Frederick II, Count of Celje

Frederick II, Count of Celje
Frederick II, Count of Celje
Count of Celje, Zagorje and Ortenburg, Lord of the Slovene March; Prince of the Holy Roman Empire
	Frederick II, Count of Celje
Ban of Slavonia
Reign	1445 - 1454
Predecessor	Matko Talovac
Successor	Ulrich II, Count of Celje
Born	17 January 1379
Died	13 June 1454 (aged 75); Žovnek Castle
Noble family	House of Celje
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth of Frankapan, Veronika of Desenice
Issue	Ulrich II, Count of Celje
Father	Hermann II, Count of Cilli
Mother	Anna of Schaunberg

Frederick II (Slovene: Friderik II. Celjski; Croatian: Fridrik II. Celjski; German: Friedrich II Graf von Cilli) (17 January 1379 – 13 or 20 June 1454) was a Count of Celje and Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia.

Early life

Frederick was the son of Hermann II, Count of Celje and his wife Anna of Schaunberg.

Marriages

Frederick II married Elizabeth of Frankopan and after her death in 1422, Veronika of Desenice.^[1] The famous Eberhard Windbeck chronicle gives a detailed report on the circumstances of Elizabeth of Frankopan's death, which in the chronicle is described as murder and placed in the year 1424. He caused a stir when, in 1422, he allegedly murdered his first wife, Elisabeth of Frangepán, so that he could marry his lover, Veronika Dešnić. The Frangepáns brought charges against him to King Sigismund, who had him convicted and given him into custody by his father. His father imprisoned him in Obercilli Castle, and had Veronika strangled in Osterwitz Castle. His father also disowned him from his inheritance, but when his younger brother Hermann died suddenly in 1426, Frederick once again became the heir to the Cillei estate. He was soon pardoned, and at the end of 1426, his appointment as voivode of Transylvania was even discussed. From 1445 he held the title of Slavonian and from 1453 Croatian Ban.^[2]