Helena of Moscow
EWLINE Helena with her husband Alexander Jagiellon Alexander Jagiellon Alexander of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon... >
Royal House Royal House A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...	Rurik Dynasty Rurik Dynasty The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...
Coat of Arms Coat of arms A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
Parents	Ivan III of Russia Ivan III of Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich , also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and "Grand Prince of all Rus"... , Sophia Paleologue Sophia Paleologue Zoe Palaiologina , later changed her name to Sophia Palaiologina , Grand Duchess of Moscow, was a niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI and second wife of Ivan III of Russia. She was also the grandmother of Ivan the Terrible.- Biography :...
Consort	Alexander Jagiellon Alexander Jagiellon Alexander of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon...
Date of Birth	May 19, 1476
Place of Birth	Kremlin Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden... , Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Date of Death	January 20, 1513
Place of Death	Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County... , Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
Place of Burial	Cathedral of the Theotokos Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius The Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius is the main Orthodox Christian church of Lithuania.The cathedral was built during the reign of the Grand Duke Algirdas in 1346... , Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

Helena Ivanovna of Moscow (19 May 1476 – 20 January 1513) was a Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Queen of Poland as a wife of king of Poland Alexander Jagiellon

Alexander Jagiellon

Alexander of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon...

.

Biography

Helena was the daughter of a Grand Prince of Moscow

Grand Duchy of Moscow

The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....

, Ivan III

Ivan III of Russia

Ivan III Vasilyevich , also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and "Grand Prince of all Rus"...

, and Sophia Palaiologina, a niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. Helena was a younger sister of Grand Prince of Moscow Vasili III of Russia

Vasili III of Russia

Vasili III Ivanovich was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. He was the son of Ivan III Vasiliyevich and Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the name Gavriil...

. In 1495 the marriage between Alexander Jagiellon

Alexander Jagiellon

Alexander of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon...

, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Helena was held in the Cathedral of the Theotokos

Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius

The Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius is the main Orthodox Christian church of Lithuania.The cathedral was built during the reign of the Grand Duke Algirdas in 1346...

 in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, in the presence of Saint Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow

Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow

Macarius was a notable Russian cleric, writer, and iconographer who served as the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia from 1542 until 1563.-Early life and work on the Menaion:...

. She did not convert to Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

 to become Queen of Poland and remained faithful to her Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 beliefs. That is why she was never crowned.

Helena had two pregnancies (in 1497 and 1499), but both ended in miscarriage

Miscarriage

Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...

s. The second miscarriage left her severely ill and unable to bear children. According to a rumor, she was poisoned by Mikołaj Radziwiłł. She was buried in the Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius.

Ancestry

Trivia

Marie Louse Gonzaga de Nevers

Ludwika Maria Gonzaga

Marie Louise Gonzaga was queen consort to two Polish kings: Władysław IV Vasa, and John II Casimir Vasa...

 was the second Polish Queen after Helena whose family tree lead to the Byzantine emperor (Andronikos II Palaiologos

Andronikos II Palaiologos

Andronikos II Palaiologos , Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes...

).