Barbara of Celje
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Barbara of Celje (Slovenian Barbara Celjska) or Barbara of Cilli (about 1390/1395 - 11 July 1451) was Holy Roman Empress. She received the sobriquet Messalina of Germany.
She was the daughter of Herman II, Count of Celje and his wife Anna von Schaunberg. Herman II was the son of Count Herman I of Celje and Princess Katarina Kotromanic of Bosnia, who was the older sister of Elisabeth of Bosnia (Kotromanic), the wife of Louis I the Great of Hungary. Elizabeth and Louis were the parents of Mary I of Hungary who married Sigismund of Luxemburg and Jadwiga of Poland who married Jagiello of Lithuania. Anna was the daughter of Heinrich III Von Schaunberg and Ursula von Gorz.
In 1408 Barbara, a relative of deceased legal Arpad ruler Mary I of Hungary, was married to Mary's widower and former co-ruler 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.
Barbara's cousin, and adopted sister, Anna of Celje had 1402 married King Vladislav Jagello of Lithuania and Poland, another widower of the Angevin sisters (Jadwiga of Poland). The elderly Sigismund, widower of Mary I of Hungary, followed suit 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 Arpad throne.
She gave birth to a daughter, Elisabeth, Sigismund's only surviving issue and heiress, 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.
Barbara's father Hermann II, as the father-in-law of both feuding Sigismund and Jagiello, played a crucial role in the 1410 pre-battle of Tannenberg politics by helping prevent Sigismund, who was in alliance with the Teutonic Knights, to attack Jagiello. Jagiello and his Slavic Allies defeated Teutonic Knights who led the combatants provided by 22 western states, including the Pope.
Genetics
Barbara of Celje is a direct matrilineal ancestor of Nicholas II of Russia. Provided the genealogy is correct, this implies that she and all her matrilineal relatives were members of mitochondrial haplogroup Haplogroup T. This includes her many female-line descendants among European nobility. Barbara's most maternal recorded ancestor is Adelheid Von Alpeck who died in 1280, daughter of Witegow Von Alpeck.External link
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