| Helen of Hungary | |
|---|---|
 Depiction of Queen Helen the Fair on a painting Betrothal of King Zvonimir, by Celestin Medović | |
| Regent of Croatia | |
| Tenure | 1089–1090 |
| Queen consort of Croatia | |
| Tenure | 1075–c. 1089 |
| Died | c. 1091 |
| Spouse | Demetrius Zvonimir |
| Issue | Radovan Klaudija Vinica |
| Dynasty | Árpád |
| Father | Béla I of Hungary |
| Mother | Richeza of Poland |
Helen of Hungary, also known as Helen the Fair (Croatian : Jelena Lijepa; Hungarian : Ilona) (d. 1091), was a queen consort of Croatia.
Helen was born as a Hungarian princess and was the daughter of Árpád dynasty's king Bela I, sister to Ladislaus I of Hungary, granddaughter of Polish king Mieszko II Lambert.
Helen became queen of Croatia during her marriage with Croatian king Demetrius Zvonimir, a distant relative whom she married in 1063. They had a son named Radovan, [1] who died in his late teens or early twenties, and daughters named Claudia [2] and Vinica.
Helen had excellent family connections, being an aunt to Irene, the mother of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
Helen was very popular with the Croats, and they often called her Jelena Lijepa ("Helen the Beautiful"). She is thought to have been an influential consort.
Upon the death of Zvonimir, Helen was said to have been quietly plotting the inheritance of the Croatian Crown for her brother, the King of Hungary, which caused a decade of war and instability in the kingdom, resulting in the personal union of Croatia and Hungary that lasted until 1918. Helen died around 1091. [3]
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I. The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great.
The Kingdom of Croatia entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102, after a period of rule of kings from the Trpimirović and Svetoslavić dynasties and a succession crisis following the death of king Demetrius Zvonimir. With the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in 1102 in Biograd, the realm passed to the Árpád dynasty until 1301, when the (male) line of the dynasty died out. Then, kings from the Capetian House of Anjou, who were also cognatic descendants of the Árpád kings, ruled the kingdoms. Later centuries were characterized by conflicts with the Mongols, who sacked Zagreb in 1242, competition with Venice for control over Dalmatian coastal cities, and internal warfare among Croatian nobility. Various individuals emerged during the period, such as Paul I Šubić of Bribir, who was representing the most powerful Croatian dynasty at the time, the Šubić noble family. These powerful individuals were on occasion able to de facto secure great deal of independence for their fiefdoms. The Ottoman incursion into Europe in the 16th century significantly reduced Croatian territories and left the country weak and divided. After the death of Louis II in 1526 during the Battle of Mohács and a brief period of dynastic dispute, both crowns passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg, and the realms became part of the Habsburg monarchy.
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Helena, Helen, Jelena or Ilona of Hungary may refer to: