Elisabeth von Rapperswil

Elisabeth von Rapperswil
Coats of arms, hydration shell of Countess Elisabeth, after 1300, Stadtmuseum Rapperswil
Born	(1261-01-01)1 January 1261 probably Rapperswil
Died	10 April 1309(1309-04-10) (aged 48) Rapperswil
Residence	Rapperswil Castle
Other names	Habsburg-Laufenburg, Elisabeth von; Homberg, Elisabeth von
Occupation	Countess of Grafschaft Rapperswil
Years active	1289–1309
Known for	Benefactress of the Rüti Abbey and the Oetenbach Nunnery and last Countess of the House of Rapperswil
Children	Cecilia and Wernher von Homberg by first marriage; Johann I, Rudolf, Ludwig and Clara by second marriage

Elisabeth von Rapperswil (also von Habsburg-Laufenburg, von Homberg, born around 1251 or 1261; † 1309 probably in Rapperswil) was the last countess of the House of Rapperswil, and secured by her second marriage the female line of the Counts of Rapperswil and the extensive possessions of Rapperswil in the former Zürichgau to the Laufenburg line. Her son by first marriage was Reichsvogt Wernher von Homberg, and her oldesst son by second marriage was Count Johann von Habsburg-Laufenburg who passed over the title of the count of Rapperswil to his oldest son Johann II and his brothers Rudolf and Gotfried.

Elisabeth von Rapperswil was born around 1251 or rather around 1261 AD presumably in the Rapperswil Castle in the medieval city of Rapperswil as the daughter of Mechthild von Neifen († 1267) and Rudolf III von Vaz (* around 1230; † 27 July 1262) whose mother Adelheid was a member of the House of Rapperswil. Rudolf called himself Count Rudolf IV von Rapperswil when the former count of the same name, Rudolf III von Rapperswil died in 1255. The noble pair had three children: Vincent died around 1260 at the age of three, Rudolf V (* 1265; † 15 January 1283) and Elisabeth.

Sealed in a document by her father at the Rapperswil Castle on 10 January 1261, Rudolf confirmed that all fiefdom given by the Einsiedeln Abbey outside Etzel, meaning beyond the mountain of the same name beginning on Obersee (Zürichsee) lake shore, descended to his daughter Elisabeth, the other lands to his wife Mechthild, excluded some feuds which namely were mentioned.

Elisabeth married Count Ludwig von Homberg († 27 April 1289) around 1276, concluded from a document dated 1 May 1276 that Rudolf von Rapperswil (probably Elisabeth's brother) granted the income of the pastor of the Spital Rapperswil that was given by her father. The document was sealed by Ludwig von Homberg, Elisabeth and an attestor. Their son, Wernher von Homberg (* 1284; † 21 March 1320 in Genoa) was between 1309 and 1320 Reichsvogt of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and their daughter Cecilia von Homberg (* probably before 1289; † after 1320) became the abbess of the Oetenbach Nunnery.