Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brzeg-Legnica and Cieszyn: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 02:23, 6 February 2009
Elisabeth of Hohenzollern (Polish: Elżbieta Hohenzollern; b. 1 May/29 September 1403 - d. Legnica, 31 October 1449), was a German princess member of the House of Hohenzollern and by marriage Duchess of Brzeg-Legnica.
She was the eldest daughter of Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg by his wife Elisabeth, daughter of Frederick, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut.
Life
Elisabeth married with Duke Louis II of Brzeg-Legnica on 9 April 1418 in the city of Konstanz. The union produced four children; from all, the eldest, Louis, was the only son and heir of his father. Prince Louis's early death in 1435 changed the political situation of Brzeg-Legnica: the heir apparent was Duke Louis II's only surviving nephew, Louis III of Oława, and the Duke didn't want to leave all his domains to him. For this, he decided to leave his wife all his lands as Oprawa wdowia until her own death. Louis II died on 30 May 1436 and Elisabeth asumed the full soverignity over Brzeg and Legnica.
On 17 February 1439 Elisabeth married again with the several years younger Wenceslaus I, Duke of Cieszyn. According to the terms of the Oprawa wdowia, after her remarriage she lost the rule over Brzeg-Legnica; however, Elisabeth managed to continue with her rule. Her official reception in Cieszyn as her Duchess was performed some days later, on 5 March.
In 1443, Elisabeth was forced to give Brzeg to Duke John I of Lüben, the eldest son of Louis III of Oława, who had died in 1441. John I claimed the inheritance of Duke Louis II as the senior legitimate heir of the family and because Elisabeth retained ilegally both Duchies. In order to make a bond with him, the Duchess gave her youngest daughter Hedwig in marriage to John I. The wedding took place in February 1445.
By the time of her daughter's marriage, the relationship between Elisabeth and her husband Wenceslaus I was seriously deteriorated. The exact reasons remained undisclosed, but in 1445 the couple became officialy separated. Elisabeth settled his residence in Legnica