Viola of Teschen

Viola of Teschen
Queen consort of Bohemia and Poland
Tenure	1305–1306
Born	ca. 1291
Died	21 September 1317 (aged 26)? Bohemia, Czech Republic
Burial	Vyšší Brod Monastery
Spouse	Wenceslaus III of Bohemia Peter I of Rosenberg
House	House of Piast
Father	Mieszko I, Duke of Teschen
Mother	Grzymisława?

Viola of Teschen, later known as Elizabeth (Polish: Wiola Elżbieta cieszyńska, Czech: Viola Alžběta Těšínská) (ca. 1291 – 21 September 1317), was a Polish princess member of the House of Piast in the Cieszyn branch and by marriage Queen of Bohemia and Poland.

She was the third child and only daughter of Mieszko I, Duke of Teschen, by his unknown wife, probably called Grzymisława. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother Viola, wife of Duke Casimir I of Opole.

Viola married with young King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia and Poland on 5 October 1305 in Brno. The reasons for marriage are not too obvious: although later chroniclers describe how beautiful Viola was, her father Duke Mieszko I was only one of the vassals of King Wenceslaus III, and in consequence, this was an unequal union. The main reason wasn't her beauty but maybe the strategic position of Cieszyn between the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland. Four days after the wedding (9 October), Wenceslaus III annulled his long-time engagement to Elizabeth, daughter of King Andrew III of Hungary and with this renounced to all his claims over the Hungarian crown.

After her marriage, Viola took the name Elizabeth, but her union with the King wasn't completely happy because her husband's free lifestyle and the strong opposition of the Bohemian nobility, who had to prevent this "lower" union. Ten months later, on 4 August 1306, King Wenceslaus III was murdered in Olomouc under mysterious circumstances, leaving Viola as a fifteen-year-old widow. Maybe because of their youth, the union failed to produce an heir.

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