Helena Palaiologina | |
---|---|
![]() Helena Palaiologina, Despotess of Serbia | |
Despotess of Serbia | |
Tenure | 24 December 1456 – 20 January 1458 |
Born | 1431 Despotate of the Morea, Byzantine Empire |
Died | 7 November 1473 (aged 42) Leukas |
Spouse | Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia |
Issue | Jelena Brankovic Milica Branković Jerina Brankovic |
House | Palaiologos Branković |
Father | Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea |
Mother | Catherine Zaccaria |
Religion | Eastern Orthodoxy |
Helena Palaiologina (Greek: Ελένη Παλαιολογίνα; Serbian: Јелена Палеолог/Jelena Paleolog; 1431 – 7 November 1473) was a Byzantine princess who married Serbian Despot Lazar Branković, who ruled from 1456 until his death in 1458. After Smederevo fell to the Ottoman Turks on 20 June 1459, she fled Serbia for the Greek island of Lefkada, where she converted to Catholicism.
She is not to be confused with her grandmother, Helena Dragaš, 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.