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Hélène Anjou
Hélène Anjou
Countess of Mat
	Arms of the Capetian House of Anjou
Countess of Mat
Tenure	13??-1342
Successor	Voisava Balsha; (as Princess consort of Albania)
Died	1342; Neapolitan court
Spouses	Andrea I Thopia
Issue	Karl Thopia ; Gjergj Thopia
House	Anjou-Naples
Father	Robert, King of Naples
Mother	Unknown

Hélène of Anjou (Italian: Elena d'Angiò), (died in 1342 in Naples) was a member of the House of Anjou. She was an illegitimate daughter of Robert, King of Naples.^[1]

Life

Hélène of Anjou was the daughter of Robert, King of Naples by an unknown mistress. She was one of his four illegitimate children, alongside Charles d'Artois, Louis de Bethanie and Maria d'Aquino. While her legitimate siblings were Charles, Duke of Calabria and Louis. Not much is known about Hélène's early life. When she was of age, her father had her promised to be married to the Prince of Morea.^[2] But when her ship stopped at Durrës, after a storm occurred she was welcomed by Andrea I Thopia, where the two fell in love and married in secret, thus breaking Hélène's prior engagement arranged by her father.^[3] Their marriage resulted in two sons, Karl Thopia and Gjergj Thopia.^[4] Their son Karl was named after Hélène's famous great-grandparent Charles I of Anjou. Having found out, Robert sent a letter inviting them to Naples wanting to reconcile with his daughter and new son-in-law. After arriving he then had them secretly executed at night.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] Their sons had remained in Albania, thus surviving the King's attempt. Eventually, her son Karl Thopia, rose against the Angevins managing to defeat his cousin Joanna and take control of Durrës.

Issue

Hélène married Andrea I Thopia. The pair had two children^[10]

Karl Thopia, who became the Prince of Albania married Voisava Balsha
Gjergj Thopia

Family tree

Ancestors of Hélène of Anjou

16. Louis VIII of France

8. Charles I of Anjou

17. Blanche of Castile

4. Charles II of Naples

18. Ramon Berenguer V, Count of Provence

9. Beatrice of Provence

19. Beatrice of Savoy

2. Robert, King of Naples

20. Béla IV of Hungary

10. Stephen V of Hungary

21. Maria Laskarina

5. Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples

22. Köten

11. Elizabeth the Cuman

1. Hélène of Anjou

References

^ Houtsma, Martijn. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Ohio State University, E.J. Brill. p. 456. ISBN 978-9-0040-8265-6. ..The mother of Karl, victor of Acheloos, was a natural daughter of the Neapolitan king Robert of Anjou, so that the proud cheiftain could with some right plume himself on being "the first of the house of France"...
^ Elsie, Robert. Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 52. ISBN 978-3-4470-4783-8. ...You should also know that King Robert, who was the King of Naples, sent one of his bastard daughters to the Prince of Morea for wife, but a great storm rose at sea and drove her ship towards the said town of Durres where she remained for several days...
^ Elsie, Robert. Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 52. ISBN 978-3-4470-4783-8. ...During this time, Lord Andrew fell in love with the said lady and she with him, and they agreed to live together...
^ Elsie, Robert. Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 52. ISBN 978-3-4470-4783-8. ...And so they did, and had two sons. The first one was called Lord Charles and the second one Lord George...
^ E. Jacques, Edwin (2009). The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present - Volume 1. McFarland & Company. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7864-4238-6. ...Robert of the famous house of Anjou, king of Naples, had an illegitimate daughter whom he wished to marry to a French gentleman of Greece. En route, her ship touched Durrës, where she met and fell in love with Tanush Thopia. They were married and had a son Karl. King Robert, feigning pleasure at the marriage, invited the daughter and her husband to Naples, where he killed them both...
^ Sainty, Guy Stair (2018). The Constantinian Order of Saint George: and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. p. 503. ISBN 978-84-340-2506-6.
^ "1515 John Musachi:Brief Chronicle on the Descendants of our Musachi Dynasty". Retrieved 2023-12-28.
^ Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf (1960). Geschichte Griechenlands vom Beginn des Mittelalters bis auf unsere Zeit. B. Franklin. … da deren Besitzungen bald darauf in der Hand jenes Tanussio Thopia (1328–1338) waren, dem König Robert von Neapel 1338 den Besitz der Grafschaft Mat bestätigte. Des letztern Sohn oder Bruder Andreas war es, der sich mit dem Hause Capet verschwägerte. König Robert, so erzählt Musachi, hatte seine natürliche Tochter dem Bailli von Morea – vielleicht dem Bertrand de Baux – zur Gattin bestimmt und sie nach Durazzo gesandt, wo damals Thopia weilte. Er verliebte sich in sie, entführte und heirathete sie. Zwei Söhne, Karl und Georg, entsprossen dieser Ehe. Aber schwer traf die Gatten bald die Rache des erzürnten Vaters; unter dem Scheine der Versöhnung lud er beide zu sich nach Neapel ein und ließ sie dort hinrichten; die Kinder aber, in denen somit wirklich das Blut der Angiovinen floß, wurden gerettet; in der festen Burg Kroja , die er später ausbaute, nicht, wie die Sage meldet , erst gründete "), wuchs Karl auf, entschlossen, den Mord des vaters zu rächen
^ Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse (in German). Gerold. 1869. pp. 106–107.
^ Elsie, Robert. Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 52. ISBN 978-3-4470-4783-8. ...And so they did, and had two sons. The first one was called Lord Charles and the second one Lord George...