Helena Palaiologina ( gr, Ελένη Παλαιολογίνα, sr, Јелена Палеолог/Jelena Paleolog; 1431 – 7 November 1473) was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

princess who married

Serbian Despot The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

Lazar Branković Lazar Branković ( sr-cyr, Лазар Бранковић; c. 1421 – 20 February 1458) was a Serbian despot, prince of Rascia from 1456 to 1458. He was the third son of Đurađ Branković and his wife Eirene Kantakouzene. He was succeeded by his ...

, who ruled from 1456 until his death in 1458. After

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

fell to the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

on 20 June 1459, she fled Serbia for the Greek island of

Leukas Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island in the ...

, where she converted to Catholicism. She is not to be confused with her grandmother,

Helena Dragaš Helena Dragaš ( sr, Јелена Драгаш, ''Jelena Dragaš'', el, , ''Helénē Dragásē''; c. 1372 – 23 March 1450) was the empress consort of Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and mother of the last two emperors, John VIII ...

, a Serbian princess who was the mother of the last two Eastern Roman Emperors and who became a nun and a Saint of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

Family

Helena was born in the

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

in 1431, the eldest daughter and child of

Thomas Palaiologos Thomas Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Θωμᾶς Παλαιολόγος; 1409 – 12 May 1465) was Despot of the Morea from 1428 until the fall of the despotate in 1460, although he continued to claim the title until his death five years late ...

, Despot of the Morea and

Catherine Zaccaria Catherine Zaccaria or Catherine Palaiologina ( grc-x-medieval, Αἰκατερίνα Παλαιολογίνα; died 26 August 1462) was the daughter of the last Prince of Achaea, Centurione II Zaccaria. In September 1429 she was betrothed to the Byz ...

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

. She had two younger brothers,

Andreas Palaiologos Andreas Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἀνδρέας Παλαιολόγος; 17 January 1453 – June 1502), sometimes anglicized to Andrew, was the eldest son of Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea. Thomas was a brother of Constantine&nb ...

and

Manuel Palaiologos Manuel Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μανουήλ Παλαιολόγος, translit=Manouēl Palaiologos; 2 January 1455 – before 1513) was the youngest son of Thomas Palaiologos, a brother of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the final Byzantine ...

, and a sister, Zoe, who would become the wife of

Ivan III of Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...

. Her maternal grandparents were

Centurione II Zaccaria Centurione II Zaccaria (died 1432), scion of a powerful Genoese merchant family established in the Morea, was installed as Prince of Achaea by Ladislaus of Naples in 1404 and was the last ruler of the Latin Empire not under Byzantine suzerainty ...

and Creusa Tocco. Her first cousin, also

Helena Palaiologina Helena Palaiologina ( el, ; 3 February 1428 – 11 April 1458) was a Byzantine princess of the Palaiologos family, who became List of Cypriot royal consorts, Queen of Cyprus and Cilician Armenia, Armenia, Titular ruler, titular Queen consort of K ...

, became Queen consort of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Marriage and issue

In October 1446 she left

Glarentza Glarentza ( el, Γλαρέντζα), also known as or Clarenia, Clarence, or Chiarenza, was a medieval town located near the site of modern Kyllini in Elis, at the westernmost point of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Founded in th ...

Peloponnese for

Semendria Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

Serbia, where she married

, son of Lord

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Branković (; sr-cyr, Ђурађ Бранковић; hu, Brankovics György; 1377 – 24 December 1456) was the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456. He was one of the last Serbian medieval rulers. He was a participant in the battle of Anka ...

that December. On 24 December 1456, Helena became Despotitsa of Serbia, when Lazar succeeded his father to the despotate. They had three surviving daughters: * Jelena Branković (upon her marriage she changed her name to Maria) (1447–1498), married King

Stephen Tomašević of Bosnia Stephen Tomašević or Stephen II ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stjepan/Stefan Tomašević, Стјепан/Стефан Томашевић; died 25 May 1463) was the last sovereign from the Bosnian Kotromanić dynasty, reigning as Despot of Serbia briefly in 1 ...

; she may have later entered the harem of a Turkish general. *

Milica Branković Milica Branković ( sr-cyr, Милица Бранковић, d. 1464) was a Serbian princess and the first wife of Leonardo III Tocco, whom she married on 1 May 1463. She was a daughter of despot Lazar Branković of Serbia and Helena Palaiologina ...

(died 1464), married

Leonardo III Tocco Leonardo III Tocco (after 1436 – before August 1503) was the last ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, ruling from the death of his father Carlo II Tocco in 1448 to the despotate's fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1479. Leonardo was one of the last ...

, Ruler of Epirus, by whom she had one son; she died in childbirth. * Jerina Branković, wife of

Gjon Kastrioti II Gjon II Kastrioti ( it, Ioanne Castrioto,Theodore Spandounes (Spandugnino), De la origine deli Imperatori Ottomani, Sathas, C. N. (ed.) (1890) Documents inédits relatifs à l'histoire de la Grèce au moyen âge, IX (Paris), p. 159 Giovanni Cast ...

De facto ruler of Serbia

When her husband died after a year of rule,

Mihailo Anđelović Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name '' Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. It may refer to: * Mihailo Vojislavljević ( fl. 1050� ...

was chosen to lead a council, becoming the ''de facto'' ruler of Serbia(''Voyvoda''). Palaiologina, together with her brother-in-law,

Stefan Branković Stefan Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Бранковић; c. 1417 – 9 October 1476), also known in historiography as Stefan the Blind (Стефан Слепи), was briefly the despot (ruler) of the Serbian Despotate between 1458 and 1459, m ...

, Palaiologina and Branković assumed control as joint ''de facto'' rulers of Serbia. In March 1458, when the Ottomans invaded Smederevo, and local rebel Serbs took Anđelović prisoner. In order to strengthen her position, she sought an ally in King

Stephen Thomas of Bosnia Stephen Thomas ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Stefan Tomaš, Стефан Томаш, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, label=none, Stjepan Tomaš, Стјепан Томаш; 1411 – July 1461), a member of the House of Kotromanić, reigned from 1443 ...

, through the arranged marriage to his eldest son,

Stephen Tomašević Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, of her eldest daughter, Helena-Maria, which took place on 1 April 1459. On 20 June 1459, the Ottomans launched a major assault against Smederevo and succeeded in taking the city, effectively ending the despotate in Serbia. Palaiologina was compelled to leave and, in April 1462, she arrived in Ragusa (modern

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

), where she stayed for a year. During this time, she arranged the marriage of her daughter Milica. In June 1463 she moved to

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, joining her mother and brothers who had taken refuge there. Eventually she came to live on the Greek island of

, where she died 7 November 1473, having become a nun and taking the name Hypomone.

References

Sources

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External links