Ecumenical Commemoration
Princess of Hungary & Patroness of the Poor
November 18 · d. 1231
also known as Elizabeth of Thuringia, Elisabeth von Thüringen
Hungarian princess who abandoned royal privilege after her husband's death on Crusade to devote herself entirely to caring for the poor and sick. Canonized in 1235, only four years after her death at age 24, based on sworn testimony from her personal handmaidens. The quality and proximity of her biographical sources make her among the best-documented women saints of the medieval period.
Traditionally, the miracle of the roses is the most famous Elizabeth legend: when her husband Ludwig discovered her carrying bread to the poor and asked what she carried, the bread was miraculously transformed into roses. Additional traditions include various healing miracles attested in the canonization proceedings and stories of Elizabeth's supernatural foreknowledge of Ludwig's death.
Elizabeth was born in 1207, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary. She was betrothed in infancy to Landgrave Ludwig IV of Thuringia and raised at Wartburg Castle, where she married Ludwig around 1221. By all contemporary accounts the marriage was genuinely loving, and Elizabeth bore three or four children.
When Ludwig departed for the Crusade in 1227, he died of plague en route at Otranto. Elizabeth was expelled from Wartburg Castle by Ludwig's brother Henry — the exact circumstances are disputed, but the depositions of her handmaidens confirm her sudden poverty. Rather than return to her father's court or seek another marriage, Elizabeth placed herself under the spiritual direction of Conrad of Marburg, a severe Franciscan-influenced confessor.
Elizabeth devoted the remainder of her short life to caring for the poor and sick. She founded a hospital at Marburg and worked in it herself, nursing the most afflicted patients. The canonization depositions from her handmaidens Irmgard, Guda, and Elisabeth record that she washed lepers, tended the dying, and gave away her remaining possessions. Conrad's spiritual direction was notably harsh — the depositions record him imposing severe penances and physical discipline — but Elizabeth persisted in her charitable work with characteristic joy.
She died on November 17, 1231, at age 24, exhausted by austerity and labor. Her canonization process (1233-1235) drew on the sworn depositions of her attendants, her confessor Conrad, and numerous witnesses to healing miracles at her tomb. She was canonized by Gregory IX in 1235.
Almighty and everlasting God, you kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your servant Elizabeth of Hungary to manifest your compassion and mercy to the poor and the persecuted: Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who give thanks for his righteous zeal may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.