Elisabeth (1207-1231) was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary. Elisabeth was betrothed in infancy to Ludwig IV, son of Hermann I Landgrave of Thuringia at whose court she was raised. Elisabeth and Ludwig were married in 1221 when Ludwig succeeded his father. By all accounts, they had a happy marriage and produced three children; one son, Herman II and two daughters, Sophie and Gertrud. Unfortunately, in 1227 while en route to the Sixth Crusade, Ludwig contracted the plague in Otranto, Italy and died. When Ludwig's brother Heinrich assumed the regency, Elisabeth left and took refuge with her uncle, Bishop Eckbert of Bamberg. Legends of Elisabeth's life have dramatized Elisabeth's departure with the vivid image of Heinrich dispelling Elisabeth and her small children from the Wartburg into a cold winter's night. Under the guidance of her confessor Konrad von Marburg, Elisabeth came to live a penitential life in Marburg. There she had built a hospice for the poor and sick, to whose service she dedicated the rest of her short life. Elisabeth was canonized in 1234 and her feast date is November 19.
Elisabeth's family ties