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Saint Hypomone | |
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![]() Icon of Helena Dragaš as Saint Hypomone | |
Born | Helena Dragaš c. 1372 |
Died | Constantinople | 23 March 1450
Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
Major shrine | Monastery of Saint Patapios, Loutraki |
Feast | 29 May |
Helena Dragaš | |
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A miniature from the Louvre MS. Ivoires 100 manuscript, depicting the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, empress Helena and three of their sons - the co-emperor John VIII and the Despots Theodore and Andronikos. | |
Spouse | Manuel II Palaiologos |
House | Dejanović |
Father | Konstantin Dejanović |
Mother | Konstantin's first wife |
Helena Dragaš (Serbian: Јелена Драгаш, Jelena Dragaš, Greek: Ἑλένη Δραγάση, Elenē Dragasē; c. 1372 – 23 March 1450[1]) was the empress consort of Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and mother of the last two emperors, John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos. Later in life she became a nun. She is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church under her monastic name, as Saint Hypomone (Ὑπομονὴ), translated in English as Saint Patience.
Helena was the daughter of Serbian magnate Konstantin Dejanović, a provincial lord during the fall of the Serbian Empire that held Kyustendil. Her mother was Konstantin's unnamed first wife (not his second wife, Helena's stepmother Eudokia of Trebizond) and Konstantin was the grandson of Serbian king Stefan III Dečanski. Her stepmother was a daughter of Alexios III of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene, and the widow of Tadjeddin Pasha of Sinop, Emir of Limnia. Her father fell at the battle of Rovine (1395), while fighting for his overlord, Ottoman sultan Bayezid I against the rebel Mircea I of Wallachia.
She was well known for her beauty, piety, wisdom, and justice. Her husband (as a former emperor) became a monk with the name Matthew (Ματθαῖος). After his death, on 21 July 1425, she became a nun at the Monastery of Kyra Martha, taking her monastic name. She helped to establish a home for old people, with the name "The Hope of the Despaired". The home was located at the Monastery of St. John in Petrion, where the relics of St. Patapius of Thebes are also kept.
When her eldest son, John VIII, died in 1448, the succession was disputed between Constantine, her eldest remaining son and John's chosen heir, and his ambitious but inept younger brother, Demetrios. As Empress Dowager, Helena backed Constantine, and assumed the regency in Constantinople while her sons competed for the throne. She eventually persuaded Sultan Murad II to intervene in Constantine's favour, leading to his assumption of the throne in January 1449. When Constantine became Emperor, he referred to himself as Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos, after Helena, to whom he was close.
Helena died on 23 March 1450 in Constantinople. She is venerated by the Orthodox Church as a saint, and her memory is commemorated on 29 May, the day of the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans and of the death of her son Constantine XI. Her skull, as a holy relic, is treasured in the Monastery of Saint Patapios in Loutraki, Greece.
On 10 February 1392, Helena married Manuel II Palaiologos. They had several children. The list follows the order of births given by George Sphrantzes:
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Helena Dragaš Born: c. 1372 Died: 1450
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Royal titles | ||
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Preceded by Helena Kantakouzene |
Byzantine Empress consort 1392–1425 with Irene Gattilusio (1399–1408) Anna of Moscow (1416–1417) |
Succeeded by Sophia of Montferrat |