Agnes of Austria (18 May 1281 – 10 June 1364) was

Queen of Hungary The King of Hungary () 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" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used ...

by marriage to

Andrew III of Hungary Andrew III the Venetian (, , ; – 14 January 1301) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1290 and 1301. His father, Stephen the Posthumous, was the posthumous son of Andrew II of Hungary although Stephen's older half brother ...

Life

Agnes was a daughter of Albert I,

King of Germany This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in ...

and his wife, Elisabeth of Tirol. By birth, she was member of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

and a by marriage the

Queen

On 13 February 1296 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Agnes married

. Afterwards, with his father-in-law's support, Andrew managed to defeat the revolt of Miklós Kőszegi and Máté Csák III, and occupy the castles of

Kőszeg Kőszeg (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Vas County, Hungary. The town is known for its historical character. History Medieval Period The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas (Eisenburg) go back to the third quart ...

and

Pozsony Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. In 1298 Andrew supported with troops his father-in-law's revolt against King

Adolf of Germany Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298) was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperi ...

. Agnes disliked tournaments, but liked sermons. Since she was small of stature, she used to wear dresses her sisters no longer wanted, which gained her praise for modesty. The death of Andrew III on 14 January 1301, at Buda, ended the male line of the Árpáds.

Stephen Ákos Stephen (I) from the kindred Ákos (; died 1315) was an influential Hungarian nobility, baron in the Kingdom of Hungary in the late and the early . He was born into an ancient Hungarian clan. He was a staunch supporter of Andrew III of Hungary. H ...

, one of his contemporaries called him "the last golden twig of the Árpáds".

Later life

At that point, Agnes was a widow and she had no children to carry on the

Árpád dynasty The Árpád dynasty consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds (, ). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 130 ...

. However she was only 19 so was still able to remarry and have children but she never did. Agnes became a patroness of Königsfelden Monastery in the

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an Imperial State, estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with th ...

, which had been founded by her mother in memory of her late husband. Agnes took her stepdaughter

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

with her and went to live there in a small house near the monastery. She was one of the final members of the Arpad family. Elizabeth was expected to marry

Wenceslaus III of Bohemia Wenceslaus III (, , , , ; 6 October 12894 August 1306) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1301 and 1305, and King of Bohemia and Poland from 1305. He was the son of Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia, who was later also crowned king of Poland, ...

, but the wedding never happened since Wenceslaus instead married

Viola Elisabeth of Cieszyn Viola of Teschen, later known as Viola Elizabeth (, ) ( – 21 September 1317), was Queen of Bohemia and Poland by marriage to Wenceslaus III of Bohemia. She was the daughter of Mieszko I, Duke of Cieszyn, by his unknown wife. She was named aft ...

. Left free, she became a Dominican nun at the nearby

Töss Monastery Töss Monastery was a community of Dominican nuns located in the former Swiss city of Töss, now a part of Winterthur. Nothing of the original buildings exists today. Construction of the monastery began in 1233, near the bridge at the Töss Riv ...

, where she gained a reputation for holiness. Agnes was depicted as pious. On the other hand, according to the 16th century Chronicon helveticum of Aegidius Tschudi, she avenged her father's murder by ordering the execution and expulsion of 1000 people (families and followers of his murderers), but it appears this report was to a large extent based on Swiss anti-Habsburg propaganda. Because of her good reputation, she was asked several times to act as mediator. In 1333, she established a treaty between

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and a number of Swiss towns and regions during the Gümmenenkrieg. In 1351, she solved a dispute between

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and did the same in the same year for

Albert II, Duke of Austria Albert II (; 12 December 1298 – 16 August 1358), known as ''the Wise'' () or ''the Lame'' (), a member of the House of Habsburg, was duke of Austria and Styria from 1330, as well as duke of Carinthia and margrave of Carniola from 1335 until hi ...

and the

Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

. Her brothers often came to see her in Königsfelden to ask for advice. The '' Book of Divine Consolation'' written by

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (), Master Eckhart or Eckehart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart,

was likely partially intended as a gift for Agnes. In the book the author aims to console the reader and gives around 30 reasons why a person should not be saddened by any unfortune. Agnes died on 10 June 1364 at Königsfelden, and was buried in the nuns' cemetery of Königsfelden Monastery.

Ancestry

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes Of Austria 1281 births 1364 deaths 13th-century House of Habsburg 14th-century House of Habsburg Queens consort of Hungary Burials at Königsfelden Monastery 13th-century Austrian women 14th-century Austrian women 14th-century Austrian people 13th-century Hungarian women 14th-century Hungarian women 13th-century Hungarian people 14th-century Hungarian people People from the Duchy of Austria Royal reburials Daughters of kings Daughters of dukes