Veronika of Desenice

Who is Veronika of Desenice?

Veronika of Desenice was the second wife of Frederick II, Count of Celje. Little is known of her early life. It is believed the name Deseniška derives from the village of Desinić in Croatia, where Frederick also had extensive estates, and it appears in the forms Dessnitz, Dessenitz, Desnicze, Teschnitz, Teschenitz, and Dessewitz in various historical sources. Veronika was minor nobility and Frederick's father Hermann II was greatly opposed to the marriage. The chronicles of the Counts of Celje suggest he had his son arrested and, while holding him prisoner, initiated a trial against Veronika accusing her of witchcraft. She was acquitted by the court, but despite this incarcerated in Ojstrica Castle near Tabor and murdered by being drowned in 1425. She was buried in Braslovče and a few years later Frederick arranged for her remains to be reburied at the Carthusian monastery at Jurklošter and in her memory also made an endowment to the monastery at Bistra.

Veronika and Frederick's tragic love story, which also marked the beginning of the end of the House of Cilli, has been an inspiration for numerous literary creations. Among others, she was the protagonist of Josipina Turnograjska's 1851 story Nedolžnost in sila, Josip Jurčič's 1880 play Veronika Deseniška, Oton Župančič's 1924 play Veronika Deseniška, Bratko Kreft's 1932 play Celjski Grofje, Danilo Švara's 1946 opera Veronika Deseniška, Franček Rudolf's 1968 play Celjski grof na žrebcu and 1974 play Veronika, and Dušan Čater's 1996 children's novel Veronika Deseniška. She has also inspired works in Croatian, German, Czech, and Italian.