Saint Helen of Anjou

Saint Helen of Serbia (Serbian: Света Јелена Српска, romanized: Sveta Jelena Srpska; c. 1235 – 8 February 1314) was the queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. Their sons were later Serbian kings Stefan Dragutin and Stefan Milutin. As a dowager-queen, she held the provincial governorship in the regions of Zeta and Travunija (until 1308). She built Gradac Monastery and was known for her religious tolerance. She is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Her relics, however, are now lost. Helena's origin is not known for certain. Her hagiography, written by Serbian Archbishop Danilo II, states only that she "was of a French family" (Serbian: бысть оть племене фpoужьскaаго), while in hagiography of her husband, King Stefan Uroš I, the same statement was repeated, but it was also added that she was "from the imperial family". By the beginning of the 20th century, several genealogical theories on her origin were proposed, based mainly on examination of historical data related to Helena's sister, or half-sister Maria and her family. One of those theories advocated that Helena was of Angevine origin. That theory was based on free interpretation of some sources from the 1280s and 1290s, showing that Angevine kings of Naples referred to Queen Helen of Serbia as dear cousin. Based on that, some researchers started to advocate Helena's direct origin from the House of Anjou, coining the term "Helen of Anjou" (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Анжујска, Jelena Anžujska). Despite a lack of supporting sources, the term became more popular during the 1920s and 1930s. It was promoted not only by journalists and publicists, but also by some scholars. Stating that Helen was of French origin, John Fine assumed that she was "probably of the Valois family".