Elizabeth Lucretia of Cieszyn (; ; ; 1 June 1599 – 19 May 1653), was a reigning Duchess of
Cieszyn
Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...
(Teschen, Těšín) from 1625 until her death. Born as the third child and second daughter of
Adam Wenceslaus, Duke of Cieszyn (by his wife Princess Elisabeth
Ketteler of Courland, daughter of
Gotthard Kettler
Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland (also ''Godert'', ''Ketteler''; ; ; ; 2 February 1517 – 17 May 1587) was the last Master of the Livonian Order from 1559 to 1561 and the first Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, Duke of Courland and Semigallia f ...
,
Duke of Courland), she was the last ruler of Cieszyn from the Polish-origin
Silesian Piast dynasty.
After her death, the
Duchy of Cieszyn reverted to the
Bohemian Crown as a completed
fiefdom
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
and was onward ruled directly by the Bohemian kings, then members 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 ...
. Subsequently,
Habsburg dynasty
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
bore the title until the
fall of the Empire and the liquidation of the
Duchy of Cieszyn in 1918.
Life
Originally raised in the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
faith, in 1610 she converted to the
Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, together with her whole family.
On 13 July 1617 her father, Adam Wenceslaus, died and was succeeded by his only surviving son,
Frederick William. On 23 April 1618 Elizabeth Lucretia was married against her will with the also ex-Lutheran
Gundakar of Liechtenstein, a widower almost twenty years her senior.
Gundakar was a younger brother of
Karl I, Duke of
Opava
Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...
(Troppau) and
Krnov (Jägerndorf), one of the members of the Regency council who ruled the Duchy of Cieszyn during Frederick William's absence; however, this arrangement was short-lived, and the
de facto rule was held by Elizabeth Lucretia, even after Frederick William returned to Cieszyn and assumed the effective government in 1624, because the Duke almost immediately after his return made a trip with the
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
to the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
. During this journey, Frederick William became suddenly ill and died on 19 August 1625 in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, unmarried and without legitimate issue.
Initially, Emperor
Ferdinand II tried to join Cieszyn to his domains, using his rights as
King of Bohemia
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...
; but the end, he accepted Elizabeth Lucretia as reigning Duchess, by right of the Privilege granted by King
Vladislaus II of Bohemia to
Duke Casimir II of Cieszyn in 1498, under which was secured the female succession over Cieszyn until the fourth generation.
[Panic 2002, 32.]
During her reign, Cieszyn passed through one of the most difficult periods in his history. It was the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, during which Cieszyn was regularly plundered by foreign forces (during 1626–27 by
Danish troops of
Ernst von Mansfeld
Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (; 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander; despite being a Catholic, he fought for the Protestants during the early years of the Thirty Years' War. He was one of the l ...
, during 1642–43 and 1645–47 by
Swedish troops under the commands of Colonel Rochowa and General
Königsmarck, respectively), both in terms of infrastructure and finances. In addition
plague and
hunger
In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In t ...
also affected the Duchy and many citizens died. Eventually, this led to Cieszyn being economically and demographically destroyed for the next 100 years. Elizabeth Lucretia's life was seriously threatened on several occasions: for example, in 1642, when she had to find refuge in
Jablunkov
Jablunkov (; , ) is a town in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,300 inhabitants. The town has a significant Polish minority in the Czech Republic, Polish minority. It is inhabited by a la ...
and in 1645, when she escaped to
Kęty, after the Swedish forces took the capital (which capitulated only in 1646). Only the
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...
on 24 October 1648 finally established the peace in her domains.
The marriage of the Duchess with
Gundakar of Liechtenstein proved to be unsuccessful, despite the fact that they had three children together. In 1626 they were formally separated, and remained in this way until her death.
Elizabeth Lucretia died on 19 May 1653, and was buried in the Ducal crypt in the
Dominican church in
Cieszyn
Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...
.
Children
Elizabeth and
Gundakar had three children:
*Maria Anna of Liechtenstein (13 August 1621 – 5 October 1655)
*Ferdinand Johann of Liechtenstein (27 December 1622 – 9 January 1666)
*Albert of Liechtenstein (8 March 1625 – 1627)
Ancestry
Notes
References
*
*
Genealogy of the Dukes of Cieszyn*
Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elizabeth Lucretia
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism
1599 births
1653 deaths
Dukes of Teschen
Piast dynasty
17th-century women monarchs