years old there took place another of the
crusades in which knights, nobles and common peasants set forth for the
Holy Land to make war against the heathen; and Elizabeth's father, the
King of Hungary, left his dominions to engage in the holy war. There
was grave doubt if he would ever return, and it seemed too as if his
throne might be wrested from him by rebellion in his absence; so many
of the noblemen and statesmen of Thuringia believed that the marriage
of Ludwig with Elizabeth would be unwise, since there might be no
benefit to be reaped from it on behalf of the State. The Landgravine
Sophia, we are told, was inclined to agree with them--all the more so
because the kind ruler, Herman, had lately died and Ludwig was now on
the throne of Thuringia, and could marry some great princess whose
country was not in the danger of civil war.

It is not known if the stories of the ill-treatment that was then
visited on the helpless little Elizabeth are true or not, but many
writers have told us that Sophia was determined by harshness and
unkindness to force Elizabeth to enter a convent so that her son would
be free to marry elsewhere. At all events, Ludwig heard of the plans to
break off his engagement, and angrily refused to listen to them,
declaring that he loved Elizabeth dearly and would marry her in spite
of every person and relative in his dominions. And when Elizabeth was
fourteen years old, she was married with great magnificence to Ludwig,
who was as handsome as he was honorable, and made a fitting husband for
the beautiful young girl who had already become famous for her great
piety and her charitable deeds.

The marriage was ideally happy, for the young couple was passionately
attached, and Ludwig encouraged his wife in her pious and kindly
undertakings. He understood her so well and gave her such hearty
support in her dealings with the poor and her gifts of food, money and
clothing, that after his death he was often referred to as Saint
Ludwig, just as his wife was called Saint Elizabeth.

Ludwig, however, did not like to see his wife go poorly dressed, and
she wore splendid raiment to please him. Moreover, he disapproved of
her giving so much time and effort to her charity and her prayers that
she taxed her strength. She had to desist from many of her
undertakings, or perform them without his knowledge, when he feared
that her severe fasts and her long prayers were wearing out her health;
and Elizabeth would s