Elisabeth, Duchess of Luxembourg
Encyclopedia
Elisabeth of Görlitz was Duchess regnant of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

 from 1411 to 1443.

Life

Elisabeth was the only daughter and heiress of John of Görlitz, the third son of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....

. He was Duke of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...

 and Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...

, and also Elector of Brandenburg for a brief period. Her mother, Richardis of Mecklenburg-Schewerin, was the daughter of King Albert of Sweden
Albert of Sweden
Albert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.-Background:...

.

The Duchy of Luxembourg was mortgaged to Elisabeth by her uncle, Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
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...

. He was unable to repay the loan, and subsequently left Elisabeth in control of the duchy.

Her first marriage took place in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 on 16 July 1409, to Antoine, Duke of Brabant. He defended her against three uprisings of the Luxembourg nobility, until his death in 1415. They had two children:
  • William (2 June 1410 – 10 July 1410, Brussels)
  • unknown (1412)


John of Bavaria
John III, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing
John III the Pitiless, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing , of the House of Wittelsbach, was first bishop of Liège 1389–1418 and then duke of Bavaria-Straubing and count of Holland and Hainaut 1418–1425...

 was her second husband. He died in 1425, and they did not have any children. After his death, she became heavily indebted.

In 1441, she made a treaty with Philip III, Duke of Burgundy
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy
Philip the Good KG , also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty . During his reign Burgundy reached the height of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts...

, allowing him to immediately assume the administrative duties of Luxembourg and inherit the duchy upon her death. He agreed to this, but chose to launch a night attack on the territory two years later, taking immediate control. Elisabeth was subsequently expelled from Luxembourg by Philip's forces.

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