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Birth:          ABT 1115 of Belgrade, Serbia
Death:          1157 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_of_Serbia,_Queen_of_Hungary
Helena of Serbia (Serbian: ??????/Jelena, Hungarian: Ilona; b. after 1109 – after 
1146) was Queen of Hungary as the wife of King Béla II, who reigned from 1131 to 
1141. A daughter of Prince Uroš I of Serbia (r. ca. 1112–1145), she was arranged to 
marry Béla II in 1129 by his cousin, King Stephen II (r. 1116–1131). Béla II had been 
blinded on the order of Stephen's father, King Coloman. After her husband's death, 
she governed Hungary as regent from 1141 to September 1146 together with her 
brother, Beloš, when her eldest son, Géza II, came of age. Her younger sons, 
Ladislaus II and Stephen IV, also ruled as kings of Hungary.
Life[edit]

Early life[edit]

Helena was the daughter of Serbian Grand Prince Uroš I (r. ca. 1112–1145) of the 
Vukanovic dynasty, and Byzantine princess Anna Diogene.[1] Her father had 
participated in the Byzantine-Hungarian War (1127–29), on the side of King Stephen II 
of Hungary.[2] The Hungarian Army had destroyed Byzantine Belgrade and penetrated 
to Naissos (Niš), Serdica (Sofia) and Philippopolis (Plovdiv).

Around 1129, King Stephen II arranged her marriage with his cousin Béla, who had 
been blinded on the order of the king's father, King Coloman of Hungary (r. 1095–
1116). Uroš I had prior to this suffered to both Hungary and Byzantium, so he happily 
befriended the Hungarian king.[3] King Stephen II granted estates near Tolna to the 
newly wed couple.

Queen consort[edit]

Following the childless king's death, her husband was crowned King of Hungary on 28 
April 1131. Queen Helena had great influence on her husband, and the Hungarian 
state.[2] They had six children: Geza, Ladislaus II, Stephen IV, Álmos,[4] Sophia[5] 
and Gertrud. She was to great help to her husband and governed the state during his 
rule.[4] She was loyal to her husband and state, and it was she who persuaded the 
nobles at an assembly in Arad to execute 68 Hungarian aristocrats who had plotted 
with King Coloman to blind her husband. According to contemporary sources she was 
attending the execution with her son Bela, in order to secure the death of her 
husband's enemies.

She settled Serbs in Csepel Island, and Ráckeve, where she built a monastery and 
church which exist still today.[3]

Regency[edit]

When her husband died on 13 February 1141, their eldest son Géza II was still a child, 
therefore Helena and her brother Beloš Vukanovic governed the Kingdom of Hungary 
until September 1146 when Bela II came of age. Beloš was Palatine of Hungary, the 
highest-ranking official, from 1141 to 1161,[3] and Ban of Slavonia from 1146 to 1157. 
Helena continued to hold great influence on the rule and with the help of her brother 
Hungary had good relations and peace on its southern borders.[1] In the period of 
Bela's death, the German-Hungarian relations had been shattered and the engagement 
of Henric and Sophia, Helena's daughter, was canceled. Sophia took monastic vows 
and became an abbess at Admont, in Styria.[5]

Rule of Géza II and aftermath[edit]

During the rule of Géza II, Stephen IV and Ladislaus II were not satisfied with their 
titles and possessions, so they sought help with the Holy Roman Emperors and 
Byzantine Emperors. The plots against Géza II had no success, and after his death 
(1161) Manuel I Komnenos saw a good opportunity to expand Byzantine influence in 
Hungary. Manuel helped to dethrone Stephen III and place firstly Ladislaus II and then 
Stephen IV for a short time. Finally, Stephen III secured the throne in 1163.[6] Queen 
Helena is believed to have died in 1161.

Marriage and children[edit]

Elisabeth or Gertrud (c. 1129 – before 1155), wife of duke Mieszko III of Poland
King Géza II of Hungary (c. 1130 – 3 May 1162)
King Ladislaus II of Hungary (1131 – 14 January 1163)
King Stephen IV of Hungary (c. 1133 – 11 April 1165)
Álmos (?)
Sophia (c. 1136 – ?), nun at Admont (Styria)

Parents
____ Uros (Bejela) I (ABT 1089 - ABT 1145)
DIOGENISSA Anna (ABT 1074 - 1145)

Siblings
NEMANJICS Ilona (Jelena) (Jereha) (Helena) (ABT 1115 - 1157)

Marriage To ____ Bela II "Masodik Tak" "the Blind" (1108 - 13 Feb 1141)
    m. 28 Apr 1127 

Notes

Parents
____ Almos "Vak Almos" (ABT 1072 - 1129)
SVYATOPOLKOVNA Predslava (1075 - AFT 1116)

Children by ____ Bela II "Masodik Tak" "the Blind" 1108 - 13 Feb 1141
____ Geza II "Masodik Geza" (1130 - 31 May 1162)

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