'Helena Dragases' (
Serbian: Јелена Драгаш / ''Jelena Dragaš'') (c.
1372 –
23 May,
1450) was a daughter of
Constantine Dragas, a regional semi-independent lord in the fragmenting
Serbian realm centered at Velbăžd (
Kyustendil).
Her mother was his unnamed first wife, not his second wife
Eudokia Megaskomnene. Her stepmother was a daughter of
Alexios III of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene.
She was born during the
14th century. Her father died in 1395 at the batlle of Rovine. Constantine Dragaš was killed while fighting for his overlord Sultan
Bayezid I of the
Ottoman Empire against the rebel
Mircea I of Wallachia.
Helena married
Manuel II Palaiologos,
Byzantine Emperor. They had several children, including:
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John VIII, Byzantine emperor 1425-1448.
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Theodore II, ''despotēs'' in Morea.
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Andronikos, ''despotēs'' in Thessalonica.
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Constantine XI, Byzantine emperor 1448-1453.
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Demetrios, ''despotēs'' in Morea.
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Thomas, ''despotēs'' in Morea.
Helena died on
May 23 1450 in
Constantinople.
Her children included the last two Byzantine emperors. Constantine XI renamed himself after her maiden name Dragaš (in Greek, Dragasēs), adding it to his own.