Elizabeth Richeza: The Interesting Life of The Medieval Queen of Bohemia and Poland

Although it is commonly accepted that in Middle Ages women in general did not have an easy life, it is as well agreed that few of them managed to bear a certain degree of independence from its standards, considering how able were they in holding the exercise of organizing their own life style. Elizabeth Richeza perhaps was neither an exception to the rule but at the same time she was not the rule herself. During the context of the 13th and 14th centuries, as far as it can be attested, few of her gender who shared her position could have had long tragedies throughout her lives as this Queen did.

And the first of them came in her tender age. Elizabeth was born Eliska Rejcka (Spelled Eliška Rejčka in Czech and Ryksa Elżbieta in Polish) on the first day of September, the year being 1286. Her parents were the King of Poland, PrzemysI the Second, and his wife, Richesa of Sweden, who died giving her birth. Elizabeth was their only surviving child and by the time her father was murdered, she was a valuable heiress to this kingdom. Soon afterwards another one followed:

"As a child she was engaged to the young Otto, son of the Margrave of Brandenburg and relative of her stepmother Margaret of Brandenburg. However, the boy soon after."

Despite the lack of information we have about her between the age of nine until her teenage days, what can we say is that at the age of fourteen, she became Queen of Bohemia and Poland by marrying the widowed King Wencelaus II. However, such a marriage had nothing but political meanings since:

"His first wife Judith of Habsburg had already given him a son and three daughters. He had already subjugated Kraków in 1291, during the lifetime of Elizabeth's father. Because of her young age, the marriage was not celebrated until 26 May 1303, when she arrived in Prague and was crowned the Queen of Bohemia and Poland, adopting the name Elizabeth at the same time (as Richeza was unused and seen as strange in Bohemia)"

Of this marriage, she gave birth only to a daughter, at the age of seventeen, whom she named Agnes. And not so later she became a mother, another tragedy fell upon Elizabeth's life: she became a widow and the Queen Dowager of both lands at such an age. But, at the moment, she would govern the reign for her stepson, Wencesclaus III, who, unfortunately, was murdered. This sad situation she was into turned Elizabeth to a very valuable bride, not only due to the dowry she had but as well as her beauty and wit she displayed, though we could not find traces of personalities from the few sources used to write this article.

The duke of Austria, Rudolph of Habsburg, managed to inherit this crown and married Elizabeth, who maintained her position as Queen. As said here:

"He was chosen Bohemia's king and Elizabeth remained queen. The reign and marriage lasted only a short time - Rudolph died 4 July 1307 of dysentery after becoming ill during the siege of the fortress of a nobleman in revolt."

As a result of another widowhood she came to face, Elizabeth's inheritance only increased and now she had towns and more households to take care of. If all of this can state peace to someone who witnessed death in its worst way even to medieval days, where it was probably more natural to die through diseases (as expectations to live were very short) than being actually murdered, depending of the object and place one is researching, it cannot be affirmed for certainty. After all, her stepdaughter's husband managed to hold the crown to himself, thus turning Elizabeth as a Queen Dowager again in opposition of her first husband's daughter, also named Elizabeth, who was now Queen of Poland and Bohemia. 

Before she settled outside Prague, it is said she supported her brother by law towards the claim he disputed with Henry of Carintia, but as he was the victor of the struggle for the Bohemian crown, she was forced to flee away. However, as said in the last paragraph, it was her stepdaughter's husband, John of Luxembourg who held the crown as King John III in 1310. But by then, she was permitted to go back to her lands, where she settled with her lover, a man named Henry of Lipá, whose position was unequal compared to hers. It is contested whether they were married or not, as if she did marry him, then he would have a claim to the Bohemian throne. We can only but wonder that perhaps by avoiding marriage, she would have her peace at least after having herself involved in trouble with politics (by supporting her brother by law of the second marriage) and after having grown up surrounded by tragedies, she soon managed to settle.

However it was not without difficulties, as we can see below:

"In 1310 John of Luxembourg became the new King of Bohemia, thanks to his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of King Wenceslaus II and his first wife. John's rule faced substantial opposition from Bohemian nobles, who decided to support Ryksa-Elizabeth. (...) The second important leader of the anti-Luxembourg faction was the powerful nobleman Jindrich of Lipá (Henry of Lipá), who was the Moravian Hetman and Governor of the Bohemian Kingdom in the abscence of the King. Soon a romantic relationship developed between Ryksa-Elizabeth and Henry of Lipá, which, for political reasons, never led to marriage. (...) In order to weaken the position of the powerful nobility, in 1315, King John deprived Henry of all his offices and imprisoned him. However, the position and popularity of the Dowager Queen was so strong in Bohemia that John, fearing a civil war, released him in April 1316."

But, finally, with some peace "they moved to Brno and spent ten happy years there (1318-1329) until his death. Some sources believe the couple may have married in 1319. After Henry's death, Elizabeth turned her attention to culture and religion, built churches and Cistercian convents (from 1323), and financed the making of illustrated hymn books. She died in Brno and was buried under the floor of her cloister church at the side of her beloved Henry".

After leading a life full of sad events, uncommon indeed though not rare amongst women in her position, what differs Elizabeth Richeza from others of her gender and position was the degree of independence and wealth she managed to secure for herself, after all, a life where in general happiness was not expected. With little information, it is sad to figure it out how women whose lives were similar like her awake little interesting in historiography. Though with this article, most of the common sense surrounding the lives of medieval women of upper classes is contested, it is not intended to make it as rule but to enlighten other countries's characters who are by so many unknown and, somewhat, bring them back to life. 

Sources: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=123509032

http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Elizabeth_Richeza_of_Poland

http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/elizabeth_richeza_of_poland

http://medieval-women.tumblr.com/post/86502093199/elizabeth-richeza-of-poland-queen-of-bohemia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Richeza_of_Poland