Angelina of Serbia

Angelina Branković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ангелина Бранковић; Albanian: Angjelina Arianiti ca. 1440–1520), née Arianiti, was the despotess consort of Serbian Despot Stefan Branković (r. 1458—1459), and a daughter of Albanian nobleman Gjergj Arianiti. For her pious life she was proclaimed a saint and venerated as such by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable Mother Angelina (Serbian: Преподобна мати Ангелина/Prepodobna mati Angelina[a]).

Venerable Mother Angelina, Despotess of Serbia
Fresco in Krušedol depicting Angelina
Saint, Venerable
Born15th century
Berat (present day Albania)
DiedBeginning of the 16th century
Krušedol Monastery (present day Serbia)
Venerated inSerbian Orthodox Church
Major shrineKrušedol Monastery
FeastJuly 30 or December 10

Life

Early life

Angelina was the sixth daughter of Albanian nobleman Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462).[1][2][3] She married Serbian ruler Stefan Branković (r. 1458–59), son of the former Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković (r. 1427—1456).[4] Her sister Donika married Skanderbeg.[5]

Exile

The couple fled to Albania and then to Italy.[5]

In 1485, at the death of her husband, Angelina went to the Kingdom of Hungary, where her son, George, had become a titular despot in exile of the Serbian Despotate. The territory of the Despotate had been under the Ottoman Empire since its collapse in 1459. Later Angelina retired in the Krušedol Monastery, in the Fruška Gora mountain of Syrmia, where she died in the beginning of the 16th century.[5]

Marriage and children

Angelina and Stefan were married from 1461 until his death in 1476. They had children:

  • Jovan (d. 10 December 1502). Titular despot of Serbia, under the auspices of the Kingdom of Hungary. Married Jelena Jaksić. She is mentioned as “Helena, Serbiæ despotissa” in a charted dated to 1502.
  • Đorđe (d. 18 January 1516). Titular despot of Serbia, under the auspices of the Kingdom of Hungary. Married Isabella del Balzo, daughter of Agilberto, Duke of Nardò. Later retired as a monk under the monastic name "Maxim". Served as Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia until 1508, later becoming Metropolitan of Belgrade.
  • Marija (died 27 August 1495). Married Boniface III, Marquess of Montferrat (1424–1494, reign 1483–1494).

Sainthood

She is venerated as a saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable Mother Angelina and her feast day is July 30, while she is also venerated on December 10, together with her husband, St. Stephen, and her son, St. John.[4][5] She wrote a hagiography known as Hagiography of Mother Angelina (Serbian: Житије мајке Ангелине/Žitije majke Angeline).

  • Relic case of Angelina's remains
  • Outer wall of Krušedol with ston-icon of Angelina

Annotations
  1. ^
    Her name in Serbian was Angelina Branković (Serbian: Ангелина Бранковић/Angelina Branković), née Arianit Komneni. She is also known as simply Despotess Angelina (Serbian: деспотица Ангелина/Despotica Angelina). The Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbian epic poetry calls her Venerable Mother Angelina (Serbian: Преподобна мати Ангелина/Predobra mati Angelina), or simply Mother Angelina or Saint Angelina (Serbian: Света Ангелина/Sveta Angelina, Albanian: Shën Angjelina).

See also

References
  1. Musachi, John (1515). "1515 John Musachi: Brief Chronicle on the Descendants of our Musachi Dynasty". Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  2. Elsie, Robert (2012). A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. I.B.Tauris. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3.
  3. Nadin Bassani, Lucia (2008). Migrazioni e integrazione: il caso degli Albanesi a Venezia (1479-1552) (in Italian). Bulzoni. p. 72. ISBN 8878703400.
  4. St. Angelina of Serbia
  5. Elsie, Robert (2000). A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology and folk culture. New York University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-8147-2214-8.

Further reading
  • Božanić, Snežana (2016). "Srpski velikaši u političkim previranjima oko izbora Vladislava II za kralja Ugarske". Истраживањ. 24: 151–165.
  • Gapska, Dominika (2013). "Angelina Branković: święta władczyni w hymnografii. Zarys problemu". Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne (in Polish). Poznań. 5: 103–115.
  • Krstić, Đorđe (1896). Мати Ангелина [Mother Angelina] (in Serbian). Čurug.
  • Matić, V. (1978). "Crkva Majke Angeline u Krusedolu" [L'église de la" Mère Angelina" à Krusedol]. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Mileusnić, Slobodan (2000) [1989]. Sveti Srbi [Holy Serbs] (in Serbian) (2nd ed.). Novi Sad: Prometej. ISBN 86-7639-478-4. OCLC 44601641.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Spremić, Momčilo (2004). La famille serbe des Brankovic - considérations généalogiques et héraldiques (PDF). Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta (in French). 41. Belgrade: SANU. pp. 441–452. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-17.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tomin, Svetlana (2007), Деспотица и монахиња Ангелина Бранковић – света мајка Ангелина [Duchess and Nun Angelina Brankovic - Holy Mother Angelina], Novi Sad
  • Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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