Individual Details

Barbara von Celje

(Abt 1390 - 11 Jul 1451)

Barbara was born between 1390 and 1395, the daughter of Herman II, Graf von Celje, and Gräfin Anna von Schaunberg. In 1408 she became the second wife of emperor-elect Sigismund, king of Hungary. In 1409 they had a daughter Elisabeth who would have progeny. This did not stop Enea Silvio Piccolomini from describing Barbara as a heretic and 'another Mesalina' (a crude and unfair allusion to Valeria Mesalina, the dissolute third wife of Emperor Claudius of Rome) and condemning her relaxed lifestyle, which was already adjusted to the Renaissance atmosphere. However, Enea Silvio could not be objective towards the Celje family and his reports cannot be taken as reliable. One of her hobbies was alchemy, which was extremely unusual for a woman in those days. After the death of her husband in 1437 she moved to Bohemia; she died in 1451.

Source: Leo van de Pas

Events

BirthAbt 1390
Marriage1408Sigmund Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire King of Bohemia and Hungary
Death11 Jul 1451

Families