Ludwig IV of Thuringia
Louis of Thuringia ( (
28 October 1200,
Creuzburg –
11 September 1227,
Otranto), Landgrave of
Thuringia in 1217-1227.
He was a son of
Landgrave Hermann, and Duchess Sophia, daughter of
Otto de Wittlesbach,
Duke of Bavaria, ascended to the throne at the age of 16 upon his father's death in
1216. In
1218, at age 18, on the Feast of St.
Kilian, he was armed as a knight in the Church of St. George in
Eisenach.
Louis was married at age 20, to
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Age 13, Duchess of Thuringia and
Hesse, in Anno Domini
1220 in the Court of Wartburg. He set up court in
Eisenach, NW of
Frankfurt, in Thuringia. He was inspired by the
Third Crusade of
Richard the Lion- Hearted, some 40 years prior to his embarking on a Crusade, after being inspired by the tales of his Uncle, who had been to the
Levant with the Holy Roman Emperor.
Louis embarked on a journey to the
Holy Land with five counts, Louis de Wartburg, Gunther de Kefernberg, Meinrad de Muhlberg, Henry de Stolberg and Burkhard de Brandenberg.
In August of
1227 Louis transversed the mountains between Thuringia and
Upper Franconia, through
Swabia and
Bavaria, crossing the
Tyrolian Alps. He caught fever after reaching
Brindisi and
Otranto. He received Extreme Unction from the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Bishop of Sante Croce. He died on
September 11,
1227. He wife, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, would also die early some years later, at the age of 24, after establishing the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Eisenach.
He and Elisabeth of Hungary had the following children:#
Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia (1222 –1241/42).#
Sophie of Thuringia (
30 March 1224 –
29 May 1275).# Gertrud (1227 – 1297), Abbess at
Altenberg near
Wetzlar.
