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Saint Helen of Anjou Јелена Анжујска Jelena Anžujska
Portrait of Helen of Anjou, fresco in Serbian Orthodox Sopoćani Monastery
Church Builder
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Attributes	Church Builder
Queen consort of Serbia
Tenure	1243–1276
Born	c. 1235
Died	8 February 1314 (aged c. 78) Church of St. Nicholas, Skadar
Burial	Gradac Monastery
Spouse	Stefan Uroš I
Issue	Stefan Dragutin Stefan Milutin Stefan Brnjača
Religion	Roman Catholic, then Serbian Orthodox
Signature

Helen of Anjou (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Анжујска, Jelena Anžujska, pronounced [jɛ̌lɛna ǎnʒuːjskaː]; c. 1235 – 8 February 1314) was the queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. Their sons were later Serbian kings Stefan Dragutin (1276–1282) and Stefan Milutin (1282–1321). As a dowager-queen, she held the provincial governorship in the regions of Zeta and Travunija (until 1308). She built Gradac Monastery and was known for her religious tolerance. She is revered as a saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church. Her relics, however, are now lost.

Life

Origin

Helena's origin is not known for certain. Her hagiography, written by Serbian Archbishop Danilo II (1324–1337), states only that she "was of a French family" (Serbian: бысть оть племене фpoужьскaаго), while later continuators of the same work noted that her "family was of royal or imperial blood".

By the beginning of the 20th century, several genealogical theories on her origin were proposed, based mainly on examination of historical data related to Helena's sister Maria and her family, including Maria's husband Anselm, who was a high dignitary of the Kingdom of Naples.

One of those theories advocated that Helena was of Angevine origin. That theory was based on free interpretation of some sources from the 1280s and 1290s, showing that Angevine kings of Naples referred to Queen Helen of Serbia as dear cousin. Based on that, some researchers started to advocate Helena's direct origin from the House of Anjou, coining the term "Helen of Anjou" (Jelena Anžujska). Despite a lack of supporting sources, the term became more popular during the 1920s and 1930s. It was promoted not only by journalists and publicists, but also by some scholars.

Stating that Helen was of French origin, John Fine assumed that she was "probably of the Valois family".

There was no doubt that Helena had a sister named Maria, who was mentioned in several documents. In the summer of 1280, king Charles I of Sicily issued a document, allowing lady Maria to travel from Apulia to Serbia, to visit her sister, the queen of Serbia (Latin: Quia nobilis mulier domina Maria de Chaurs cum filio suo et familia eiusdem domine intendit transfretare ad presens ad partes Servie visura dominam reginam Servie sororem suam). In later documents, issued in 1281, Maria was mentioned by king Charles as his cousin (Latin: nobilis mulier Maria domina Chau consanguinea nostra carissima), and widow of Anselm "de Chau" (Latin: nobilem mulierem Mariam relictam quondam nobilis viri Anselmi de Chau).

Gordon McDaniel proposed that Maria's husband Anselm "de Chau", who was Captain General in Albania (1273–1274) for Charles I of Naples, was the same person as Anselm "de Keu", who was mentioned in 1253–1254 as husband of Maria, daughter of John Angelos of Syrmia. According to McDaniel, Maria and her sister Helen were descended, through their father John, from a side branch of the Byzantine emperor's family, and the Hungarian royal house.

Parents of Maria Angelina are known from her marriage licenses, issued in 1253 and 1254 by the papal chancellery. The first mentions the marriage "inter Anselmum de Keu ac Mariam, natam Matildis dominae de Posaga, natae comitissae Viennensis", while the second mentions "Maria, nate quondam Calojohanni" and also mentions Maria's maternal uncle as "imperatore Constantinopolitano, eiusdem Matildis avunculo". Those data allowed McDaniel to identify Maria's father as John Angelos, lord of Syrmia, and Maria's mother as Matilda, daughter of Henry I, Count of Vianden and Margaret Courtenay (sister of the Latin emperors Robert and Baldwin II).

Family connections of Helen and her sister Maria have been a special subject of several genealogical and historical studies that tried to resolve questions related to prosopography of various royal and noble families, including some complex questions related to Maria's husband by attribution of sources on (at least) two persons (father and son) who had the same name: Anselm de Cayeux.

Queen of Serbia

Helen married King Stefan Uroš I of Serbia (1243–1276), around 1245–1250. In 1276, conflict broke out between her husband and their eldest son Stefan Dragutin. King Uroš abdicated, and later died in 1280. During the reign of her sons Stefan Dragutin (1276–1282) and Stefan Milutin (1282–1321), dowager-queen Helen held provincial administration in the regions of Zeta and Travunia, until 1308. She proved to be a successful administrator, governing regions with mixed Serbian Orthodox and Roman Catholic population.

Soon after that, she became a nun at the Church of St. Nicholas in Skadar, where she died on 8 February 1314. She was canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church. Her feast day is 12 November [O.S. 30 October]. With frescos from Serbian Orthodox Gračanica Monastery Queen Helen significantly contributed to the cultural rise of the medieval Serbian state. She had a library at her court and encouraged transcription of books in monasteries. She founded the first girls' school in medieval Serbia. One of Helen's palaces was in the town of Brnjak (sometimes called "Brnjaci") in the territory of modern Kosovo. She also possessed the town of Jeleč at Rogozna mountain. As did other members of the Nemanjić dynasty, she built monasteries and donated to churches. She built the Gradac Monastery, where she was buried, the Church of St. Nicholas in Skadar where she died, and renewed the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. She had repaired and rebuilt many churches and monasteries around Lake Skadar that had been devastated by the Mongol invasion of 1242.

Issue

Queen Helen and her husband, King Stefan Uroš I, had at least three children, two sons and one daughter:

• Stefan Dragutin, Serbian king 1276–1282
• Stefan Milutin, Serbian king 1282–1321
• Brnjača, became a nun

See also

• Nemanjić dynasty
• Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)
• Zeta (crown land)

References

1. Fine 1994, pp. 217, 220–221, 258–259.
2. Ćirković 2004, pp. 49, 58, 61.
3. Даничић 1866, p. 58.
4. ^ Мијатовић 1903, pp. 1–30.
5. Jireček 1911, p. 319.
6. Веселиновић 1909, p. 184.
7. Fine 1994, pp. 220, 258.
8. Petrovitch 2015, p. 171.
9. McDaniel 1984, p. 48–49.
10. McDaniel 1984, p. 43.
11. McDaniel 1986, p. 196.
12. McDaniel 1984.
13. McDaniel 1986.
14. Angold 2011.
15. Petrovitch 2015.
16. Bácsatyai 2017.
17. Ćirković 2004, p. 49.
18. Fine 1994, p. 217.
19. Ćirković 2004, pp. 49, 61.
20. Petrovitch 2015, p. 168.
21. Samardžić & Duškov 1993, pp. 96, 100.
22. Ivić 1995, pp. 59, 75, 109.
23. Bataković 2005, pp. 26–27, 31.

Sources

• Angold, Michael (2011). "The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 1204–1261: Marriage Strategies". Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited. pp. 47–68. ISBN 9781409410980.
• Bácsatyai, Dániel (2017). "A 13. századi francia–magyar kapcsolatok néhány kérdése" (PDF). Századok. 151 (2): 237–278.
• Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme. ISBN 9782825119587.
• Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.
• Даничић, Ђура, ed. (1866). Животи краљева и архиепископа српских [Lives of Serbian Kings and Archbishops] (in Serbian). Загреб.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994) . The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472082604.
• Ivić, Pavle, ed. (1995). The History of Serbian Culture. Edgware: Porthill Publishers. ISBN 9781870732314.
• Jireček, Constantin (1911). Geschichte der Serben. Vol. 1. Gotha: Perthes.
• Jireček, Constantin (1918). Geschichte der Serben. Vol. 2. Gotha: Perthes.
• Mazzoleni, Jole, ed. (1967) . I registri della Cancelleria Angioina (PDF). Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Napoli: Accademia Pontaniana.
• Мијатовић, Чедомиљ (1903). "Ко је краљица Јелена?". Летопис Матице српске. 217: 1–30.
• McDaniel, Gordon L. (1984). "On Hungarian-Serbian Relations in the Thirteenth Century: John Angelos and Queen Jelena" (PDF). Ungarn-Jahrbuch. 12 (1982-1983): München, 1984: 43–50.
• McDaniel, Gordon L. (1986). "The House of Anjou and Serbia". Louis the Great: King of Hungary and Poland. Boulder: East European Monographs. pp. 191–200. ISBN 9780880330879.
• Nicol, Donald M. (1993) . The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521439916.
• Petrovitch, Nicolas (2015). "La reine de Serbie Hélène d'Anjou et la maison de Chaources". Crusades. 14 (1): 167–182. doi:10.1080/28327861.2015.12220366. ISBN 9781472468413. S2CID 257002925.
• Stevanović, Miladin (2004). Kraljica Jelena Anžujska. Knjiga-komerc. ISBN 9788677120320.
• Miodrag Al Purković (1956). Princeze iz kuće Nemanjića. AV ALA printing and publishing.
• Samardžić, Radovan; Duškov, Milan, eds. (1993). Serbs in European Civilization. Belgrade: Nova, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies. ISBN 9788675830153.
• Веселиновић, Милојко (1909). "Српске калуђерице". Глас Српске краљевске академије. 80: 155–256.

External links

• Gordon McDaniel: On Hungarian-Serbian Relations in the 13th Century: John Angelos and Queen Jelena
• Letter from queen Jelena of Serbia 1267 (1268)
• Letter from queen Jelena of Serbia (1289)
• Letter from queen Jelena of Serbia (1304)
• YouTube: Istorijska čitanka - Jelena Anžujska

v t e Saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church
St. Angelina St. Basil of Ostrog St. Danilo II St. Gavrilo Rajić St. Grigorije the Silent St. Helen of Anjou St. Joanikije St. Jovan Vladimir St. Prince Lazar / St. Princess Milica St. Makarije Sokolović St. Maksim Branković St. Nikodim I St. Nikolaj of Ohrid and Žiča St. Peter of Cetinje St. Sava St. Sava II St. Simeon the Monk St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming St. Stefan Lazarević St. Stefan Štiljanović St. Stefan Uroš St. Stefan of Dečani St. Stefan the Blind St. Stefan of Piperi St. Teodor Komogovinski St. Vladislav St. Vukašin St. Rafailo of Šišatovac St. Georgije Bogić St. Branko St. Justin of Ćelije St. Hieromartyr Joanikije St. Avakum the Deacon St. Metropolitan Petar of Dabar-Bosna St. Sava of Gornji Karlovac St. Platon of Banja Luka St. Varnava of Hvosno St. Pajsije of Janjevo St. Jakov Novi Tumanski St. Sebastian of Jackson St. Mardarije of Libertyville

v t e Nemanjić dynasty
Main ruling members	see family tree Stefan Nemanja Stefan the First-Crowned Vukan Radoslav Vladislav Uroš I Dragutin (Uroš II) Milutin (Uroš III) Dečanski (Uroš IV) Dušan Uroš V
Other ruling members	Đorđe Konstantin Tih Vladislav of Syrmia Stefan Konstantin John Uroš Simeon Uroš
Archbishops	Sava Sava II
Minor members	Vratislav Vratko Urošica Dmitar Stefan Vukanović Stefan Uroš of Pharsalos Desa
Female members	Komnena, Duchess of Kruja and Elbasan Brnjača Zorica Jelena, Princess of Bribir Elizabeth, Baness of Bosnia Ana-Neda, Empress of Bulgaria Teodora-Evdokija, Despotess Milica, Princess of Serbia Maria Angelina, Empress of Epirus Jelena Lazarević
Consorts	Anastasia Eudokia of Byzantium Anna Dandolo Anna Doukaina Beloslava of Bulgaria Helena of Anjou Catherine of Hungary Helena Doukaina Angelina Elizabeth of Hungary Anna Terter of Bulgaria Simonida of Byzantium Theodora Smilets of Bulgaria Maria Palaiologina Helena of Bulgaria Anna of Wallachia

• 13th-century Serbian royalty
• 14th-century Serbian royalty
• 14th-century Serbian women
• 14th-century Christian saints
• Capetian House of Anjou
• Nemanjić dynasty
• Medieval Serbian royal consorts
• 14th-century Serbian nuns
• Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism
• 1230s births
• 1314 deaths
• Christian female saints of the Middle Ages
• Burials at Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches
• 13th-century Serbian nuns
• Eastern Orthodox royal saints from Serbia
• Queens consort of Serbia
• Queen mothers
• Mothers of Serbian monarchs