Bio

 

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, and had a long line of royal ancestors dating back hundreds of years. When she was only 4 years old, she was betrothed to the oldest son of a German noble family of Thuringia. She was sent away to be raised in the Thuringian court, which was very wealthy and full of entertainment and music. Elizabeth, however, preferred more of a quiet, faith-filled life even from this young age.

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When she was still a child, both her mother was murdered and the eldest Thuringian son passed away, so she was betrothed to the next son, Ludwig IV. The deaths greatly impacted Elizabeth, and she was often very sorrowful until her marriage in 1221. She and Ludwig deeply loved each other, apparently, and they eventually had three children.

In 1223, Elizabeth learned about St. Francis of Assisi from Francisan friars who had arrived in her territory. She was so moved by the teachings that she began to live out as many of them as she could without being a part of religious life herself. Ludwig even encouraged her giving away their property. They began to live more simply, and set aside time each day to give bread away to the community. There is a famous story about Elizabeth in which she was giving away bread in secret. As she did so, she ran into a hunting party consisting of a member of the royal court, who accused her of stealing from the castle. When he demanded she open her cloak to show what she was hiding, miraculously, only roses fell out. Another story goes that when Elizabeth was so moved to help a certain leper that she even laid him in her royal bed, her mother-in-law discovered this and was appalled. She ran to tell Ludwig and brought him to the room, but when Elizabeth pulled back the sheets, an image of Jesus laying on the bed was all that was there.

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In 1226, floods and a famine devastated their people, and Elizabeth took it upon herself to build a hospital (which served thousands each day) and gave away even her own clothing and other items from the Court.

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In 1227, however, when Ludwig was traveling to join a crusade, he died of a fever. When Elizabeth found out, she was completely devastated. She was about to give birth to their daughter, Gertrude, and since her eldest son was only 5 years old, her brother in-law assumed regency in his place. Because of this, Elizabeth was either driven from her home or voluntarily left because he was not running the castle in a way she approved of.

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After her husband’s death, she swore she would never remarry. This, along with her continual donating of funds and items, were not approved of by the family. For a time she was even held hostage at her uncle’s castle as he tried to force her to marry. Her children were sent away from her, too, but even so, she said she would even cut off her own nose to make herself too unattractive to marry if need be.

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When she received her husband’s remains and her dowry back, she was reinstated in her position and immediately gave away all of the money and joined a group of Third Order Franciscans. Though her Confessor was very severe to her, she and the German Franciscans built a hospital, where she personally served the sick and injured.

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She passed away at only the age of 24. Very soon after her death, miracles were reported to be taking place at her grave. She was canonized very quickly in 1235.