The first woman to own Strečno was Mary from the Anjou dynasty, daughter of the King of Hungary and Poland, Louis I. At the age of eight, she was betrothed to the twelve-year-old Sigismund of Luxembourg, son of Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. Chroniclers described Mary as tall, fair-haired, not particularly beautiful but a kind and gentle princess. King Louis had no sons, so after his sudden death, Mary became Queen of the King of Hungary. Since she was only ten years old at the time, her mother Elizabeth ruled in her stead. The latter refused to marry her to Sigismund and decided to agree Mary’s marriage to the future Louis I, Duke of Orleans, brother of the King of France, Charles VI. From that time on, the life of the young Queen Mary was marked by several acts of violence. Sigismund demanded that his betrothal be honoured, and so he invaded Hungary with his army and enforced his marriage to Mary. Sigismund’s ally Charles the Short was crowned King of Hungary, but fell victim to a conspiracy sanctioned by Mary’s mother. Several months later she, too, died, at the hands of the supporters of the murdered King Charles. After the loss of her mother, fate granted Mary another six years of life. She died at the early age of twenty-four together with her unborn child following an unfortunate fall from a horse. Her death marked the end of the rule of the Anjou dynasty in Hungary.
