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Elizabeth of Hungary

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For other Hungarian princesses named Elizabeth, seeElizabeth of Hungary (disambiguation).

Elizabeth of Hungary(German:Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen,Hungarian:Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet,Slovak:Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská;7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known asElisabeth of Thuringia,was a princess of theKingdom of Hungaryand thelandgravineofThuringia.

Saint

Elizabeth of Hungary

TOSF
Elizabeth of Hungary bySimone Martini
Born7 July 1207
Pozsony,Kingdom of Hungary(modern-dayBratislava,Slovakia)
Died17 November 1231(1231-11-17)(aged 24)
Marburg,LandgraviateofThuringia,Holy Roman Empire(modern-dayHesse,Germany)
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Lutheranism
Canonized27 May 1235[1][2][3],Perugia,Italy byPope Gregory IX
MajorshrineSt Elisabeth Cathedral, Košice, Slovakia
St. Elizabeth Church, Marburg, Germany
Feast17 November
19 November (General Roman Calendar of 1960)[4]
AttributesRoses, crown, food basket
Patronagehospitals; nurses; falsely accused people; bakers; brides; countesses; dying children; exiles; homeless people; lace-makers; widows;Bogotá,Colombia;Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá; Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro;Teutonic Order;Third Order of Saint Francis;Budapest,HungaryandKošice,Slovakia[5]

Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her husband's death, she regained herdowry,using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death in 1231 at the age of 24 and wascanonizedon 25 May 1235. She is venerated as asaintby theCatholic Church.She was an early member of theThird Order of St. Francis,and is today honored as itspatroness.

Early life and marriage

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Elizabeth was the daughter of KingAndrew II of HungaryandGertrude of Merania.[6]Her mother's sister wasHedwig of Andechs,wife of DukeHenry I of Silesia.[7]Her ancestry included many notable figures of European royalty, going back as far asVladimir the Greatof theKievan Rus'.

According to tradition, she was born inHungary,possibly in the castle ofSárospatak,on 7 July 1207.[8][9][10]However, a sermon printed in 1497 by theFranciscanfriarOsvaldus de Lasco,a church official in Hungary, is the first source to specifically nameSárospatakas Elizabeth's birthplace, potentially building on local tradition. Osvaldus also translates themiracle of the rosesto Elizabeth's childhood in Sárospatak and has her leave Hungary at the age of five.[11]

According to a different tradition she was born inPozsony,Hungary (present-dayBratislava,Slovakia), where she lived in theCastle of Posoniumuntil the age of four. Elizabeth was brought to the court of therulers of Thuringiain central Germany, to be betrothed toLouis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia[12](also known as Ludwig IV), a future union which would reinforce political alliances between the two families.[a]She was raised by the Thuringian court and would have been familiar with the local language and culture.

St. Elizabeth washing a sick man—a scene from the main altar ofSt. Elisabeth CathedralinKassa,15th century

In 1221, at the age of fourteen, Elizabeth married Louis; the same year he was enthroned aslandgrave,and the marriage appears to have been happy.

Religious inclinations, influences

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In 1223, Franciscan friars arrived, and the teenage Elizabeth not only learned about the ideals ofFrancis of Assisi,but started to live them.[14]Louis was not upset by his wife's charitable efforts, believing that the distribution of his wealth to the poor would bring eternal reward; he is venerated inThuringiaas a saint, though he was never canonized by the church.

It was also about this time that thepriestand laterinquisitorKonrad von Marburggained considerable influence over Elizabeth when he was appointed as herconfessor.In the spring of 1226, when floods, famine andplaguewrought havoc in Thuringia, Louis, a staunch supporter of theHohenstaufenFrederick II, Holy Roman Emperor,represented Frederick II at theImperial Dietheld inCremona.

Elizabeth assumed control of affairs at home and distributed alms in all parts of their territory, even giving away state robes and ornaments to the poor.

Widowhood

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St. Elizabeth spinning wool for the poorbyMarianne Stokes(1895)

Elizabeth's life changed irrevocably on 11 September 1227 when Louis, en route to join theSixth Crusade,died of a fever inOtranto,Italy,just a few weeks before the birth of her daughter Gertrude. Upon hearing the news of her husband's death, the 20-year-old Elizabeth reportedly said, "He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today."[12][15]His remains were returned to Elizabeth in 1228 and entombed at the abbey ofReinhardsbrunn.

After Louis' death, his brother,Henry Raspe,assumed the regency during the minority of Elizabeth's eldest child,Hermann(1222–1241). After bitter arguments over the disposal of her dowry—a conflict in which Konrad was appointed as the official Defender of her case byPope Gregory IX—Elizabeth left the court atWartburgand moved toMarburginHesse.Her move seems to have been partly influenced by Konrad's strict dietary commands, which could not be met at Wartburg.[7]

Following her husband's death, Elizabeth made solemn vows to Konrad similar to those of anun.These vows includedcelibacy,as well as complete obedience to Konrad as her confessor andspiritual director.Konrad's treatment of Elizabeth was extremely harsh, and he held her to standards of behavior which were almost impossible to meet. Among the punishments he is alleged to have ordered were physical beatings; he also ordered her to send away her three children. Her pledge to celibacy proved a hindrance to her family's political ambitions. Elizabeth was more or less held hostage atPottenstein,the castle of her uncle, Bishop Ekbert of Bamberg, in an effort to force her to remarry. Elizabeth, however, held fast to her vow, even threatening to cut off her own nose so that no man would find her attractive enough to marry.[16]

Elizabeth's second childSophie of Thuringia(1224–1275) marriedHenry II, Duke of Brabant,and was the ancestress of the Landgraves of Hesse, since in theWar of the Thuringian Successionshe won Hesse for her sonHeinrich I,calledthe Child.Elizabeth's third child,Gertrude of Altenberg(1227–1297), was born several weeks after the death of her father; she becameabbessof themonasteryof Altenberg Abbey, Hesse nearWetzlar.[17]

Elizabeth built a hospital atMarburgfor the poor and the sick with the money from her dowry, where she and her companions cared for them.[18]

The Miracles

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Miracle of the roses

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A statue showing the miracle of the roses in the rose garden in front of theneo-Gothicchurch dedicated to her at Roses' Square (Rózsák tere),Budapest[19]

The popular legend of themiracle of the roseswas originally attributed toElizabeth of Portugal,is absent from Elizabeth of Thuringia's earliest hagiography and was only later attributed to the latter. It also appears in that of many other saints.

The version attributing it to Elizabeth of Hungary states that, while taking bread to the poor in secret, she met her husband Louis on a hunting party (or in some versions Louis' brother Heinrich Raspe), to quell suspicions of the gentry that she was stealing treasure from the castle, asked her to reveal what was hidden under her cloak. In that moment, her cloak fell open and a vision of white and red roses could be seen, which proved to Louis that God's protecting hand was at work.[20]However, this contradicts hervitae,which state that her husband was never troubled by her charity and always supported it.[21]

Christ in the bed

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Another story told of Elizabeth, also found in Dietrich of Apolda'sVita,relates how she laid theleperHelias of Eisenach in the bed she shared with her husband. Her mother-in-law, who was horrified, told this immediately to Louis on his return. When Louis removed the bedclothes in great indignation, at that instant "Almighty God opened the eyes of his soul, and instead of a leper he saw the figure of Christ crucified stretched upon the bed."[20]This story also appears inFranz Liszt's oratorio about Elizabeth.[22]

Death and legacy

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Elisabethkirche in Marburg
Elisabeth church inGrave,Netherlands
Reliquary of St. Elizabeth
Elizabeth Chapel where her relics lie,Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá,Colombia


Elizabeth died in Marburg at the age of twenty-four,[23]on 17 November 1231.[7]

Miracles after death and canonization

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Very soon after the death of Elizabeth, miracles were reported that happened at her grave in the church of the hospital, especially those of healing. On the suggestion of Konrad, and by papal command, examinations were held of those who had been healed between August 1232 and January 1235. The results of those examinations was supplemented by a briefvitaof the saint-to-be, and together with the testimony of Elizabeth's handmaidens and companions (bound in a booklet called theLibellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum s. Elizabeth confectus), proved sufficient reason for quick canonization. She wascanonizedbyPope Gregory IXon 24 May 1235.[23]

Thepapal bulldeclaring her a saint is on display in theSchatzkammerof theDeutschordenskirchein Vienna.Her body was laid in a magnificent golden shrine—still to be seen today—in theElisabethkirchein Marburg. Marburg became a center of theTeutonic Order,which adopted Saint Elizabeth as its secondary patroness. The Order remained in Marburg until its official dissolution byNapoleonin 1803. TheElisabethkircheis now a Protestant church, but has spaces set aside for Catholic worship.

Elizabeth's shrine became one of the main German centers ofpilgrimageof the 14th century and early 15th century. During the course of the 15th century, the popularity of the cult of Saint Elizabeth slowly faded, though to some extent this was mitigated by an aristocratic devotion to St Elizabeth, since through her daughter Sophia she was an ancestor of many leading aristocratic German families.

Three hundred years after her death, one of Elizabeth's many descendants,Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse,a leader of theProtestant Reformation,raided the church in Marburg. He demanded that the Teutonic Order hand over Elizabeth's bones, in order to disperse her relics and thus put an end to the already declining pilgrimages to Marburg.[7]Philip took away the crowned agate chalice in which her head rested, but returned it after being imprisoned byCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Thereliquary chalicewas subsequently plundered by Swedish troops during theThirty Years' War,and is now on display at theSwedish History Museum.[24]Her skull and some of her bones can be seen at the convent in Vienna bearing her name. A portion of her relics were kept in the church of the Carmelites inBrussels;another in the magnificent chapel ofLa Roche-Guyon,and a considerable part in a precious shrine is in the electoral treasury of Hanover.[25]Another part of her relics were taken toBogotá,then the capital of the SpanishNew Kingdom of Granada,by friarLuis Zapata de Cárdenas.The relics are today inside a chapel dedicated to the saint in thePrimatial Cathedral of Bogotá.

Elizabeth of Hungary isremembered in the Church of Englandwith aLesser Festivalon 18 November[26]and in theEpiscopal Churchon19 November.[27]

Association with the Franciscans

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After her death, Elizabeth was commonly associated with theThird Order of Saint Francis,the primarilylaybranch of the Franciscan Order, which has helped propagate her cult. Whether she ever actually joined the order, only recently founded in 1221, the year when she married Louis at the age of fourteen, is not proven to everyone's satisfaction.[28]

It must be kept in mind though that the Third Order was such a new development in the Franciscan movement, that no one official ritual had been established at that point. Elizabeth clearly had a ceremony ofconsecrationin which she adopted a Franciscanreligious habitin her new way of life, as noted above.

Because of her support of the friars sent to Thuringia, she was made known to the founder, StFrancis of Assisi,who sent her a personal message of blessing shortly before his death in 1226. Upon her canonization, she was declared thepatron saintof the Third Order of St Francis, an honor she shares with StLouis IX of France.

Depiction in art and music

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Saint Elizabeth is often depicted holding a basket of bread, or some other sort of food or beverage, characteristic of her devotion to the poor and hungry.[29]The "miracle of the roses" has also proved a popular theme for artists.

Peter Janssenscomposed a musical play ( "Musikspiel" )Elisabeth von Thüringenin 1984 on a libretto byHermann Schulze-Berndt[de].

InCharlotte Brontë's novelVillette,the Protestant narrator includes the story of Elizabeth's involvement with von Marburg as one of several Catholic stories of confessors "who had wickedly abused their office, trampling to deep degradation high-born ladies, making of countesses and princesses the most tormented slaves under the sun."[30]

2007 octocentennial celebrations

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The year 2007 was proclaimedElizabeth Yearin Marburg. All year, events commemorating Elizabeth's life and works were held, culminating in a town-wide festival to celebrate the 800th anniversary of her birth on 7 July 2007. Pilgrims came from all over the world for the occasion, which ended with a special service in the Elisabeth Church that evening.

A new musical based on Elizabeth's life,Elisabeth--die Legende einer Heiligen(Elizabeth--Legend of a Saint), starring Sabrina Weckerlin as Elizabeth, Armin Kahn as Ludwig, and Chris Murray as Konrad, premiered in Eisenach in 2007. It was performed in Eisenach and Marburg for two years, and closed in Eisenach in July 2009.[31][32]

The entire Third Order of St. Francis, both the friars and sisters of the Third Order Regular and theSecular Franciscan Order,joined in this celebration through a two-year-long program of study of her life. This was conducted throughout the Order, across the globe. There were also religious ceremonies held worldwide during that period. The yearlong observance of the centennial which began on herfeast dayin 2007 was closed at theGeneral Chapterof the Order, held inBudapestin 2008. The New York region of the Order produced a movie of her life, produced by a sister of the Order, Lori Pieper.[33]

Ancestry

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Honors

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Saint Elizabeth of Hungary: On the 700-year anniversary of her death, Hungary issued a set of four stamps in her honor: on 21 April 1932;[34]on 1 August 1944 one postage stamp was issued;[35]on 16 July 1938 Czechoslovakia issued a stamp in her honor showing theCathedral of St. ElizabethinKošice.[36]She was declared the patron saint of the same city in 2019.[37]

The hymn "Wenn das Brot, das wir teilen",written for a pilgrimage to places in Thuringia connected to her life, refers to her Miracle of the roses, and mentions other works of charity.[38]

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Some, however (see theCatholic Encyclopedia), have suggested that Ludwig's brother Hermann was in fact the eldest, and that she was first betrothed to him until his death in 1232, but this is doubtful. An event of this magnitude would almost certainly be mentioned at least once in the many original sources at our disposal, and this is not the case. Rather, the 14th-centuryCronica Reinhardsbrunnensisspecifically names Hermann as the second son. In addition, the only contemporary document (dated 29 May 1214) that might support Hermann's claim to be the eldest by putting his name before that of Louis relates to a monastery in Hesse. This, it has been suggested, actually supports the claim that Hermann was the younger of the two, as Hesse was traditionally the domain of the second son, and thus it would be normal that his name be mentioned first, as this document deals with his territory.[13]

References

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  1. ^Wolf, Kenneth Baxter, ed. (24 November 2010).The Life and Afterlife of St. Elizabeth of Hungary: Testimony from her Canonization Hearings.Oxford University Press.p. x.ISBN9780199732586.Retrieved22 December2013.
  2. ^Hackett, Mary, ed. (1848).The life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Dutchess of Thuringia.p. 244.Retrieved22 December2013.
  3. ^Paolo Bonavoglia."Perpetual calendar".Astro.bonavoglia.eu.Retrieved22 December2013.
  4. ^Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 108
  5. ^Teraz.sk (1970-01-01)."VIDEO: Patrónkou Košíc bude sv. Alžbeta Uhorská, potvrdil to Vatikán".TERAZ.sk.Retrieved2019-11-04.
  6. ^Wolf, Kenneth Baxter, ed. (2010).The Life and Afterlife of St. Elizabeth of Hungary: Testimony from her Canonization Hearings.Oxford University Press. p. ix.
  7. ^abcdBihl, Michael (1909)."St. Elizabeth of Hungary".In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  8. ^Albrecht, Thorsten; Atzbach, Rainer (2007).Elisabeth von Thüringen: Leben und Wirkung in Kunst und Kulturgeschichte.Petersberg:Michael Imhof Verlag.p. 7.
  9. ^Ohler, Norbert (2006).Elisabeth von Thüringen: Fürstin im Dienst der Niedrigsten.Gleichen: Muster-Schmidt Verlag. p. 15.
  10. ^Zippert, Christian; Gerhard Jost (2007).Hingabe und Heiterkeit: Vom Leben und Wirken der heiligen Elisabeth.Kassel: Verlag Evangelischer Medienverband. p. 9.
  11. ^Ortrud Reber,Elizabeth von Thüringen, Landgräfin und Heilige(Regensburg: Pustet, 2006), pp. 33–34.
  12. ^abChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Elizabeth, Saint".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 287.
  13. ^Reber, Ortrud (2006).Elisabeth von Thüringen, Landgräfin und Heilige.Regensburg:Pustet.ISBN9783791720142.
  14. ^Foley, OFM, Leonard, "St Elizabeth of Hungary",Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast,(revised by Pat McCloskey OFM), Franciscan MediaArchived2016-04-08 at theWayback Machine;ISBN978-0-86716-887-7
  15. ^Rainer Koessling, ed. and trans.,Leben und Legende der heiligen Elisabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda(Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997), 52.
  16. ^Rainer Koessling, ed. and trans.,Leben und Legende der heiligen Elizabeth nach Dietrich von Apolda(Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997), 59.
  17. ^Ott, Michael. "Blessed Gertrude of Aldenberg." The Catholic EncyclopediaVol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 7 January 2020This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  18. ^Arnald of Sarrant,Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals of the Order of Friars Minor,trans. Noel Muscat, OFM(TAU Franciscan Communications, 2010).
  19. ^Rózsák terei Szent Erzsébet Templon(in Hungarian)
  20. ^abCharles Forbes René de Montalembert,Hagiographyof Saint Elizabeth of Hungary,1839.
  21. ^(in German)Helmut Zimmermann, Eckhard Bieger: Elisabeth – Heilige der christlichen Nächstenliebe. Verlagsgemeinschaft Topos plus, Kevelaer 2006, ISBN 3-7867-8598-8, OCLC 466938968, S. 46–48.
  22. ^McNichols, William (November 1985)."Elizabeth of Hungary: For Everything There is a Season".The Cord.35(10): 297–302. Archived fromthe originalon 28 May 2013.Retrieved14 December2012.
  23. ^abJoan Mueller,A Companion to Clare of Assisi: Life, Writings, and Spirituality,Vol. 21, (Brill, 2010), 127.
  24. ^Swedish History Museum staff."Guldrummet - Krigsbyten"(in Swedish).Retrieved2 October2016.
  25. ^Butler, Alban. "Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Widow".Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints,1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 7 May 2016
  26. ^"The Calendar".The Church of England.Retrieved2021-03-27.
  27. ^Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018.Church Publishing, Inc. 2019-12-17.ISBN978-1-64065-235-4.
  28. ^See Kaspar Elm, "Die Stellung der Frau in Ordenswesen, Semireligiosentum und Häresie zur Zeit der heiligen Elisabeth" (Sankt Elisabeth: Fürstin, Dienerin, Heilige), Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1981; pp. 7–28.
  29. ^Birmingham Museum of Art: guide to the collection.Birmingham, Ala: Birmingham Museum of Art, 2010.
  30. ^Bronte, Charlotte (1992).Villette.United States of America: Random House, Inc. pp. 149–150.ISBN978-0-307-45556-7.
  31. ^"2013: Die Päpstin - Das Musical"(in German). Spotlightmusical.de. 21 July 2013.Retrieved22 December2013.
  32. ^de:Elisabeth – Die Legende einer Heiligen (Musical)
  33. ^A Woman for our TimesArchived2012-03-11 at theWayback Machine,ciofs.org; accessed 5 November 2017.
  34. ^colnect.com/en/stamps/list/country/6955-Hungary/year/1932
  35. ^colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/179971-St_Elizabeth_1207-1231-Great_Women_of_Hungarian_History-Hungary
  36. ^colnect.com/en/stamps/list/country/7068-Czechoslovakia/year/1938/item_name/st+elizabeth
  37. ^a.s, Petit Press."Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská je oficiálne patrónkou Košíc".kosice.korzar.sme.sk(in Slovak).Retrieved2019-11-18.
  38. ^Granacher, René (14 November 2020).""Wenn das Brot, das wir teilen, als Rose blüht" – Modernes aus der DDR ".Diocese of Mainz(in German).Retrieved31 October2021.

Further reading

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  • de Robeck, Nesta.Saint Elizabeth of Hungary: A Story of Twenty-Four Years.Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1954.
  • Seesholtz, Anne.Saint Elizabeth: Her Brother's Keeper.New York: Philosophical Library, 1948.
  • Coudenhove, Ida Friederike. "The Nature of Sanctity: A Dialogue".InEssays on Religion and Culture,edited by T. F. Burns and Christopher Dawson, translated by Ruth Bonsall And Edward Watkin, 1:125–96. The Persistence of Order. Providence, RI: Cluny Media, 2019.
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