Queen Euphrosyne and Princess Elizabeth: Hospitaller consorores or donate in the 12th century?

Abstract

The study examines the chronology of the settlement of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John in Hungary and Central Europe, and render the events a new context, partly through the re-interpretation of charter materials and narrative sources. A characteristic feature of Central Europe is that the members of the dynasty played a significant, sometimes decisive role in the establishment (Hospitallers) and foundation (Stephanites) of hospitaller orders, in contrast to Western Europe, where the establishment and consolidation of a monastic community was mainly ensured by private donations. In the Kingdom of Hungary, the wife of King Géza II, Queen Euphrosyne of Kievan origin, and their daughter, Princess Elisabeth, along with her husband Prince Frederick, played an important role in the early support of the Hospitallers in the Czech lands. The conclusion of the study, partly through a correction of the chronology of the Annales Posonienses, is that Euphrosyne made her major donation around 1176, and following it she took the habit of the Order as a consoror or donat, and she spent her last years in one of its monasteries.