Pressburg in 1207. When only four years old she was destined by her father to become the wife of Ludwig, oldest son of land^^rave Hermann of Thuringia. ISlie was innuediately sent to the court of the landgrave, at tlie Wartburg, for her education, and on her arrival was betrothed to Ludwig. She early showed a re- markable inclination for ascetic exercises. Several efforts were on that account made to have her sent liaciv to her father, but Ludwig, who in lilf) succeeded his father as landgrave, refused to dismiss her, and in 12-_'l niaiTied her. As landgravine she continued her ascetic manners, and refused all the comforts of life. At the same time, she was indefatigable in all works of [ charity. She spun and sowed garments for the poor, and, at the time of a famine, fed as manj' as 900 peo- i pie daily. Her confessor, Konrad von Marburg, not i only encouraged her asceticism, but made her vow ab- ! solute obedience, and that, in the case of her husband's death, she would not marry again. I.udwig died in 1227, at Otranto, while taking part in the crusade of emperor Friedrich II. In consequence of the opposi- tion of her mother-in-law Sophia, and most of the ! members of the family, as well as the courtiers gener- ally. Elizabeth was deprived of the regency during the ; minority of her oldest son, and her brother-in-law, Heinrich Raspe, assumed the administration of the landgravate. Soon Elizabeth, with her son Hermann, ■ and her two daughters, was expelled from the Wart- burg, and for a time had to Ijeg in the streets of Eise- nacli for the necessaries of life. At length she found a refuge at one of the castles of her maternal uncle, the bishop of Bamberg. Repeated offers of a second mar- riage (even, it is said, from the emperor Friedrich), which were made to her she refused. When the knights who had accomjianied her husband returned from the crusade, they compelled Heinrich Easpe to restore to Elizabeth tlie Wartburg, and the revenue to which she could lay claim as the widow of the land- grave. Subsequentl}' Heinrich gave her the town of Marburg, with a number of adjoining villages, and an annual income of 500 marks in silver. Elizabeth took up her residence at Marburg in 1229, and again devoted her whole time to asceticism and l)enevolence. Her confessor Konrad not only continued to be very severe, but several times was even guilty of acts of great cruelty with regard to her. Nevertheless, she declined an invitation from her father to return to him. Exhausted by her ascetic life, she died in a hos- pital wliich had been erected by her, Nov. 19, 1231. The fame of her ascetic life had alreadj' pervaded all Europe, and, as was usual in such cases, the people soon ascribed to her relics a number of miracles, about the details of which there is, however, the greatest dis- crepancy among the contemporaneous writers, showing how little they rested on careful investigation. No longer tlian four j-ears after her death, in 1235, she was canonized liy pope Gregory IX. In 1236 her relics were transferred with great solemnity to a new church (St. Elizabeth's) wliii-h landgrave Konrad erected at Marlairg. The emperor Friedrich II placed a golden crown on the head of the saint, and an immense crowd of people, estimated at 200,000, came to see the relics Avhile cxliihited to puldic view. After the Reforma- tion, landgrave Rhilip, in order not to countenance the veneration of relics, had them removed from the church ; sul)scquontly the Teutonic knights olitained permission to send them to various Roman Catholic churches and convents. Her head is preserved in the church of St. Elizabeth at Breslau. — See Herzog, Real- Encyklop. iii, 767 ; Wetzcr und Welte, Kirch.-Ltx. iii, .5: 1 ; Iloefer, Nnuv. Biofj. Generate, xv, 875 ; Justi, E/iscibeth die IIeili(/e (Zurich, 1797, 2d ed. INlarb. 1835) ; Schmerl>auch, idkabeth die IM'iffe (Erfurt, 1828); Montalembert, Vie de <S7. Elisabeth (Par. 1835):. Simon, Ludiritj IV und s. Gemnklin, die heil. Eliaab. (Frankf. 1854) ; Kahnis, iJie heil. Elis.'m Zeitschrift far histor. Tiled. 1868. See Konkad von IVIakbukg. (A. J. S.)
Elizabethines. (1.) Associations of women whose object it was to imitate the ascetic life and the benev- olent zeal of l^lizabeth (q. v.) of Thuringia. Thej' did not retire from the world, and only met for prayer and some ascetic exercises. (2.) A Itranch of nuns of the third order of St. Francis, so called after Elizabeth of Hungary, who, after the death of her husband, is said to have joined of the third order of St. Francis. Mod- ern writers on monastic orders generally doubt or deny the report tliat Elizabeth ever was a mem]ier of the third order of Franciscans, but the name Elizabeth- ines is still in use to designate Franciscan nuns of the third order. In France they have also been des- ignated b}^ the name of Saurs or Filles de la Mtsh-i- corde (Sisters of Charity). The real foundress of the monastic community is said to have been Angelina di Corbaro, daughter of the count of Ccrbaro and Tisig- niano. She was born in 1377, married the count de Civitelle, with Mhom she lived as a sister, and imme- diately after the death of her hust)and (1393) joined the third order of Franciscans. She founded the first monastery of Franciscan Tertiarians in 1395 at Folig< no. In 1428 the monasteries of this order were organ- ized into a congregation, which was authorized to elect at the triennial conventions ("Chapters Gener- al") a general. In 1459 the congregation was placed under the general of the Franciscan Observants. In the middle of the IGth century the I'Hizabethines had 135 monasteries and 3872 nuns. In 1843 the number : of members was estimated at 1000. — Helyot, Did. des Ordres Relig. (ed. Migne), ii, 144 ; Fehr, Geschickte der \ Monchsorden, i, 275. (A. J. S.)