Christian Women of the Medieval Era – Part 39

St. Elizabeth of Portugal – Advocate for Peace

Introduction

Our journey through the Medieval Era with stories of Christian women who served in the kingdom of God has covered much of the 1000 years of the Middle Ages, from 500 AD to 1500 AD. From Genovefa (423 – 502) through Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) we have told the stories of God’s humble servants. There were queens, abbesses, nuns, Beguines, Franciscan sisters, writers, godly wives, mothers, empresses, social reformers, and many other women who served Christ. 

In these last few posts, we have emphasized how Godly families pass the faith on to their descendants. We saw how a godly mother – Blanche of Castile – raised saintly children – St. Louis and St. Isabelle. In our last post we discovered a woman who had a long line of saintly relatives – Elizabeth of Hungary. That line of godly Christian women would continue for many centuries and include Elizabeth’s great niece – Elizabeth of Portugal.

Elizabeth of Portugal – Peacemaker

“Blessed are the poor who live in an age when almsgiving and wage-giving have lovely legends for their authentication. These popular legends are the unofficial canonization of a saint by the poor whose instinct for sanctity is seldom misplaced. Such legends never grew round Don Diniz. — nor Henry VIII, nor another Queen Elizabeth.”^[1]

Elizabeth, or Isabel as she was known by her Spanish name, was born in 1271 at Saragossa, Spain. Elizabeth was named after her great aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the sister of her grandmother, Yolande. Elizabeth followed in her namesake’s footsteps giving food to the hungry and seeing to it that they were paid fair wages for their work. 

The two Elizabeth’s had more in common – both were married young, and both desired to follow in Jesus’s footsteps as they shared the gospel. Though wealthy they each gave as much of their wealth to the poor as they could. Both would join the Third Order of St. Francis in their later lives.

Elizabeth’s father was Don Pedro, son of Jayme the Conqueror, King of Aragon. Her mother was Constance, daughter of Manfred, the illegitimate son of Emperor Frederic II. Though Elizabeth’s great aunt Elizabeth of Hungary and grandmother were known for their piety and saintliness, neither of her grandfathers would ever achieve a reputation for holiness. Elizabeath had the illegitimate grandfather on one side and King Jayme on the other side who was a man of war and known for cruelty on the battlefield. 

In spite of her less than stellar grandfathers, it is a miracle of the grace of God that this saintly girl showed her devotion to God even when very young. She fasted and prayed regularly. Her father, who was more spiritual than her grandfathers, spoke of her as his angel. Don Pedro praised her for her constant meditation, reading of the bible, and faithful worship. Elizabeth also gave away a large portion of her allowance to the poor. Others said that even at an early age she carried herself like a princess and showed much wisdom and good sense. 

Elizabeth was barely twelve years old when she was married. As was typical of European royalty her marriage was a political move. Of course, she was not asked about whether or not she would be happy with her future husband. Her reputation as a beautiful, astute, and pious princess was well-known. King Edward I of England asked for her hand for his eldest son. The King of Naples also sought to marry her to his heir, Robert. Don Pedro was reluctant to part with his daughter whom he loved very much. Finally, he agreed to the proposal by the Portuguese King, Don Diniz. This turned out to be tragic for Elizabeth.

Don Diniz was constantly quarreling with everyone including his family. What a sorry lot Elizabeth married into. Her father-in-law repudiated his lawful wife and married the illegitimate daughter of the King of Castile. Diniz’s brother Alfonso III had been excommunicated by the Pope for resisting the bishops. Though Alfonso had the better claim to the throne, Diniz ruled. Elizabeth had all she could do to keep her faith and patience. 

Don Diniz proved to be an unfaithful husband. Elizabeth and Diniz had two children, but Diniz also had seven children with other women. Elizabeth had a daughter, Constance, born on January 3, 1290, and a son Alfonso who was born February 8, 1291. Constance later married King Ferdinand of Castile. 

Elizabeth is remembered the most as a peacemaker. She served as peacemaker between adversarial opponents some 12 times. Her efforts were aimed mostly at her own family who caused her the most personal pain and in reality, even financial loss. She was able to bring to pass many truces between political enemies as well.

It was when her son Alfonso was born that the first of many occasions occurred which would eventually win her the title Patroness of Peace. After the birth of their son Alfonso, Diniz and his brother Alfonso quarreled to the point of a civil war. Elizabeth called for an arbitration council of clergy and laity. The royal brothers rejected the terms of reconciliation, but Elizabeth persevered in her efforts. Caring more for peace than for her own desires, Elizabeth effected the truce between the brothers by giving away a good portion of her own possessions to Alfonso’s daughter.

Years later on another occasion in 1323, Elizabeth’s son Alfonso became jealous of one of his father’s illegitimate sons. King Alfonso had been showing the illegitimate son too much favoritism. Rival armies were gathered, and war was imminent until Elizabeth stepped forward. She counted no personal sacrifice too great in order to bring about peace. She even rode alone on mule-back between the two armies who were shooting arrows at each other. She was so focused on her mission of peace that she did not stop to think of the possible cost to herself. She had trust and faith in God that she was doing right. The battle was averted much to the praise and acclamation of the people.

Most of the people at Diniz’s court were as immoral as he was. Elizabeth was not tempted by any of their enticements. She remained true to her faith in God and her purpose to follow Christ. She continually gave to the poor with a humble attitude. She could have taken advantage of her status to live a luxurious life, but instead she used all of her influence to help those in need. In fact, she insisted that all of her ladies in waiting care for the poor too. Later her bishop testified that Elizabeth invited the lepers into the castle where she would bathe and clothe them herself, even though it was against the law for lepers to come into the castle. 

King Diniz died on January 6, 1325. Two days later, Elizabeth began to wear the clothes of a Poor Clare. She declared that now that she was a widow, she could fulfill a long-standing dream of following Christ in this way. She was not officially joining the order, but just following like those in the Third Order of Franciscans. In this way she could continue to control her wealth, which to her meant the ability to give most of it away.

She went on two pilgrimages to Compostella. On the first visit she went as a Queen and gave many gifts to the monastery. On the second visit she went on foot with only two maids and kept her identity a secret. During the famine of 1333 the saintly queen gave away so much money that the court counselors were becoming worried about their finances. Elizabeth merely called on them to trust Him Who feeds the birds of the air. 

It was during the end of her life that Elizabeth encountered the only unsuccessful quarrel that she had to deal with.  At the age of 65 this widowed, dying Queen left her bed to try and save two kings from their foolish quarrels. In 1336 war broke out between the Portuguese and the Castilians. The “Advocate of Peace” had failed to convince the two kings to reconcile. She was bitterly disappointed.

The next day, Monday the queen’s illness began to advance rapidly. She called for her chaplain and made her last confession. Three days later, with only her daughter-in-law in attendance, Elizabeth spoke her last words.

                        Maria Mater Gratiae,

                        Mater Misericordiae,

                        Tu nos ab hoste protégé

                        Et hora mortis suspice.

(Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, From the foe shield us, in the hour of death take us.)

On Thursday, July 4, 1336 Elizabeth went to meet her Savior – the Supreme Peacemaker. She was buried in the Convent Church at Santa Clara at Coimbra with her sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. Elizabeth was canonized on May 25, 1625. Her feast day is celebrated on the day of her death – July 4. 

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^[1] Fr. Vincent Mcnabb, O.P. St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Mediatrix Press, MMXV, reprinted in 2015 in the Kindle edition.) Location 101.