Barbara of Cilli

From Freepedia

Barbara of Cilli (Slovenian Barbara Celjska) or Barbara of Celje (about 1390/1395 - 11 July 1451) was the daughter of Hermann II, Count of Celje and his wife Anna von Schaunberg. She was thus a Slovenian noblewoman of high, but not royal, rank.

In 1408 she married Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437), Elector of Brandenburg 1376-1415, German King 1410-1437, King of Hungary 1387-1437, King of Bohemia 1419-1437, and Holy Roman Emperor 1433-1437.

Her cousin Anna of Celje had 1402 married King Vladislav Jagello of Lithuania and Poland, another widower of the Angevin sisters (Jadwiga of Poland). Sigismund, widower of Mary I of Hungary, followed and wed from the same family. Barbara's father was Count Herman II of Celje, whose parents were the Slovenian ruler Count Herman I of Celje and Catherine of Bosnia (who apparently descended also from Nemanjic kings of Serbia and from Catherine of Hungary, a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary). She was to strengthen Sigismund's grip to the restless Hungary.

She gave birth to a daughter, Elisabeth, who married Albrecht of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria. Barbara lived to see her three grandchildren, Anna, Elisabeth and Ladislas. She is one of the ancestresses of modern European royal families, her blood flowing in the veins of most of today's dynasties.