The Memoirs of Helene Kottanner (1439-1440)Eye-witness account of the theft of the crown of St Stephen in 15c Hungary. Helene Kottanner was servant and confidante of the widowed Queen Elizabeth of Hungary (1409-1442). This is her first-person account of the part she played in the theft of the holy crown of St Stephen from the treasury of the royalstronghold Visegrad on 20 February, 1440, when the crown was smuggled out of the stronghold hidden in a pillow. It was immediately rushed on a sled to the queen, who within hours of its arrival at her castle in Komorn was delivered of a baby boy, Ladislaus Posthumous (1440-1457), who was crowned king of Hungary three months later. Helene Kottanner's account is unconsciously revealing about herself and her ambitions, allowing a rare glimpse into the innerworld of a late-medieval woman. |
Common terms and phrases
Archbishop of Gran audience Austrian autobiography birth carried castellan child Count Ulrich Cillei court cousin cradle Croatia crowned king Danube daughter death Denkwürdigkeiten der Helene door dreams Duke Albert Emperor Sigmund female Fügedi German gracious lady happened Helene Kottanner Helene Kottanner's History of Hungary Holy Crown Hungarian lords Hungarian magnates Hunyadi husband Indiana Univ insignia János János Hunyadi King Ladislaus King of Hungary King of Poland kingdom of Hungary Komorn Königtum Kottanner's Memoirs ladies-in-waiting Ladislaus Garai Ladislaus Posthumous Ladislaus's late-medieval Lord Ladislaus Lord of Freistadt Margery Kempe Matkó Matthias Medieval Women mid-wife Mollay narrative narrator narrator's Natalie Zemon Davis night noble lady noble queen Ödenburg Ofen Österreichische Pelóczi Pentecost Plintenburg stronghold Polish king Polish Wladislaus political Pressburg Queen Elizabeth Raab Renaissance rode royal family Saint seals servant soldiers stay story Stuhlweissenburg throne Thuróczy took the Holy treasure vault Vienna wanted woman writing young king