Helena of Moscow
| Helena of Moscow | ||
 Helena with her husband Alexander Jagiellon | ||
| Royal House | Rurik Dynasty | |
| Coat of Arms | 
| |
| Parents | Ivan III of Russia, Sophia Paleologue | |
| Consort | Alexander Jagiellon | |
| Date of Birth | May 19, 1476 | |
| Place of Birth | Kremlin, Moscow | |
| Date of Death | January 20, 1513 | |
| Place of Death | Vilnius, Lithuania | |
| Place of Burial | Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius | |
Helena Ivanovna of Moscow (Russian: Елена Ивановна; Lithuanian: Elena; Polish: Helena Moskiewska) (19 May 1476 – 20 January 1513) was a Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Queen of Poland as a wife of king of Poland Alexander Jagiellon.
Biography
Helena was the daughter of a Grand Prince of Moscow, Ivan III[1], and Sophia Palaiologina, a niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. Helena was a younger sister of Grand Prince of Moscow Vasili III of Russia.[2] In 1495 the marriage between Alexander Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Helena was held in the Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius, in the presence of Saint Macarius, Metropolitan of Kiev. She did not convert to Catholicism to become Queen of Poland and remained faithful to her Eastern Orthodox Church beliefs. That is why she was never crowned.
Helena had two pregnancies (in 1497 and 1499), but both ended in miscarriages. The second miscarriage left her severely ill and unable to bear children. According to a rumor, she was poisoned by Mikołaj Radziwiłł. She was buried in the Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius.[3]
Ancestry
| 16. Dmitriy Ivanovich Donskoy | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8. Vasiliy I Dmitriyevich of Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17. Eudoxia Dmitriyevna of Suzdal | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4. Vasily II Vasiliyevich of Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18. Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9. Sophia of Lithuania | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19. Anna of Smolensk | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Ivan III Vasilevich of Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20. Vladimir Andreievich, Prince of Sierpukhov and Borovsk | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10. Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Serpukhov, Borovsk and Maloyaroslavets | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21. Elena of Lithuania | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Maria Yaroslavna of Borovsk | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22. Feodor Feodorovich "Goltiay" Koshkin | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11. Maria Feodorovna Goltiayeva Koshkina | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1. Helena of Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||
| 24. John V Palaiologos | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12. Manuel II Palaiologos | |||||||||||||||||||
| 25. Helena Kantakouzene | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6. Thomas Palaiologos | |||||||||||||||||||
| 26. Constantine Dragaš | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13. Helena Dragaš | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Zoe Palaiologina | |||||||||||||||||||
| 28. Andronico Asano Zaccaria | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14. Centurione II Zaccaria | |||||||||||||||||||
| 29. Mavros of Arcadia | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Catherine Zaccaria of Achaea | |||||||||||||||||||
| 30. Leonardo II Tocco | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15. Creusa Tocco | |||||||||||||||||||
Trivia
Marie Louse Gonzaga de Nevers was the second Polish Queen after Helena whose family tree lead to the Byzantine emperor (Andronikos II Palaiologos).
References
- ^ poczet.com, Aleksander I Jagiellończyk
- ^ polska.pl, Bitwa pod Orszą.
- ^ miastaeuropy.pl, Wilno - zabytki Wilna.