Elisabeth of Görlitz (1390 or 1380 – 1444 or 2 August 1451)
reigned as
Duchess of Luxemburg from 1411 to 1443.
Life
Elisabeth was the only daughter and heiress of
John of Görlitz
John of Görlitz (also known as John of Bohemia and John of Luxembourg; 22 June 1370 – 1 March 1396) was a member of the House of Luxembourg and the only Duke of Görlitz (Zgorzelec) from 1377 until his death.
Life
Born in Prague, John was the ...
, the third son of
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...
. He was Duke of
Lusatia
Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...
and
Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
, and also
Elector of Brandenburg
This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...
for a brief period. Her mother,
Richardis Catherine of Sweden Richardis Catherine of Mecklenburg (1370 or 1372 in Sweden – 1400), was a Princess of Sweden and Mecklenburg, and by marriage a Margravine consort of Moravia and Duchess consort of Görlitz (Lusatia), daughter-in-law of the Holy German Emperor.Chr ...
, was the daughter of King
Albert of Sweden
Albert (german: Albrecht, sv, Albrekt av Mecklenburg; c. 1338 – 1 April 1412) was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.
Background
He was the second son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and ...
.
Reign
The Duchy of Luxemburg was mortgaged to Elisabeth by her uncle the King
Sigismund of Hungary
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...
, who later also became King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor. He was unable to repay the loan, and subsequently left Elisabeth in control of the duchy.
Her first marriage took place in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on 16 July 1409, to
Antoine, Duke of Brabant.
He defended her against three uprisings of the Luxemburgian nobility, until his death in 1415.
John III, Duke of Bavaria
John III the Pitiless (1374–1425), 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.
Family
John was born in Le Quesnoy. He was the younges ...
, was her second husband. He died in 1425, and they did not have any children. After his death, she became heavily indebted.
Deposition
In 1441, she made a treaty with
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, allowing him to immediately assume the administrative duties of Luxemburg 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 Luxemburg by Philip's forces.
Issue
*William (2 June 1410 – 10 July 1410, Brussels)
*unknown (1413)
Further reading
* Joseph Calmette. ''Die großen Herzöge von Burgund''.
Callwey Verlag, München 1963; Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Munich 1996,
* Michael Erbe. ''Belgien – Niederlande – Luxemburg – Geschichte des niederländischen Raumes''.
Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 1993,
* Jörg K. Hoensch. ''Die Luxemburger – Eine spätmittelalterliche Dynastie gesamteuropäischer Bedeutung 1308–1437''. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2000,
* Jörg K. Hoensch. ''Kaiser Sigismund – Herrscher an der Schwelle zur Neuzeit 1368–1437''. C. H. Beck, Munich 1996,
*
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elizabeth of Gorlitz
1390 births
1451 deaths
People from Hořovice
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
House of Luxembourg
Dukes of Luxembourg
Duchesses of Brabant
Duchesses of Limburg