Elisabeth of Namur
Countess Elisabeth von Namur (* around 1330 ; † March 29, 1382 in Heidelberg ) was Princess of Namur from the Dampierre family and, by marriage, Electress of the Palatinate .
Life
Countess Elisabeth was born as the youngest daughter of Count John I of Flanders and Namur from the Dampierre family († 1330) and his wife Countess Marie von Artois, daughter of Count Philippe d'Artois . Through both parents, the princess was a descendant of French kings from the Capetian dynasty , whose side branch she descended from Artois .
In 1350 Elisabeth of Namur married the Wittelsbach Count Palatine and later Elector (1356) Ruprecht I of the Palatinate .
Her husband is considered one of the most important German princes of his time, he was very respected, of great political skill, educated and religious. The general German biography characterizes the ruler as follows:
“Even among his contemporaries, Rupprecht I was in high regard, outwardly he was a figure that commanded respect, a chivalrous appearance. With ruthless activity he was considered a mild, benevolent gentleman, a patron of the church and the priesthood, a friend of widows and orphans. The Jews, whose financial power he knew how to make excellent use of, honored in him a just, humane protector. "
Ruprecht I obtained the electoral dignity for the Palatinate and founded a. a. the University of Heidelberg named after him and, as a memorial from his family, the collegiate monastery at Neustadt an der Weinstrasse .
In 1370, 62 sermons by the Franciscan Berthold von Regensburg were recorded for the ruling couple, and a valuable parchment manuscript was made for them with the biography of St. Elisabeth, the name of the Electress. Electress Elisabeth von Namur was a great benefactress of the Heidelberg Franciscans, whose monastery she gave and enlarged around 1375.
The marriage of the electoral couple remained childless.
In her will, made two months before her death, Elisabeth von Namur wished to be buried “in front of the front altar” in the Franciscan Church in Heidelberg . In addition to generous foundations for charitable purposes, she had an additional eternal light over her grave "in front of our Lord Lichnam" , i.e. in front of the tabernacle, which, according to Nathalie Kruppa in her work "Adelige, Stifter, Mönche" (2007), indicates a pronounced eucharistic piety of the Princess closes. It also says there that Elisabeth's testamentary orders were added “to the image of a funeral consciously aligned with the religious ideas of the Franciscans and committed to these ideals in permanent memory ...” In addition, the princess also gave her servants in her testamentary gifts of no small size, one for them Certainly extraordinary behavior at the time. Elizabeth of Namur performs a long litany of her servants, apparently anxious, yes, not to forget anyone. The names are mentioned in a very confidential tone, such as: "20 gulden the old Else, 10 gulden small Gredeln, 10 gulden Heintzel the chamber boy, 20 gulden Hensel the wagon servant ..." The affinity to the Franciscan order probably touched Elisabeth of Namur from her relationship with Louis of Toulouse , a well-known saint of this religious community; he was her grandfather's cousin.
Her husband Ruprecht I seems to have been religiously similar, because he was buried almost ten years later in the collegiate church in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse as a member of the 3rd order of St. Francis in simple Franciscan costume. There at the burial place of the husband and his second wife there is also an eternal mass foundation for Elisabeth of Namur.
Blanche von Namur , Queen of Sweden († 1363), was the elector's older sister.
literature
- Nathalie Kruppa: "Nobles - donors - monks: on the relationship between monasteries and medieval nobility" , Volume 227 of publications by the Max Planck Institute for History, 2007, ISBN 3525358865
- Lukas Grünenwald : Wittelbach monuments and annual memorials in the collegiate church to Neustadt ad H. In: Messages of the Historical Association of the Palatinate. Volume 19, 1895, pp. 129-169.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nathalie Kruppa: Adelige, Stifter, Mönche, 2007, page 285
- ↑ Source on the support of the Heidelberg Franciscan Monastery by the Electress
- ^ The complete will of Electress Elisabeth
- ↑ Source on the place of burial
- ↑ Source on the Electress's testamentary dispositions
- ↑ Source on testamentary gifts to the servants
- ↑ The servants given in the will
- ↑ Alban Haas , “From the Nuwenstat” , 2nd edition, 1964, page 59
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Elisabeth of Namur |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Elisabeth of Flanders and Namur |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Electress of the Palatinate, 1st wife of Elector Ruprecht I. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1330 |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 29, 1382 |
| Place of death | Heidelberg |