Helena Dragaš
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Helena Dragases 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:
- John VIII, Byzantine emperor 1425-1448.
- Theodore II, despotēs in Morea.
- Andronikos, despotēs in Thessalonica.
- Constantine XI, Byzantine emperor 1448-1453.
- Demetrios, despotēs in Morea.
- Thomas, despotēs in Morea.
Helena died on May 13, 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.
