Elisabeth of Bavaria married one king and became queen of three kingdoms- Germany, Jerusalem, and Sicily. However, her time as queen was brief, giving her little time to leave a mark on the history of these kingdoms.
Early Life
Elisabeth of Bavaria was probably born around the year 1227 at Trausnitz Castle in Landshut, Bavaria. She was the first child of Otto II, Duke of Bavaria and Agnes of the Palatinate. In 1243, she was betrothed to Frederick II, Duke of Austria, but that betrothal was quickly terminated due to Otto’s support of Emperor Frederick.
Queen
On 1 September 1246, in Vohburg, Bavaria, Elisabeth married Conrad, the eldest living legitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. At the time of the marriage, eighteen-year-old Conrad was already King of Germany and Jerusalem. He had been crowned King of Germany due to him being his father’s heir apparent. Conrad had inherited Jerusalem from his mother, who died soon after his birth. Despite being King of Jerusalem, Conrad never visited the country, nor did Elisabeth.
Elisabeth was known to have travelled with Conrad, but also spent a lot of time at the imperial castle of Trifels, near her homeland of Bavaria. She was in close contact with her birth family, and her father became an informal advisor to Conrad.
Emperor Frederick died in December 1250, and Conrad succeeded him as King of Sicily and sole King of Germany. In 1251, Conrad left for Sicily, and Elisabeth, who was pregnant with their first child, remained in Germany. There is no evidence that Elisabeth ever visited Sicily. On 25 March 1252, Elisabeth gave birth to her first child, a son, Conradin, or Conrad the Younger, in Bavaria. It seems that Elisabeth never saw her husband again, and that Conrad never met his son. Conrad did not live long enough to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor either; he died on 21 May 1254 in southern Italy of malaria.
Dowager Queen
Upon his father’s death, Elisabeth’s two-year-old son, Conradin, immediately became King of Sicily and Jerusalem, and Duke of Swabia. He did not become King of Germany because the title was elective. Elisabeth remained in Swabia with Conradin and did not become regent of Sicily. First, Berthold of Hohenburg was regent of Sicily, and then, later, Manfred, a half-brother of Elisabeth’s late husband, became regent.
Elisabeth seems to have wanted her son to be elected as King of the Germans, but the electors had other plans. In 1257, Richard of Cornwall, younger brother of King Henry III of England, was elected as King of the Germans. There seemed to be no hope of restoring the Hohenstaufen dynasty to the imperial throne.
In August 1258, Manfred declared himself King of Sicily and was crowned. Manfred seemed to have believed that Conradin was dead by this time, and perhaps the nobles of Sicily saw it more beneficial to have Manfred as their king, rather than a child living far away. According to the chronicler Villani, Manfred was actively plotting against Conradin. Villani states that Manfred sent ambassadors to Germany, claiming that they were sent to discover the truth about the boy’s health, but in reality, he secretly sent them to poison Conradin. Elisabeth, however, knew their true intentions, so when the ambassadors asked for Conradin, she instead gave them another boy, dressed in Conradin’s clothes. Manfred’s men continued to poison the boy and put on a show of mourning, believing it was Conradin who was killed. The real Conradin was placed in the care of the Bishop of Constance, who became responsible for his education. Conradin often resided at the court of Elisabeth’s brother, Louis II, Duke of Bavaria.
Countess of Tyrol and Gorizia
On 6 October 1259, Elisabeth married for a second time in Munich. Her new husband was Meinhard, Count of Tyrol and Gorizia. He was about ten years younger than Elisabeth. This marriage was probably arranged to further her family’s influence in the Alps. Elisabeth and Meinhard had six children together:
- Elizabeth (c.1262-1312) Married Albert I, King of Germany
- Otto III, (c.1265-1310) Duke of Carinthia
- Albert II, (d.1292) Count of Tyrol
- Louis, (d.1305) Duke of Carinthia and Count of Tyrol
- Henry, (c.1270-1335) Duke of Carinthia and King of Bohemia through his marriage to Anne of Bohemia
- Agnes (d.1293) Married Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen
Elisabeth did not have a close relationship with Conradin after her second marriage, and she rarely saw him. On 26 February 1266, King Manfred of Sicily was killed in the Battle of Benevento, fighting against Charles of Anjou, a younger brother of the King of France. Charles then seized the Sicilian throne. In 1267, Elisabeth and Conradin saw each other as the latter headed to Italy to regain the Sicilian throne. This would be the last time they would meet.
In August 1268, Conradin lost the Battle of Tagliacozzo to Charles of Anjou. Conradin fled, but he was quickly captured and handed over to his enemies. Charles had Conradin executed by beheading on 29 October 1268 in Naples. With Conradin’s death, the legitimate male line of the House of Hohenstaufen became extinct.
Elisabeth mourned the loss of her royal son. She became a patron of a church near the spot Conradin was executed, in his memory. This church was the Carmelite Basilica of Saint Mary in Naples. Conradin was also buried in this church. In 1272, Elisabeth and her husband founded Stams Abbey in Tyrol. Elisabeth died the next year, on 9 October, and was buried in Stams Abbey.
Meinhard never remarried after Elisabeth’s death. In 1286, he became Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Carniola. He died in 1295.
Even though Elisabeth’s son, Conradin, was never restored to the thrones of Germany and Sicily, her descendants from her second marriage ruled these lands. Her oldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Albert I of Germany, the first king from the Habsburg dynasty, and all the later Habsburgs descended from her. In 1282, Charles of Anjou lost Sicily to Manfred’s daughter, Constance, and her husband, King Peter III of Aragon. By her son, Otto, Elisabeth had a granddaughter, Elizabeth, who married Constance and Peter’s grandson, King Peter II of Sicily. So, in the centuries after her death, Elisabeth’s descendants continued to rule Sicily and Germany, even though her son never got to rule them.1
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