Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Our patroness reminds us to recognize Christ in those who need our love.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231) devoted her short life to the poor and sick. Her feast is celebrated on November 17. Her example joins prayer with generous, practical service.

Saint Elizabeth’s story

Her life, year by year

Follow the parish’s account of her journey from Hungary to Thuringia and Marburg.

1. 1207: A princess is born

   Pressburg (today Bratislava), Kingdom of Hungary. Elizabeth is born to King Andrew II of Hungary and Queen Gertrude of Andechs-Meran.

2. 1211: Sent to Thuringia at age four

   Wartburg Castle, near Eisenach. Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia arranges her betrothal to his eldest son, Hermann. She is brought to the Wartburg to be raised at his court.

3. 1213: Her mother is killed

   Hungary. Queen Gertrude is murdered by Hungarian nobles. Elizabeth, six years old, is far from home.

4. 1216–1217: Promised to Ludwig

   Thuringia. Her intended, Hermann, dies on December 31, 1216, and she is promised to his younger brother, Ludwig. After Landgrave Hermann I dies in April 1217, Ludwig becomes Landgrave Ludwig IV.

5. 1221: Marriage

   Thuringia. Elizabeth, 14, marries Ludwig IV, 21. Their marriage is remembered as deeply loving. The same year the Franciscans settle in Germany; Brother Rodeger becomes her spiritual guide.

6. 1222 and 1224: Mother of a family

   Wartburg. Her son Hermann II is born in 1222 and her daughter Sophia in 1224. Sophia later marries Henry II, Duke of Brabant.

7. 1225: A home for the friars

   Eisenach. With Elizabeth’s help, the Franciscans found a friary in the town below the castle.

8. 1226: Feeding the hungry

   Wartburg and Eisenach. Flood, famine, and plague strike Thuringia while Ludwig is away at the Diet of Cremona in Italy. Elizabeth leads the relief, gives out food, and cares for the sick in a hospital of 28 beds below the castle.

9. September 11, 1227: Ludwig dies

   Otranto, southern Italy. On his way to the Crusade with Emperor Frederick II, Ludwig dies of plague. When the news reaches her in October, Elizabeth says the world with all its joys is now dead to her. Weeks after his death, their third child, Gertrude, is born; she later becomes abbess of Altenberg.

10. Winter 1227–1228: A widow in exile

    Kitzingen and Bamberg. Elizabeth leaves the Wartburg. Her aunt Matilda, abbess of Kitzingen, and her uncle, Bishop Ekbert of Bamberg, take her in. She refuses a new marriage. Ludwig’s remains are brought home and buried at Reinhardsbrunn Abbey.

11. Good Friday 1228: She gives everything to God

    Eisenach and Marburg. In the Franciscan church at Eisenach she formally renounces the world, and she receives the habit of the Franciscan Third Order from her confessor, Conrad of Marburg.

12. 1228–1231: Servant of the sick

    Marburg, Hesse. Elizabeth builds a hospital dedicated to Saint Francis and serves the poor and sick there with her own hands.

13. November 17, 1231: Death at 24

    Marburg. Elizabeth dies at the age of 24. Healings are soon reported at her grave, and November 17 becomes her feast day.

14. 1235: Proclaimed a saint

    Perugia, Italy. At Pentecost, Pope Gregory IX declares her a saint, only four years after her death. In August the cornerstone of Saint Elizabeth’s Church (Elisabethkirche) is laid in Marburg.

15. May 1, 1236: Her relics are honored

    Marburg. Emperor Frederick II joins the solemn translation of her relics. The church built over her grave becomes one of Europe’s great places of pilgrimage.

Where her story happened

Timeline adapted from the parish’s stezwp3 account, which cites the Catholic Encyclopedia and Franciscan Media.