Elizabeth of Hungary led an unconventional life for a medieval princess. Given to the church as a child to become a nun, Elizabeth went on to marry twice under scandalous circumstances, once to a Bohemian nobleman, and once to a King of Serbia. It is debated which man she was married to first. Despite her scandalous marriages, Elizabeth has been beatified by the Catholic Church in Hungary.
Early life
Elizabeth was the daughter of Stephen V, King of Hungary, and Elizabeth the Cuman. She was most likely their firstborn daughter, born between 1254 and 1256, perhaps 1255. This is due to the fact that in a letter from Archbishop Lodomerius of Esztergom to Pope Nicholas IV, written in 1288, Elizabeth is described as being between the ages of 32 and 34. Her parents’ marriage seemed to have been formalised in 1254.
Elizabeth was quickly followed by three sisters in birth: Catherine, Mary, and Anna. Later on, two brothers would join; Ladislaus in 1262 and Andrew in 1268. At the time of Elizabeth’s birth, her father was not yet king, and her grandfather, Bela IV, ruled Hungary.
Nun at Margaret Island
Around 1259, when she was just four years old, Elizabeth was sent to live at the Dominican Monastery of the Blessed Virgin, on Rabbit’s Island (later known as Margaret Island), in Buda. It was unusual for firstborn royal daughters to be given to the church. Kings and princes would usually marry their firstborn daughters off, and sometimes dedicate at least one of their younger daughters to the church.
According to some accounts, Elizabeth was deeply pious from early childhood, and wished to be like her aunt Margaret, later Saint Margaret of Hungary. Margaret was the youngest daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. At an early age, her parents dedicated her to the church. By the time Elizabeth was born, Margaret was living at the Dominican monastery on Rabbit’s Island. Elizabeth was raised by Margaret at the monastery. According to the 16th-century Legend of Saint Margaret, Elizabeth cooked, washed dishes, cleaned, and did other duties in the kitchen alongside Margaret.
When Margaret of Hungary died in 1270, she named Elizabeth as her successor. Elizabeth then appears to have become Abbess. Elizabeth’s grandfather, King Bela, also died in 1270, and Elizabeth’s father, Stephen, became the new King of Hungary. However, Stephen’s reign was short-lived; he died in 1272. After his death, his son, Elizabeth’s brother, Ladislaus IV, became king under the regency of his mother. Elizabeth might have been present in November 1272, when her cousin, Bela of Macso, was murdered on Margaret Island. She helped gather up his remains and buried him at the monastery.
Around 1276, Elizabeth testified in favour of the canonisation of her aunt, Margaret. Elizabeth attributed multiple miracles to Margaret, including the cure of an illness she had once suffered. She also testified that Margaret led an ideal pious life, prayed regularly, and did multiple chores at the nunnery.
In 1278, Elizabeth appeared as Prioress of the convent, rather than Abbess. While Elizabeth was in charge, the monastery became very wealthy, thanks to donations from her brother, King Ladislaus. She persuaded Ladislaus to grant the entire island of Margaret to her convent. Elizabeth seems to have had a lot of influence over her younger brother. The Archbishop of Esztergom, Lodomerius, even accused Elizabeth of causing Ladislaus to fall out with his wife, Isabella of Sicily. In 1286-1287, Ladislaus had Isabella imprisoned on Margaret Island, possibly due to his sister’s advice. Archbishop Lodomerius described Elizabeth as a “serpentine seeder” of discord between Ladislaus and Isabella.
Marriage to Zavis of Falkenstein
Zavis of Falkenstein had been the lover of the dowager Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth’s first cousin, Kunigunda of Halych, in the early 1280s. Kunigunda’s son, Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, became King on the death of his father in 1278, at the age of seven. Kunigunda met Zavis during her regency, and he became one of the most influential men in Bohemia during Wenceslaus’s minority. Kunigunda eventually married Zavis, but she died in 1285. Zavis remained influential in Bohemia and may have begun looking for allies abroad to strengthen his position. In 1287, he headed to Hungary and to Elizabeth’s brother, King Ladislaus.
Ladislaus sent men to abduct Elizabeth from the monastery, which they did. On 4 May 1288, Elizabeth was married to Zavis of Falkenstein. Archbishop Lodomerius was strongly opposed to it. Just four days after the wedding, he wrote to Pope Nicholas IV, accusing Elizabeth and Zavis of incest and adultery. He considered this marriage incestuous because Zavis had previously been married to Elizabeth’s first cousin. He mentioned that Elizabeth had previously wanted to marry a Tartar. Lodomerius also wrote that Elizabeth had left the convent out of her own free will, something he did not approve of. He called Elizabeth “antimonial”, which can mean immoral or disgusting.
On the occasion of Elizabeth’s marriage, Ladislaus told Lodomerius, “If I had fifteen or more sisters in as many cloistered communities as you like, I would snatch them from there to marry them off lawfully or unlawfully; in order to produce through them a kin-group who will support me by all their power in the fulfilment of my will.”
In June 1288, Elizabeth visited Archbishop Lodomerius and asked him to recognise her marriage as valid, but he refused. Soon afterwards, Elizabeth and Zavis left for Bohemia. There, she gave birth to a son around December. It is not known if this son was conceived before the wedding, or born prematurely. His name has not been recorded. It is sometimes said to have been John, but this was the name of the son Zavis had with Queen Kunigunda.
In January 1289, Zavis arranged a baptism ceremony for his son. He asked his stepson, King Wenceslaus, and his brother-in-law, King Ladislaus, to be his son’s godfathers. He also said that he would meet them both on the Hungarian-Bohemian border. By this time, Wenceslaus, who was approaching his majority, was growing suspicious of Zavis and no longer wanted to be under his control. Wenceslaus asked Zavis to come to Prague to escort him to the baptism, but the young king arrested him. He then ordered Zavis to return all of the royal treasury and the possessions of Queen Kunigunda, which he had been holding onto since her death.
Zavis was imprisoned for over a year. It is not known what Elizabeth did during this time. Finally, on 24 August 1290, Zavis was executed. Just a month before, Elizabeth’s brother, Ladislaus, had been assassinated. It is not known what became of Elizabeth’s son, but some believe she took him to Hungary. Since nothing more is said of this child, it is believed he died in infancy or early childhood.
Elizabeth’s life in the 1290s is somewhat of a mystery. It was likely during this time that she married King Stefan Uros II Milutin of Serbia.1
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Sources
Bartlett, Robert; Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe
Hardi Irsai, Angela; “Isabella of Apulia (Anjou), one of the Hungarian Queens with the saddest fate”
Mielke, Christopher; The Archaeology and Material Culture of Queenship in Medieval Hungary, 1000-1395
Rokai, Melina; “King Milutin Nemanjic and his Wife Elizabeth Arpad, the Connection Between East and West in the time of the Palaeologos”
Stojkovski, Boris; “Blessed Elizabeth of Hungary-Wife of King Milutin”
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