, meeting Saint
John of Capistrano Wedding and family life In August 1452, preparing for the
Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) with the
Teutonic Knights, the Poles sent an embassy to Vienna to once again negotiate marriage between Elisabeth and now-king
Casimir IV of Poland.
Ulrich II, Count of Celje, who now had custody of Elisabeth, received the proposal favorably and sent two of his men to Poland. The formal wedding agreement was reached in August 1453 in
Wrocław in the presence of Polish and Austrian nobles. According to the agreement, Elisabeth's dowry, guaranteed by her brother King
Ladislaus the Posthumous, was 100,000 Hungarian golden coins. The dowry was secured by lands in Austria, Hungary and Bohemia. In turn, Casimir guaranteed
Koło,
Opoczno,
Przedecz as well as a monthly sum of 5,000 golden coins from the
Bochnia and
Wieliczka Salt Mines. Elisabeth had to renounce her claims to lands of Austrian rulers; the renunciation would not apply if her brother Ladislaus died without a male heir. Elisabeth's dowry was not paid immediately and that gave her the pretext to claim the Hungarian and Bohemian crowns. Eventually, Elisabeth received two-thirds of her dowry—it was paid in 1471 and 1472 by
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. The third of her dowry secured by lands in Bohemia was forgiven when her son
Vladislaus II became King of Bohemia. Casimir compensated for the delayed dowry and provided his wife with financial security when in December 1461, after the death of Queen
Sophia, he transferred a number of royal lands in Sophia's possessions to Elisabeth, including
Korczyn,
Wiślica,
Żarnowiec,
Radom,
Jedlnia,
Kozienice,
Chęciny,
Łęczyca,
Kłodawa,
Pyzdry,
Konin,
Inowrocław. In 1467, she renounced her claim to the
Duchy of Luxembourg to
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, whose father had bought the territory in 1443 from
Elisabeth, Duchess of Luxembourg. Elisabeth arrived to Poland in February 1454 with a retinue of nine hundred riders. Reportedly, Casimir was informed that Elisabeth was not an attractive lady and was reconsidering the marriage, but bowed to the pressure of his court. On February 9, Elisabeth arrived at
Kraków and was met by Casimir and his mother
Sophia of Halshany. The next day, 18-year-old Elisabeth married 27-year-old Casimir and was crowned
Queen of Poland. Their 38-year marriage was happy and Elisabeth, despite frequent pregnancies, accompanied her husband on almost all travels, including about thirty visits to the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They would separate infrequently and for short periods of time when Casimir lived in war camps. Their first child,
Vladislaus II, was born on 1 March 1456—two years after the wedding. She gave birth to seven children in ten years. The children received extensive education, which was credited to Elisabeth by
Marcin Kromer. Their tutors included Polish priest
Jan Długosz and Italian humanist
Filippo Buonaccorsi. Queen Elisabeth had an influence on her husband Casimir, but she did not play a more active role in politics. Instead, Elisabeth was very actively involved in arranging her daughters' marriages. Her influence was particularly evident during the negotiations for the marriage of her daughter
Hedwig to
George, Duke of Bavaria in December 1474. When Elisabeth's demands exceeded the authority of Bavarian envoys, instead of sending the envoys back to discuss the demands with the Duke of Bavaria, Elisabeth took the responsibility for her demands and wrote a letter to the Duke asking him not to punish the envoys. Elisabeth did not arrange her sons' marriages and none of her sons under her influence married young:
Casimir (died at age 26) and
John Albert (died at age 41) never married, while
Sigismund married at 47. Only
Alexander, who lived in Lithuania, and
Vladislaus, who lived in Bohemia, married while Elisabeth was alive.
Struggle for Hungary and Bohemia After the 1457 death of Elisabeth's childless brother, King
Ladislaus the Posthumous, she and her family started to advance their claims to the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary. The Poles argued that since Elisabeth's dowry was unpaid, she was entitled to the Hungarian and Bohemian lands. However, the
Golden Bull of 1356 did not recognize women's inheritance rights and Hungarian and Bohemian nobles considered their monarchy to be
elective, not hereditary. Therefore, they elected
Matthias Corvinus and
George of Poděbrady. Since Poland was engaged in the
Thirteen Years' War (1454–66), King Casimir could not enforce Elisabeth's claims. However, that did not stop political measures. In 1466, Bishop
Rudolf of Rüdesheim informed Elisabeth that
Pope Paul II considered George of Poděbrady to be a heretic and Elisabeth a rightful heir to the throne of Bohemia. When Matthias Corvinus proposed to Elisabeth's daughter
Hedwig in 1468, Elisabeth angrily refused and called Corvinus a 'dog'. A new chapter in Elisabeth's struggle for her inheritance began with the death of Poděbrady in 1471, Elisabeth's son
Vladislaus II became King of Bohemia. At the same time a group of Catholic Bohemian nobles supported Corvinus instead of Vladislaus II. In turn, a group of Hungarian nobles conspired against Corvinus and invited the Polish king to overthrow him. With Bohemia in Vladislaus' hands, King Casimir IV decided to install his son, future
Saint Casimir, in Hungary. A Polish army invaded Hungary, but the army was ill-supplied and the short Hungarian campaign was not successful. The
war in Bohemia continued until the
Peace of Olomouc divided Bohemia between Corvinus and Vladislaus II. After the death of Corvinus in April 1490, Casimir and Elisabeth supported their son
John I Albert as King of Hungary. Hungarian nobles preferred ineffectual Vladislaus II. After Elisabeth's pleas on behalf of John Albert, who reportedly was her favorite, failed to persuade Vladislaus II to abandon the Hungarian crown, a war erupted between the two brothers in June 1490 and lasted until January 1492. John Albert lost and returned to Poland, while Vladislaus II was crowned as King of Hungary. At last, Elisabeth's son ruled both Hungary and Bohemia, except that it was not the son she desired. Hungary and Bohemia were ruled by Vladislaus and his son
Louis II of Hungary until 1526. ==Queen mother==