Originally raised in the
Lutheran faith, in 1610 she converted to the
Catholicism, together with her whole family. On 13 July 1617 her father, Adam Wenceslaus, died and was succeeded by his only surviving son,
Frederick William. On 23 April 1618 Elizabeth Lucretia was married against her will with the also ex-Lutheran
Gundakar of Liechtenstein, a widower almost twenty years her senior. Gundakar was a younger brother of
Karl I, Duke of
Opava (Troppau) and
Krnov (Jägerndorf), one of the members of the Regency council who ruled the Duchy of Cieszyn during Frederick William's absence; however, this arrangement was short-lived, and the
de facto rule was held by Elizabeth Lucretia, even after Frederick William returned to Cieszyn and assumed the effective government in 1624, because the Duke almost immediately after his return made a trip with the
Emperor to the
Dutch Republic. During this journey, Frederick William became suddenly ill and died on 19 August 1625 in
Cologne, unmarried and without legitimate issue. Initially, Emperor
Ferdinand II tried to join Cieszyn to his domains, using his rights as
King of Bohemia; but the end, he accepted Elizabeth Lucretia as reigning Duchess, by right of the Privilege granted by King
Vladislaus II of Bohemia to
Duke Casimir II of Cieszyn in 1498, under which was secured the female succession over Cieszyn until the fourth generation. During her reign, Cieszyn passed through one of the most difficult periods in his history. It was the
Thirty Years' War, during which Cieszyn was regularly plundered by foreign forces (during 1626–27 by
Danish troops of
Ernst von Mansfeld, during 1642–43 and 1645–47 by
Swedish troops under the commands of Colonel Rochowa and General
Königsmarck, respectively), both in terms of infrastructure and finances. In addition
plague and
hunger also affected the Duchy and many citizens died. Eventually, this led to Cieszyn being economically and demographically destroyed for the next 100 years. Elizabeth Lucretia's life was seriously threatened on several occasions: for example, in 1642, when she had to find refuge in
Jablunkov and in 1645, when she escaped to
Kęty, after the Swedish forces took the capital (which capitulated only in 1646). Only the
Peace of Westphalia on 24 October 1648 finally established the peace in her domains. The marriage of the Duchess with
Gundakar of Liechtenstein proved to be unsuccessful, despite the fact that they had three children together. In 1626 they were formally separated, and remained in this way until her death. Elizabeth Lucretia died on 19 May 1653, and was buried in the Ducal crypt in the
Dominican church in
Cieszyn. ==Children==