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 royal stronghold 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 inner world of a late-medieval woman.
Reviews
The important text [now] accessible to an English-language readership... lucid translation. YEAR'S WORK IN MODERN LANGUAGE STUDIES
Details
First Published: 16 Apr 1998
13 Digit ISBN: 9780859914628
Pages: 91
Size: 21.6 x 13.8
Binding: Paperback
Imprint: D.S.Brewer
Series:
Library of Medieval WomenSubject:
Medieval HistoryBIC Class: HBLC1
Details updated on 02 Sep 2010
