Elizabeth
Elizabeth was the wife of Louis I. After her husband's death, she served as regent to her eldest surviving daughter, Mary.
History
A marriage between Elizabeth and Louis I was arranged in 1353. The marriage required a papal dispensation as they were first cousins.
Reign
After Louis I died in 1382, the crown was contested between Charles II (as the senior Angevin male) and Mary. Mary was officially crowned as king while Elizabeth served as regent.
The Polish nobility demanded that their monarch live within Poland, effectively demanding that Elizabeth's second daughter Jadwiga inherit and be removed from her influence. During this interregnum, Władysław II consilidated power as an alternative candidate for the monarchy. In 1384 Elizabeth was forced to concede and Jadwiga was recognized as heir to Poland.
Sigismund invaded and occupied Bratislava seeking to enforce their marital contract. The marriage took place in Buda in October 1385, but he was neither granted a royal title nor given a place in Hungarian government. He departed Hungary thereafter.
Charles II held the duchal titles of Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia; once he was able to mobilize this powerbase, he quickly seized Buda in December 1385. Elizabeth had him assassinated in February, clearing the succession for Mary.
Croatian nobility continued to press for alternative Angevin claimants. This reached a high point in July 1386, with the capture and imprisonment of both Elizabeth and Mary by John Horvat, the ban of Macso. Sigismund intervened militarily, but Elizabeth was executed as his army approached Novigrad in January 1387. Her body was exhumed and moved to Szekesfehervar in 1390.
Legacy
While she could not preserve her husband's personal union of Hungary and Croatia with Poland, her daughters Mary and Jadwiga were the first female monarchs of the two kingdoms.
Sigismund became king of Hungary jure uxoris in 1387. Mary was quickly set aside from governmental powers. He and Mary left no daughters, ending both his Luxembourg dynasty and the Hungarian branch of the Angevin dynasty.