Elizabeth of Pomerania ( pl, Elżbieta pomorska, cs, Eliška Pomořanská; – 15 April 1393) was the fourth and final wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

Life

Elizabeth was the daughter of Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and

Elisabeth of Poland Elizabeth of Poland ( hu, Erzsébet, pl, Elżbieta; 1305 – 29 December 1380) was Queen of Hungary by marriage to Charles I of Hungary, and regent of Poland from 1370 to 1376 during the reign of her son Louis I. Life Early life She was a memb ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Casimir III, King of Poland, and

Aldona of Lithuania Aldona (baptized ''Ona'' or ''Anna''; her pagan name, Aldona, is known only from the writings of Maciej Stryjkowski; – 26 May 1339) was Queen consort of Poland (1333–1339), and a princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. She was the daught ...

. Elizabeth married Charles was held on 25 May 1363 in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, only one year after the death of Charles's third wife, Anne of Schweidnitz. The bride was 16 years old, while the groom was 47. Charles married Elisabeth mainly for diplomatic reason, as the marriage helped to break the anti-Czech coalition led by

Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (german: der Stifter), was a scion of the House of Habsburg who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as count ...

, with Polish and Hungarian kings as participants. On 18 June 1363 in the Bohemian capital

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Elisabeth was crowned Queen of Bohemia, and 5 years later, on 1 November 1368, she was also crowned empress of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

in Rome by

Pope Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the ...

. Elizabeth and Charles had: *

Anne of Bohemia Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and ...

(1366–1394), married

Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father ...

* Sigismund (1368–1437), the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

and King of Bohemia and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

* John of Görlitz (1370–1396), margrave of Moravia and duke of Görlitz, who married

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 Empero ...

*Charles (13 March 1372 – 24 July 1373) * Margaret of Bohemia (1373–1410), who was married to John III, Burgrave of Nuremberg *Henry (1377–1378)

Queen and empress

Elizabeth is reputed to have been a very vigorous, self-confident and physically strong person. The relationship between Elizabeth and Charles is described to have been good and harmonious. During the serious illness of Charles in 1371, Elisabeth made a miniature pilgrimage by walking on foot to the cathedral and offering gifts in a prayer to his health. Their good relationship has been portrayed in art, such as in Noc na Karlštejně (A Night at Karlstein). She does not seem to have wielded any political influence, however: she was tormented by the fact that Charles preferred his children from his former marriage, but was unable to change his mind.

Widowhood

After her husband's death at 29 November 1378 in Prague, Elizabeth's stepson

Wenceslaus IV Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; cs, Václav; german: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he ...

, son of Charles's previous wife, ascended the throne. Elisabeth then cared for her own two sons, mainly the older Sigismund, whom she supported in his efforts to become the

king of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

. Elizabeth outlived Charles IV by 15 years. She died on 15 February 1393 in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

(''Königgrätz'') and was buried next to her husband in

St. Vitus Cathedral , native_name_lang = Czech , image = St Vitus Prague September 2016-21.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...

.Joachim Zdrenka
Elżbieta córka Bogusława V księcia pomorskiego, żona cesarza Karola IV
Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka 1977, 1, p. 3.

References

Sources

* * * * * *

Life

Queen and empress

Widowhood

References

Sources

Further reading