r.

At last Elizabeth went to live with her uncle, the Bishop of Bamberg,
who treated her with the utmost kindness. She had been obliged to send
her children away in the bitter winter that she had been through, and
soon she was obliged to leave the Bishop's protection, for he desired
her to marry again, and this she refused to do. She went to live in a
cottage and took with her two of her former waiting women who
accompanied her all through the hardships she had suffered, and she
busied herself with caring for the sick and giving alms from the small
amount of money that was allowed for her support.

At this time Elizabeth came under the influence of a priest and a
religious enthusiast called Master Conrad, previously known to her, who
was an ardent, though a narrow-minded believer in the Catholic faith;
and Conrad encouraged her in the severe rites of self-denial that she
practised. At times he punished her with the lash and at last he
brought her completely under the domination of his will. But she
yielded so readily to all penances and voluntary inflictions of
sufferings that even this fanatical zealot was compelled to restrain
her, for Elizabeth desired constantly to do more than he suggested or
wished. At last, with her two waiting women, Elizabeth became a member
of the Third Order of Saint Francis, renounced her family and children,
and spent all her time in caring for the sick and visiting the
afflicted.

She ate almost nothing, and her strength soon gave way under the
privations that she endured. Although she was only twenty-four years
old, she had suffered so greatly that her vitality was sapped and she
had not long to live. She died on November 19, 1231, and Master Conrad
himself soon followed her to the grave.

Elizabeth had not wasted herself in vain, in spite of the fanatical
zeal of her belief and the needless sufferings that she inflicted upon
herself. For years she had cared for nine hundred poor folk every day,
and she had founded a hospital of twenty-eight beds that she visited
daily. She had encouraged her husband in kindness and generous
government, and she saved countless lives in the winter when she
herself sat on the throne of Thuringia.

After her death the zealous Conrad set about collecting proofs of the
miracles that had happened in connection with her, to submit them to
the Pope, who might declare her to be a Saint. Further proofs were
forthcoming even after she had died, for when pilgr