Elizabeth was born as the daughter of
Stephen, lord of
Krk,
Modruš and
Senj in
Croatia, then a kingdom in
personal union with
Hungary. Her mother was
Catherine of Carrara, daughter of
Francesco, Lord of
Padua. As Stephen's only surviving child, she was "
promoted to son" by king
Charles II in 1386, and thus granted the right to inherit her father's domains. When she was two, she was betrothed to
Frederick, the firstborn son of Count
Hermann II of Celje, the powerful captain (governor) of
Carniola and cousin of Queen
Mary of Hungary, Charles's successor. Her father set aside a
dowery of 40.000 (or 32.000, according to other sources)
golden ducats, an enormous sum for the time. In addition, the dowry would include half of the island of Krk, the town of
Bakar and the nearby fortresses of
Trsat,
Bribir, and
Vinodol. The unusually large dowry can be explained as part of a settlement between Stephen, his brother Ivan (John), and Hermann of Celje on the division of Stephen's lands after his death. When Stephen's died in 1390, Elizabeth came under the tutelage of her uncle Ivan V of Frankopan, while her mother was forced into exile to the
Windic March, a stronghold of the Celje dynasty. The negotiations around Elizabeth's marriage thus became protracted, as it was clear that her uncle was trying to lower the promised sum, and keep more of his late brother's inheritance for himself. Finally, the initial sum of money was cut in half, but Elizabeth was to receive the estate of
Steničnjak in Slavonia, with the strategically important castle of
Skrad, instead. Elizabeth was married to the Celje scion around 1405, probably in one of the Celje estates in
Carniola. Count Hermann bestowed the young couple with the castles of
Samobor,
Kostanjevica,
Novo Mesto, Mehovo, and
Krško, where they set residence. == Troublesome marriage and death ==