Helena of Bulgaria

Helena of Bulgaria ( _bg. Елена Българска) was the daughter of Sratsimir of Kran and Petritsa and the sister of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria.

On Easter day, 19 April 1332, Helena married Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia. The marriage was arranged as part of the peace agreement between Bulgaria and Serbia. This marriage provided one son Stefan Uroš V of Serbia and one daughter Irina. According to "The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest" (1994) by J. V. A. Fine, she is the same as "Irene" the wife of Gregorios Preljub, the Serbian governor of Thessaly who died in late 1355 or early 1356. They were parents to Thomas II Preljubović, Ruler of Epirus from 1367 to 1384. Irene married secondly to Radoslav Hlapen, lord of Kastoria and Edessa. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SERBIA.htm#StefanDusandied1355 Profile of Stefan IV in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

Helena was a citizen of Venice in 1350 and a regent of Serbia between 1355–1356.

On her husband's death, Helena inherited part of Serbia's Bulgaria lands between the lower Vardar and the Mesta. In addition, she also received the Chalcidic peninsula, basing her court at Serres. In 1359 Helena became a nun under the religious name Elisaveta. However, she continued to play an active role in politics.

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