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Helena of Moscow

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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 (Template:Lang-ru; Template:Lang-lt; Template:Lang-pl) (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

  1. ^ poczet.com, Aleksander I Jagiellończyk
  2. ^ polska.pl, Bitwa pod Orszą.
  3. ^ miastaeuropy.pl, Wilno - zabytki Wilna.
Helena of Moscow
Born: 19 May 1476 Died: 20 January 1513
Royal titles
Preceded by Queen consort of Poland
Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania

1501–1506
Succeeded by