Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria
(1526-1545)
Born 9 June 1526 Linz
Died 15 June 1545 Vilna, Lithuania
Married 6 May 1543
Zygmunt II August, King of Poland 1548-1572, son of Zygmunt
I, King of Poland 1506-1548 and Bona Sforza
Born 1 August 1520 Krakau
Died 7 June 1572 Knyszyn nr Bialstok
S.P.
On 9 June 1526 in Linz she was born daughter of the future Emperor Ferdinand
I. Shortly after her birth she was promised as bride to Zygmunt of Poland
and, on 6 May 1543 aged sixteen, married him. From the beginning she found
herself caught between the enemies of the Habsburgs as well as the friends
of the Polish court. Queen Bona Sforza, her mother-in-law, made her life
difficult and Zygmunt developed a physical aversion to her, probably because
of her epileptic fits.
Their marriage failed to improve the relations between the Jagiellos
and the House of Habsburg and Elisabeth, with honour, endured unaccountable
humiliations and insults, but these were probably also the cause of her
early death a few days after her nineteenth birthday.
Source: Leo van de Pas
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