1343 until her death. She was also Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, Queen consort of Majorca and titular Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily 1343–82, and Princess of Achaea 1373/5–81....
murdered, threatened to invade Hungary; the former intended to marry Mary and reign together with her, while the latter intended to depose Mary. Either way, Elizabeth would have lost her power. Thus, in 1384, Elizabeth started negotiating with King Charles V of France
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
about the possibility of his son Louis marrying her daughter Mary, notwithstanding Mary's engagement to Sigismund. Louis had already been engaged to Elizabeth's eldest daughter Catherine
Catherine of Hungary (1370-1378)
Catherine of Hungary was the eldest child of King Louis I of Hungary and his second queen, Elizabeth of Bosnia.-Heiress presumptive:Catherine's birth was long expected, as her parents' marriage was childless for the first seventeen years...
and was expected to succeed to the throne of Hungary. If Elizabeth had made this proposal in 1378, after Catherine's death, the fact that the French king and the Hungarian king did not recognize the same pope would have represented a problem. However, Elizabeth was desperate in 1384 and was not willing to let the schism stand in the way of the negotiations. Pope Clement VII
Antipope Clement VII
Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Pope Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first Avignon antipope of the Western Schism.-Biography:...
issued a dispensation which annulled Mary's betrothal to Sigismund and the proxy marriage
Proxy marriage
A proxy wedding or is a wedding in which the bride or groom is not physically present, usually being represented instead by another person...
was celebrated in April 1385. However, the marriage was not recognized by the Hungarian noblemen who adhered to Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
.
Four months after the proxy marriage, Sigismund invaded Hungary and had himself married to Mary by Demeter, Archbishop of Esztergom, regardless of Elizabeth's opposition and the proxy marriage. Elizabeth wanted to retaliate to the marriage by trying to deprive the archbishop of his see.
Deposition and restoration of Mary
Sigismund left Hungary and returned to Bohemia in the autumn of 1385. This time Elizabeth faced a much serious opposition than that of John of Paližna. John Horvat (co-ruler with his relative John of Paližna as Ban of Croatia), Ban of Mačva, and his brother Paul, Bishop of Zagreb, used Sigismund's absence and helped Charles of Durazzo become briefly King of Hungary in 1385, regardless of his wife Margaret's opposition. Elizabeth and Mary were forced to attend his coronation. Elizabeth feigned friendly feelings for her husband's kinsman while his retinue was at the court. After his supporters had returned to their homes, he was left defenceless. Elizabeth acted quickly and invited Charles to visit Mary at one of her palaces. Upon his arrival there on 7 February 1386, Elizabeth had Charles stabbed in her apartments and in her presence. The attack took place 39 days after his coronation. Charles died at VisegrádVisegrád
Visegrád is a small castle town in Pest County, Hungary.Situated north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend, Visegrád has a population 1,654 as of 2001...
on 24 February. She managed to have the crown restored to her daughter and immediately rewarded those who helped her. She gave Jelenec
Jelenec
Jelenec is a municipality and village in the Nitra District of the south-west of Slovakia, in the Nitra Region....
Castle to Blaise Forgach, the Master of the Cupbearers, whose blow had mortally wounded Charles.
Having Charles murdered did not help Elizabeth as much as she hoped it would. His heir was his underage son Ladislaus. Noblemen who had supported Charles immediately rose up in arms to support Ladislaus who would spend his entire adulthood attempting to conquer Hungary, but despite some support in Hungary itself, did not succeed. Rebellions against Elizabeth continued and were even supported by her first cousin, the King of Bosnia.
Death and aftermath
Elizabeth believed that her daughter's monarchical dignity would help calm the opposition. In 1386, accompanied by Garay, she set out for CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
with her daughter Mary. According to Fine, Elizabeth was going to Đakovo, while Duggan asserts that the two queens were heading towards Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. Either way, they did not arrive at their destination, as they were ambushed en route and attacked by John Horvat. Their entourage fought the attackers but were all killed, while Elizabeth and her daughter were taken prisoner. The heads of Elizabeth's defenders were sent to Naples to console Charles of Durazzo's grieving widow. Elizabeth took all blame for the rebellion and begged the attackers to spare her daughter's life.
The two queens were then sent to the coast of the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
and were imprisoned in Novigrad
Novigrad, Zadar County
Novigrad is a village and municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County. According to the 2001 census, there are 2,368 inhabitants, absolute majority which are Croats.- History :...
. She managed to smuggle out plans for their relief to the Venetians, but this was discovered by the jailers. Her son-in-law marched into Slavonia, with the intention to reach Novigrad and rescue the queens, but his attempt failed. Charles's widow Margaret, who was at first against her husband's plan to invade Hungary, now insisted that Elizabeth be murdered. On 16 January 1387, Elizabeth was strangled before Mary's eyes on the orders of John of Paližna
John of Palisna
John of Palisna was a Croatian knight and warrior, prior of Vrana, and Ban of Croatia.-Prior of Vrana:It is unclear when John of Palisna became prior of Vrana. In May 1381 he was already prior, because the citizens of Zadar were complaining about him to the King of Hungary and Croatia...
, their jailer and ally of Elizabeth's cousin Tvrtko.
At the moment of her death, Sigismund was on his way to rescue his wife and mother-in-law. Mary was rescued from that captivity by the troops of her husband Sigismund soon after Elizabeth had been murdered. Mary promised not to take revenge on the murderers of her mother, but nevertheless had them executed and their families banished. Queen Elizabeth was secretly buried in the Church of St Chrysogonus in Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
and remained buried there for four years. On 16 January 1390, the third anniversary of her death, her body was moved to Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary and is the 9th largest in the country. Located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 101,973 people , with 136,995 in the Székesfehérvár Subregion. The city is the centre of Fejér county and the regional centre of Central Transdanubia...
.
Legacy
Elizabeth is known to have commissioned the creation of Saint SimeonSimeon Stylites
Saint Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite was a Christian ascetic saint who achieved fame because he lived for 39 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo in Syria. Several other stylites later followed his model...
's casket in 1381. The casket, located in Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
is of great importance for the history of the city, as it depicts various historical events – such as the death of her father – and Elizabeth herself. According to legend, Elizabeth paid for the creation of the casket in order to atone for stealing the saint's finger. The casket contains a scene which allegedly depicts the queen gone mad after stealing the saint's finger. A street in Zadar is named after Elizabeth of Bosnia. Its full name is "Street of Queen Elizabeth Kotromanić, donor of St. Simeon's casket" .
Neither of Elizabeth's daughters left surviving children; Mary died heavily pregnant and Saint Hedwig died from birth complications shortly after the death of her own daughter, Elizabeth Bonifacia, named after Elizabeth of Bosnia and Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX , born Piero Tomacelli, was the second Roman Pope of the Western Schism from November 2, 1389, until October 1, 1404...
. Elizabeth of Bosnia's line became extinct with the deaths of her youngest daughter Hedwig in 1399.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catherine of Hungary | 1370 | 1378 | betrothed to Louis of France; heiress presumptive to the thrones of Hungary and Poland |
| Mary of Hungary Mary of Hungary Mary of Anjou was queen regnant of Hungary from 1382 until her death in 1395.-Childhood:... |
1371 | 1395 | monarch of Hungary; betrothed to Louis of France; married to Sigismund of Luxembourg Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411... |
| Hedwig of Poland | 1373 | 1399 | monarch of Poland; betrothed to William of Austria William, Duke of Austria William the Courteous was a member and head of the Leopoldinian Line, ruler of Carinthia, Styria and Carniola.Born in Vienna, he was the oldest son of Duke Leopold the Just and his wife, Viridis Visconti, and ruled in Carinthia, Styria and Carniola.His engagement with Hedwig of Hungary, youngest... ; married to Jogaila of Lithuania Jogaila Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis... |
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