Elizabeth of Bavaria (Queen of Sicily)

Elizaveta von Wittelsbach was born in 1227 in Trausnitz Castle, in Landshut. She was the eldest daughter in the family of Otto II the Most Serene (1206-1253), the Duke of Bavaria and the Palatine Count of the Rhine from the Wittelsbach family, and Agnes of Pfalz (1201-1267), the daughter of Heinrich of Brunswick from the Welf family.

On September 1, 1246, she was married in Wobourg to Conrad Hohenstaufen , Duke of Swabia and King of Jerusalem, and later to the German Emperor and King of Sicily. This marriage contributed to the strengthening of the union between the clans of the Wittelsbachs and the Hohenstaufen. In 1254, Elizabeth of Bavaria became a widow.

Four years after the death of her first husband, she married, for the second time, Meinhard II , Count of Gorizia and Tyrol, the Duke of Carinthia and Krajina.

In 1268, in Naples, after losing the battle of Tallacozzo, Conradin , her only son from her first marriage, was beheaded. In memory of him in 1272, she founded the Abbey of Strams, in Tyrol, which commissioned the care of Cistercian monks. Together with her husband, Elizabeth of Bavaria lived the last years of her life and was buried in this monastery. She died on October 9, 1273. Meinhard II von Kernten outlived his wife by almost twenty years.

The youngest daughter of Elizabeth of Bavaria in the second marriage, Elizabeth of Carinthia, married the Duke of Albrecht I of Austria , who later became king of Germany. Her eldest son, Albrecht II, died before his father, whose successor was Otto III . After the death of the latter, the only surviving son of Elizabeth of Bavaria, Henry VI , king of Bohemia, became the earl of Gorizia and Tirol and duke of Carinthia. In 1335, according to his will, he was buried with his parents in the Shtams Abbey.

From two marriages, Elizabeth of Bavaria gave birth to seven children.

From her first marriage with Conrad IV of Germany, she gave birth to a son of Conradin (1252-1268), King of Jerusalem, King of Sicily and Duke of Swabia, the last legitimate representative of the Hohenstaufen family.

From her second marriage with Meinhard II of Tyrol, she had four sons and two daughters:

• Albrecht II (d. 1292), Earl of Tyrol;
• Agnessa (died 1293), married Frederick I of Meissen ;
• Elizabeth (1262-1313), married Albrecht I of Austria ;
• Otto III (c. 1265-1310), Count of Gorizia and Tyrol, Duke of Carinthia and Krajina;
• Henry VI (c. 1270–1335), Duke of Carinthia and Krajna, Count of Tyrol, King of Bohemia;
• Ludwig (d. 1305).

• Miroslav Marek. On the Genealogy.EU website, a listing of descendants of the Wittelsbach family
• Elke Goez. Elisabeth von Bayern, Gemahlin Konrads IV. und Meinhardts II. von Görz-Tirol. Gesellschaft für staufische Geschichte. Göppingen, 2006. ISBN 3-929776-16-2 (German)
• Marita A. Panzer. Wittelsbacherinnen. Fürstentöchter einer europäischen Dynastie. Regensburg, 2012. ISBN 978-3-7917-2419-5 (it.)