Elisabeth von Luxemburg-Böhmen

Elisabeth of Bohemia, also known as Elisabeth of Luxembourg, was born on March 19, 1358, in Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia. She belonged to the House of Luxembourg and was the only daughter of Emperor Charles IV and his wife, Anna of Schweidnitz. Her birth was even commemorated by the scholar Francesco Petrarch in a congratulatory letter to the emperor. Elisabeth grew up in a politically important ruling family. Among her siblings was Wenceslaus IV, who later became King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. After the death of her mother, Charles IV married Elisabeth of Pomerania. From this marriage, Elisabeth had six half-siblings: Anna, who later became Queen of England; Sigismund, who rose to become Holy Roman Emperor; John, Duke of Görlitz; as well as Margaret of Bohemia, Charles, and Henry. As was customary for members of medieval ruling houses, Elisabeth’s marriage was planned at an early age for political purposes. In 1363, when she was only five years old, she was betrothed in Nuremberg to the 21-year-old Otto V of Bavaria, who later became Margrave of Brandenburg. Three years later, however, the betrothal was dissolved because Emperor Charles IV changed his political plans. Elisabeth was now to marry Duke Albert III of Austria from the House of Habsburg. The new marriage served an important dynastic objective. It was intended to prevent Albert III from joining his fortunes with Elisabeth of Hungary, the heiress of King Louis I of Hungary. Such a marriage would have altered the political balance of power and might have jeopardized the planned betrothal of Elisabeth of Hungary to Wenceslaus, Charles IV’s son. As compensation for the broken betrothal, Otto V married Catherine of Luxembourg, Elisabeth’s half-sister and the widow of Rudolf IV, Albert III’s brother, who had died in 1365. On March 19, 1366, Elisabeth’s eighth birthday, a double wedding took place in Prague: Elisabeth married Albert III of Habsburg, while her sister’s marriage was celebrated at the same time. These marriages created a Bohemian-Austrian alliance. They strengthened the connection between the House of Luxembourg and the Habsburgs and helped, among other things, to keep Tyrol in the possession of the Habsburg family. Elisabeth held the title of Duchess of Austria from her wedding in 1366 until her early death. The marriage remained childless. Elisabeth died on September 19, 1373, in Vienna in the Duchy of Austria, at just fifteen years of age. Her short life was shaped by her family’s political interests and the dynastic alliances of the 14th century. She was buried in the church of the Carthusian monastery at Gaming, founded by her father-in-law Albert II and now located in Lower Austria.