Elizabeth Richeza of Poland

1288 – 1335 · Generation III · Consort

Elizabeth Richeza (1288 – 1335). Consort. Married Rudolf in 1306. Piast princess; second wife of Rudolf I of Bohemia; earlier Queen of Bohemia. Born in Poznań, the only child of Przemysł II of Poland, she lost her father to murder in 1296. As heiress of the Greater Poland Piasts she drew rival claimants to the Polish crown; in 1303 she married Wenceslaus II of Bohemia in Prague Cathedral, where she was crowned Queen of Bohemia and Poland and took the name Elizabeth. He died in 1305, days after the birth of their daughter Agnes. Rudolf of Habsburg married her in 1306 to strengthen his hold on the Bohemian throne, but he died of dysentery within a year. From her dower town of Hradec Králové she opposed John of Luxembourg, alongside the nobleman Henry of Lipá, who became her lover. After a peace brokered by Louis IV she sold her towns and settled with Henry in Brno, where the couple founded a Cistercian convent; she commissioned illuminated manuscripts and was buried there beside him.

Place in the family

Elizabeth Richeza of Poland married Rudolf I of Bohemia, a 5× great-uncle of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Partners

Married Rudolf I of Bohemia (1281 – 1307) in 1306

Life

1288 — Born
1306 — Married Rudolf
1335 — Died