Elizabeth was the only issue of Sigismund of Luxembourg and Barbara of Cilli. At the age of two, she was already betrothed to the sixteen-year-old Duke Albert, whom she married in 1422. On Sigismund’s death, Albert ascended to the royal throne in 1438 together with Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was expecting their third child and first son, Albert died suddenly. As a result, their son Ladislaus was known from an early age as the Posthumous. The Hungarian lords wanted to provide a king for the land while also keeping the power in their hands, so they forced the thirty-year-old Elizabeth to promise before she gave birth that she would marry the Polish king Vladislaus II, who was only sixteen at the time. However, as the saying goes, the apple didn’t fall from the tree. Elizabeth demonstrated the political talent of her father and mother. Immediately after the birth of her son, she had the crown of St Stephen stolen, with which Ladislaus was crowned king at the age of three months. However, the majority of the Hungarian nobles did not accept her as their ruler, which lead to the outbreak of a civil war. Peace was eventually brokered in 1442 with the agreement that Ladislaus would become king on the death of Vladislaus, which eventually happened. Elizabeth did not live to see the rule of her son, however, since she died in mysterious circumstances only a few days after the signature of the peace treaty.
