Quick Facts
| Intro | Serbian saint and Albanian noblewoman | ||||||||
| Was | Nun Saint Noble | ||||||||
| From | Serbia | ||||||||
| Field | Religion Royals | ||||||||
| Gender | female | ||||||||
| Birth | 1440, Berat, Berat Municipality, Berat County, Albania | ||||||||
| Death | 30 July 1520, Krušedol monastery, Krušedol Selo, Irig municipality, Serbia (aged 80 years) | ||||||||
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Biography
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).
Life
Early life
Angelina was the sixth daughter of Albanian nobleman Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462). She married Serbian ruler Stefan Branković (r. 1458–59), son of the former Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković (r. 1427—1456). Her sister Donika married Skanderbeg.
Exile
The couple fled to Albania and then to Italy.
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.
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. 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
- ^ 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).
