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, 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, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and is the largest town in Upper Lus ...

, 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 H ...

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 Empero ...

, was the daughter of King Albert of Sweden.

Reign

The Duchy of Luxemburg was mortgaged to Elisabeth by her uncle the King Sigismund of Hungary, 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 Anthony, Duke of Brabant, also known as Antoine de Brabant, Antoine de Bourgogne and Anthony of Burgundy (August 1384 – 25 October 1415), was Count of Rethel (1402–1406), Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg (1406–1415), and Co- Duke ...

. He defended her against three uprisings of the Luxemburgian nobility, until his death in 1415. John III, Duke of Bavaria, 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 Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged ...

, 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)

References

, - {{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

Life

Reign

Deposition

Issue

Further reading

References