A European Saint?

The 800th birthday of Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia is being celebrated in Germany.

Glass window: Elizabeth attends to a sick man, c.1320

Among the commemorations are a State Exhibition with 500 objects, a musical "Elizabeth - the Fatal Dream of Love", an art project with seven life sculptures for the seven contemporary works of mercy and more.  But who was this medieval saint that is patron of hospitals, homeless and widows? And why is she of interest 800 years down the road?

Elisabeth, the short story
Elisabeth was a Hungarian princess born in 1207. Already at the age of four she was sent to Thuringia in Central Germany to prepare for her life with her future husband Ludwig IV. When she turned 14, she was married and the apparently happy marriage bore three children.

In 1223, Franciscan monks arrived at the court and Elisabeth began to live according to their ideals. Another important influence is the Conrad von Marburg, who becomes her religious advisor and imposes on Elisabeth a life of strict penance.

While her husband is away in 1226, Elisabeth deals with floods, famine and plague by distributing food and clothes to the poor. Below the Wartburg Castle, she builds a hospice and visits the sick daily.

The following year her husband Ludwig dies in Italy on his way to join a crusade. After some differences of opinion regarding dowry and other matters, Elisabeth takes leave of the court at Wartburg and moves to her uncle Eckbert, the bishop of Bamberg.

Her advisor Conrad follows her, and she follows her pledges to live in celibacy and according to his ways with harsh punishments such as physical beatings and separation form her children. Elisabeth devotes her life to prayers and caring for the sick and poor, and opens a hospice in Marburg for the sick and aged poor, living in much the same manner as them. She dies in 1231 at the early age of 24, perhaps hastened by the religious fervour and self-mortification inflicted on her by Conrad.

Elisabeth becomes a saint
There are many legends dedicated to Elisabeth, the most well known is the one where she gives bread to the poor in secret. When her husband asks her what is in her pouch, she opens it and the bread turns into roses. Caring for the sick, young and poor is what she is particularly remembered for.

Pope Gregory IX canonized her in 1235 and her body was laid in a golden shrine that can still be seen in the Elisabeth Church in Marburg. Pilgrimages to her grave were popular in the 14th and 15th centuries, but as her popularity dwindled among the poor and sick, she became popular amongst the German aristocrats. One of her descendents Philip I removed the crowned agate chalice upon which her head rested in 1539, later returning it. Today the chalice is on display in Stockholm, after having been stolen by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War. Her bones are also scattered in all directions with her skull in Vienna, some bones are at the shrine in Marburg and so on.

Why is she a saint?
Elisabeth's importance is not her influence of the worldly rulers or church as many of the men and women who have been canonized by the Vatican. Her influence is rather on her choice of life, choosing a mission of charity amongst the poor and downtrodden rather than riches and status. There seems to be a shift today from her charitable qualities to her qualities as a young woman who left everything behind to sacrifice her life for love: first the reciprocal relation with her husband, later her faith in her mission.(ref.1)

A European saint?
One hundred years ago, Saint Elisabeth's 700th anniversary was celebrated all over Germany, and it looks as if she will be marked extensively on her 800th anniversary. The organizers have given her the extra name "A European Saint". This may be a bit of an overstatement, as her travels compared to other saints are quite limited. She was born in Hungary, but lived from the age of four to her death twenty years later in Thuringia and Hessen, Germany. Calling her a European saint may be putting it too strongly, but perhaps it is a way to generate an interest outside Germany and Hungary and stressing her European qualities of faith and charity.

Celebrating saints, a contradiction in terms?
Recent and upcoming celebrations of medieval saints such as St. Boniface in 2006 give rise to reflect over what these saints mean. Are these commemorations the beginning of a religious awakening in Germany and Europe? Is there a thirst for rituals and traditions that these saints can satisfy? If this is the case, this certainly clashes with many both right and left wing politicians who want religion removed from the public sphere, most markedly in France, but also in Denmark and elsewhere.

With regards to Saint Elizabeth the protestant and catholic churches are collaborating on several of the celebrations. Yet one cannot help wondering how people of this time and age can celebrate relics and saints? How can one celebrate someone as a saint when she neglected her children and followed a fanatic? In a sense she reminds one of modern idealists who go to great efforts to help the needy in Africa, but forget their obligations to their own family and local community.  Aren't the real saints those who get up every single morning, first going to bed once the kids, family, community and work have been dealt with in a caring way?  Moreover without making a big fuss over it, but shouldering life's many responsilities. 

Fortunately, it looks as if many of the activities and exhibitions won't just dwell on the legendry surrounding Elisabeth and the veneration for her, but scrutinize art, tools, and values back then and today.

Reference of Information
1) §10 in Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, 1207-2007 by Michel Aaij in The Heroic Age, A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, Issue 10 (May 2007)

Related Information
Travelling exhibition in Germany and Hungary Exhibition in Wartburg, Eisenach
Elizabeth of Thuringia, website of the cultural theme of Erfurt 2007
"My Elisabeth", a contemporary expression of personal dedication 800 Jahre Elisabeth von Thüringen