Jelena Anžujska

Hélène d'Anjou and her son Stefan Uroš II. Milutin , Gračanica , 1321

Jelena Anžujska ( Serbian - Cyrillic Јелена Анжујска , French form of name: Hélène d ' Anjou ; * around 1230; † February 8, 1314 ) was a Serbian queen, wife of Stefan Uroš I and mother of Stefan Dragutin and Stefan Uroš II Milutin .

Helene married Uroš I around 1245 . Her ancestry is uncertain, but her hagiographer Danilo II mentions her in the old Serbian ruler's biography (“Jelena”, around 1332) as “French”, and the Anjouviners Karl I and Karl II also referred to her as relatives in letters.

She promoted the Roman Catholic element in the Zeta , over which she came into conflict with her husband, and built numerous Catholic churches in Kotor , Bar , Ulcinj and Shkodra ( Church of Shirgj ). After the fall of Uroš, she ruled over the Zeta and Travunia . During this time the Serbian lands were divided between her and her sons Dragutin and Milutin. Jelena later became a nun in the St. Nicholas Monastery in Shkodra, where she died on February 8, 1314.

She is the founder of the first girls' school in Serbia. Her palace and school were in Brnjaci on the Ibar River ( Kosovo ). Like the other members of the Nemanjiden dynasty, she founded monasteries, including her tomb, Gradac Monastery and the Church of St. Nicholas in Shkodra. In the Serbian folk tradition, Jelena is also associated with the lilac - according to folk tradition, she is said to have brought the lilac from France and imported it into Serbia. Today in Serbia the dani jorgovani , the days of the lilac, are held annually in her memory.

Helene was canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church . Your holiday falls on October 30th ( Julian calendar ) / November 12th ( Gregorian calendar ).

Helene was a patron of the cult of St. Nicholas of Myra . She donated an icon dedicated to the saint to the Nikolauskirche in Bari . Another icon with her image as the founder is in the Vatican .

Archbishop Danilo wrote a CV about her.

swell

• Jelena, 1. , in: Narodna enciklopedija II, p. 148.
• Jelena, srpska kraljica , in: Enciklopedija Jugoslavije , 2nd edition, volume 6, p. 28