Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 1.djvu/279

ST. ELISABETH 265 and died before ber. Elisabotb was first a Beguine, and afterwards a nnn in the Cistercian monastery of-Erkenrode, or Herkenrode, near Hasselet, in the province of Leyden, and abont a mile from Li6ge. Sbe was remarkable for extreme asceticism, and had the stigmata. Mart, Salisbury, June 23. Bnoelinusi St. Elisabeth (15) of France, ISABELLE D£ FrANCE. St. Elisabeth (16) of Portugal, Isabel de Paz. St. Elisabeth (17) of Hungary, May 6. O.8.D. + 1338. Only cbild and beiress of Andrew III., king of Hungary. Great-granddaugbter of B. Beatrice (5) of Este. Great-niece of tbe more famous St. Elisabeth of Hungary. Niece of St. Cuneqund of Hungary, queen of Poland, and of St. Margaret of Hungary. Andrew III. was the last king of the bouse of Arpad who sat on the tbrone of Hungary (1290-1 301 ). Towards the end of the IStb century, Zomovit, duke of Eujavia, in Poland, was a refugee witb bis daugbter Fenna at the Court oi Buda. Andrew married Fenna, and bad a daugbtor called Elisabetb, in honour of ber great-aunt, the sainted Landgravine of Tburingia. Great was the joy tbat a cbild was bom to carry on the ancient royal line. All the bells were rung, wine was poured from the towers tbat every one migbt drink bis fill to the bealtb of the new-born princess and ber royal parents ; but the merrymaking was quickly cat sbort by the deatb of tbe young motber. Tbe king soon married again. His second wife was Agnes, daugbter of Albert, duke of Austria, and emperor. Wbile still a cbild, Elisabetb was be- trotbed by ber fatber to Wenzel, son of tbe King of Bobemia, but tbis engage- ment was soon broken ofif. Andrew of Hungary died in 1301, and tben Queen Agnes betrotbed ber step- daughter to ber brotber Henry, duke of Austria, promising to make over to Elisa- betb ber own dowry, wbiob was con- siderable. In 1 308 Agnes' fatber, Albert of Austria, was murdered by bis nepbew Jobn and otber conspirators at Windiscb, in Argau, wbile crossing the Beusz in a boat. His brothers and children sought vengeance witb such ferocity that, although the murderers escaped, their innocent parents and children were put to deatb with great barbarity, their bouses were burnt, and their lands laid waste. Agnes was specially cruel. Several of tbe victims were killed before her eyes. In after years, when ber rage cooled, the memory of ber wolfish cruelty and of the faces of some of ber victims left ber no peace. In ber sleepless remorse she applied to a holy hermit, offering ample gifts to the Church, and seeking to atone for her murders by building bouses for God. Tbe hermit rejected ber offerings, but encouraged her to repent. He said, "Woman, God is not to be served witb bloody hands, nor with convents built with the plunder of widows and orphans, but by mercy and forgiveness of injuries." Sbe founded the convent of Eonigsfelden, near Brugg, in 1310, and there eventually betook herself to lead a life of penance. In spite of her betrothal, Elisabetb determined to take the veil, and entered the Dominican convent of Tosz (Thosa), near Wintertbum, in Turgau, when sbe was only thirteen or fourteen years old. By the connivance of her stepmother, who wished to disgust her witb monastic life, Elisabeth bad, during ber novitiate, a very harsh superior and strict dis- ciplinarian, a nun from St. Catberinen- tbal, of the family of Busynanz, a niece of King Budolf of Hapsburg. Her promised husband, Henry of Austria, who counted on being King of Hungary in right of Elisabeth, tried in vain to dissuade her from this step, urging that ber marriage witb him would put an end to a great deal of strife and trouble. Enraged at ber un- willingness to return to Court and to fulfil ber engagement to him, he tore off ber veil and trampled it under bis feet. The princess, naturally submissive, was shaken in her resolution. She prayed for God's direction, and soon decided tbat, having dedicated herself to His service, sbe ought not to return to the world. The crown she would not accept nor share witb Henry went to tbe bouse of Bourbon. She was the first nun who received