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Saint Elizabeth's Three Crowns
This new story in the Vision Books series of saints for 9 - 15 year olds is aobut Saint Elizabeth of Hungary who spent her life differently than most saints. Instead of living in poverty like St. Francis of Assisi, she lived most of her life in a castle surrounded by incredible wealth. She was born Princess Elizabeth of Hungary, the daughter of King Andrew. By the age of four she was already engaged to be married and was sent far away from her home to live with Louis, her husband-to-be, who was only 10 years old. From the beginning of her life in her new castle, Elizabeth was ridiculed by all of those people who were jealous of her. They noticed that she was always trying to be holy. As she would play games with other children, she would contrive little ways to sneak into the chapel and have a visit with Jesus. Although Elizabeth was a princess, she longed to live the kind of poverty she heard about through the Franciscans. She became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and she constantly gave her jewels and best clothes to the poor. Sometimes she gave everything away and had nothing nice to wear, but Jesus always provided for her at the last minute. When she emptied the castle store-houses of grain for the poor, Jesus would miraculously fill them up again. Her subjects were never able to grow accustomed to the queen who lived the life of a saint, but they always appreciated her generosity and saw in her such simplicity and holiness. Only four years after her death she was canonized a saint.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 13, 2021
It has been years since I read this little book, and I fell in love with it all over again. I love the Ignatius children’s Saints books for their simplicity, yet careful attention to detail and historical accuracy. It’s an easy read, but by no means dumbed down for older audiences.
Elizabeth was Princess of Hungary, only a toddler when sent to Thunguria (in present-day Germany) to meet her future husband, Louis. She had many hardships from a young age. Her mother back in Hungary was assassinated, she was mocked and belittled by the palace staff and even her own playmates for her precocious behavior and holiness, and her future father-in-law was excommunicated, which meant the whole castle was deprived of a priest and the sacraments.
As she grew older, the court fought with the Queen of Thunguria to send Elizabeth back to her home country. But the Queen and Elizabeth’s loyal fiancée Louis was always there to protect her and defend her honor. They were married when Elizabeth was only twelve. (And though this is not in the book, because it IS a children’s book after all, I do want to mention one of my favorite details of Louis and Elizabeth’s relationship. Some of the nobles of the court encouraged Louis to take a mistress, as was customary during that time. Even sending strange women to his chambers to tempt him. He sent them all away, and gave them money so they would not have to resort to prostitution to support their families. He said that even if it wasn’t a sin to commit adultery, he would never do it because he could never hurt Elizabeth 🥺)
Even as a teenager, she displayed unusual levels of holiness, despite being trapped in the frivolities and occasions for sin that were rampant among the royalty of medieval Europe. There were even multiple documented miracles attributed to her, while she was still in her teenage years.
While she was in her early twenties, her beloved husband was called to fight in the crusades, and died overseas. She was left to support her three children, one of them being a newborn.
What happens next, you may ask? Well I highly recommend you read this book to find out! 😉 Beautifully written and easy to understand, it is a wonderful bedside book, or a story to read aloud to children
Elizabeth was Princess of Hungary, only a toddler when sent to Thunguria (in present-day Germany) to meet her future husband, Louis. She had many hardships from a young age. Her mother back in Hungary was assassinated, she was mocked and belittled by the palace staff and even her own playmates for her precocious behavior and holiness, and her future father-in-law was excommunicated, which meant the whole castle was deprived of a priest and the sacraments.
As she grew older, the court fought with the Queen of Thunguria to send Elizabeth back to her home country. But the Queen and Elizabeth’s loyal fiancée Louis was always there to protect her and defend her honor. They were married when Elizabeth was only twelve. (And though this is not in the book, because it IS a children’s book after all, I do want to mention one of my favorite details of Louis and Elizabeth’s relationship. Some of the nobles of the court encouraged Louis to take a mistress, as was customary during that time. Even sending strange women to his chambers to tempt him. He sent them all away, and gave them money so they would not have to resort to prostitution to support their families. He said that even if it wasn’t a sin to commit adultery, he would never do it because he could never hurt Elizabeth 🥺)
Even as a teenager, she displayed unusual levels of holiness, despite being trapped in the frivolities and occasions for sin that were rampant among the royalty of medieval Europe. There were even multiple documented miracles attributed to her, while she was still in her teenage years.
While she was in her early twenties, her beloved husband was called to fight in the crusades, and died overseas. She was left to support her three children, one of them being a newborn.
What happens next, you may ask? Well I highly recommend you read this book to find out! 😉 Beautifully written and easy to understand, it is a wonderful bedside book, or a story to read aloud to children
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2009
It was better than okay for a religious book to read. It was super easy, but I'm not crazy religious so it didn't hold my interest.
June 27, 2019
An inspiring, beautiful story of an incredible saint. I've loved this one since I was eight or nine years old.
December 28, 2019
Well-written, interesting story of an inspiring woman. Frustrating how the Catholics appropriated this woman though--way too many Catholic references throughout, including "Holy Mother" talk. Too bad the Protestants can't claim her. She probably "rolled over in her grave" to see that they "sainted" her and people would pray to her instead of her beloved Christ. Also wished for more info and censure of Master Conrad.
March 27, 2021
An absolutely beautiful story of a little princess and her journey through life to become a saint. She is one of the first that I have read that believed all people are equal and she saw Christ’s face in the poor. Wonderful to know so many future saints came down from her bloodline.
March 7, 2024
It's very well written. It gave insight to life in the Middle Ages. I felt empathy towards Saint Elizabeth, but I also understood the thoughts of those around her. At times, I was even conflicted with her heavenly duty versus her royal duty.
December 14, 2021
This new story in the Vision Books series of saints for 9 - 15 year olds is aobut Saint Elizabeth of Hungary who spent her life differently than most saints. Instead of living in poverty like St. Francis of Assisi, she lived most of her life in a castle surrounded by incredible wealth. She was born Princess Elizabeth of Hungary, the daughter of King Andrew. By the age of four she was already engaged to be married and was sent far away from her home to live with Louis, her husband-to-be, who was only 10 years old. From the beginning of her life in her new castle, Elizabeth was ridiculed by all of those people who were jealous of her. They noticed that she was always trying to be holy. As she would play games with other children, she would contrive little ways to sneak into the chapel and have a visit with Jesus. Although Elizabeth was a princess, she longed to live the kind of poverty she heard about through the Franciscans. She became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and she constantly gave her jewels and best clothes to the poor. Sometimes she gave everything away and had nothing nice to wear, but Jesus always provided for her at the last minute. When she emptied the castle store-houses of grain for the poor, Jesus would miraculously fill them up again. Her subjects were never able to grow accustomed to the queen who lived the life of a saint, but they always appreciated her generosity and saw in her such simplicity and holiness. Only four years after her death she was canonized a saint.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews