Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)
Encyclopedia
Elisabeth of Austria (1436 – 30 August 1505), (in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

 Elżbieta Rakuszanka, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

: Erzsébet), was a Polish
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...

-Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n queen. In Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

, she is known as Elżbieta Rakuszanka and Elżbieta Austriaczka, both names meaning Elisabeth of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, or Elżbieta Habsburżanka, meaning Elisabeth of Habsburg.

Biography

Elisabeth was the daughter of King Albert of Hungary (also King of Bohemia, and elected but never crowned King of Germany) and his wife Elisabeth of Luxembourg, daughter of Sigismund of Hungary (later also King of Bohemia and Holy Roman emperor). On 10 March 1454, she married King Casimir IV of Poland. Four of her sons became kings, why is why she is also called "mother of the Jagiellons" (or "mother of kings").

After the 1457 death of Elisabeth's childless brother, King Ladislaus the Posthumous, she and her family started to advance their claims to the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary. Ultimately, her eldest son became elected to both monarchies.

Her younger sons, in turn, became monarchs of Poland and Lithuania.

Upon the death of her brother Ladislaus, his remaining heiresses shared the inherited rights in a way which put all their mother's rights to Polish principalities to Elisabeth and her children. Elisabeth's said mother, also named Elisabeth, was the only child of the then deceased Emperor Sigismund, himself the eldest son and heir of his mother, Elisabeth of Pomerania, heiress of her mother, Elisabeth of Poland, the eldest daughter of Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...

 who also had inherited the principality of Kujavia (the elder branch of Masovia-Sandomir) and some rights to successions in parts of Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...

 and Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

n principalities (Wladyslaw the Short's wife was from Poznan branch and mother from Wroclaw and Legnica branch). Since 1431, no other legitimate descendants of Casimir III survived than Elisabeth of Pomerania's. This was the way some ancient Piast estate property passed to the Jagiellons.

In 1467, she renounced her claim to the Duchy of Luxembourg to Charles the Bold
Charles I, Duke of Burgundy
Charles the Bold , baptised Charles Martin, was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477...

, Duke of Burgundy, whose father had bought the territory in 1443 from Elisabeth, Duchess of Luxembourg
Elisabeth, Duchess of Luxembourg
Elisabeth of Görlitz was Duchess regnant of Luxembourg 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. He was Duke of Lusatia and Görlitz, and also Elector of Brandenburg for a brief period...

.

Casimir and Elisabeth had the following children:
  • Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary
    Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary
    Vladislaus II, also known as Ladislaus Jagiellon ; was King of Bohemia from 1471 and King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516...

     (1456–1516), who became elected to thrones earlier held by Elisabeth's parents (Wladyslaw, Vladislav, Ulaszlo)
  • Hedwig (1457–1502). Duchess of Bavaria in Landshut, wife of Duke George.
  • Saint Casimir
    Saint Casimir
    Saint Casimir Jagiellon was a royal prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who became a patron saint of Lithuania, Poland, and the young.-Biography:...

     (Kazimierz) (1458–84)
  • John I Albert of Poland (Jan Olbracht, Jan Wojciech) (1459–1501)
  • Alexander (1461–1506) of Lithuania, then also of Poland
  • Sophia (Zofia) (1464–1512). Margravine of Brandenburg in Ansbach, wife of Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
    Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
    Frederick I of Ansbach and Bayreuth was born at Ansbach as the eldest son of the Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg by his second wife Anna, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. His elder half-brother was the Elector Johann Cicero of Brandenburg...

     and mother of Albert of Prussia
  • Elisabeth (Elżbieta) (1465–66)
  • Sigismund I of Poland
    Sigismund I the Old
    Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...

     (Zygmunt) (1467–1548)
  • Frederick (Fryderyk) (1468–1503) cardinal-archbishop of Gniezno.
  • Elisabeth (Elżbieta II) (1472–80)
  • Anna (1476–1503). Duchess of Pomerania, wife of Duke Bogislas X
    Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania
    Bogislaw X of Pomerania, the Great, was Duke of Pomerania from 1474 until his death in 1523.Bogislaw was born in Rügenwalde into the House of Pomerania . His father was Eric II, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast, his mother was the duchess Sophia of Pomerania, both distant relatives of the House of...

    .
  • Barbara (1478–1534). Duchess of Sacony, wife of George, Duke of Saxony
    George, Duke of Saxony
    George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony , was duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539.Duke George was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.-Early life:...

    .
  • Elisabeth (Elżbieta)(1482–1517). Duchess of Legnica in Silesia, wife of Duke Frederick II
    Frederick II of Legnica
    Frederick II of Legnica , also known as the Great of Legnica , was a Duke of Legnica from 1488 , of Brzeg from 1521...

    .

Ancestors



See also

  • Ancestors of Nicholas II of Russia

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