Elizabeth of Hungary (, /Jelisaveta; c. 1255 – c. 1322), also known as Blessed Elizabeth the Widow (), was a Hungarian princess member of the Árpád dynasty and (briefly and disputed) Queen consort of Serbia. Since childhood, she was veiled as a nun, but she was married twice, and both times she was kidnapped by her husbands, Bohemian magnate Zavis of Falkenstein and King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia. Both husbands were in an unacceptable degree of kinship with Elizabeth from a canonical point of view: the marriage with Zavis of Falkenstein was not recognized by the Hungarian Church, and the marriage with Stefan Uroš II Milutin was not recognized by the Serbian Church. Nevertless, Elizabeth was venerated by the Hungarian Church as Blessed, while her scandalous marriage history is almost never mentioned in the later accounts of her life.
Life
Origins and early years
Elizabeth was the daughter of King Stephen V of Hungary and his Cuman wife, baptized as Elizabeth and probably in turn a daughter of Köten, a Cuman–Kipchak chieftain (khan) and military commander active in the mid-13th century. She had five known siblings: Catherine (wife of King Stefan Dragutin of Serbia), Mary (wife of King Charles II of Naples), Anna (wife of Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos), King Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Andrew, Duke of Slavonia. Her exact date of birth is unknown; however, according to a letter of Archbishop Lodomer of Esztergom to Pope Nicholas IV dated 8 May 1288 and recorded in 1308 by Anonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis, by 1288 Elizabeth was around 32–34 years old, 26 years of which she lived in a monastery. Thus, her birth date could be placed around 1254-1256, making her the eldest child of her family, assumption confirmed by historian Ferenc Kanyó, who based this fact on the Legend of Saint Margaret and Elizabeth's own confession of her aunt's veneration (1276), where is mentioned that she was the firstborn daughter of King Stephen V; however, according to historian Gyula Kristó, whose opinion is based on Mór Wertner's work, Elizabeth was born about 1260, being the third (or fourth) daughter of her family.
Elizabeth was four years old, when she sent to the Dominican Monastery of the Blessed Virgin on Rabbits' Island (now Margaret Island), a community founded by her grandfather King Béla IV of Hungary for his daughter Margaret, whom he consecrated to God on a vow. In 1259, the later King Stephen V confirmed the privileges of the monastery founded by his father with a letter, and mentioned Elizabeth. It was probably then that the princess settled in the monastery. Stephen probably followed his fathers, Béla IV's example, who had sent his firstborn daughter Margaret, Stephens oldest sister to the Rabbits' Island.
Little is known about the years of Elizabeth's monastic life. A 1265 document and the life history of her aunt Saint Margaret, briefly mention her as living in the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin. Saint Margaret died in 1270 and, according to documents, she wished that her niece would become the next Abbess of her community. Elizabeth is mentioned first time as head nun (priorissa) of the monastery in 1278. The prosperity of the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin during the years of Elizabeth's life is recorded in numerous documents of this time. By order of King Ladislaus IV, from 1287 the monastery had the right to receive taxes from the Buda fair. Numerous estates and a large number of subsequent donations from the royal family made the monastery one of the richest ecclesiastical institutions in Hungary at the end of the 13th century. According to the late texts of Legend of Saint Margaret she suggested to use her aunts relic, when King Ladislaus IV fell in a serious ill.
Elizabeth had two marriages in her life, but the historical sources are controversial.
Marriage with Zavis of Falkenstein
Zavis of Falkenstein was the lover and then second husband of Kunigunda of Halych, widow of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. In September 1285, three months after the official wedding, Kunigunda died, but Zavis retained influence over her son, King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia.