She was Queen consort of Hungary through her marriage with Béla II, who ruled 1131–1141.
Helena was the daughter of Duke Uroš I of Rascia and his wife, Anna Diogene-Vukanović. Around 1129, King Stephen II of Hungary arranged her marriage with his cousin Béla, who had been blinded on the order of the king's father, King Coloman of Hungary. The king granted estates near Tolna to the couple.
Following the childless king's death, her husband was crowned King of Hungary on 28 April 1131. Helena exerted material influence over her blind husband during his reign. It was she who persuaded her husband's partisans, with her two sons in her arms, to massacre, at an assembly in Arad, 68 aristocrats they suspected of having suggested King Coloman blind her husband.
When her husband died on 13 February 1141, their eldest son Géza II ascended the throne while still a child. Therefore, Helena and her brother Beloš Vukanović, whom she had invited to the court, governed the Kingdom of Hungary till September 1146 when he came of age.
She was Queen consort of Hungary through her marriage with Béla II, who ruled 1131–1141.
Helena was the daughter of Duke Uroš I of Rascia and his wife, Anna Diogene-Vukanović. Around 1129, King Stephen II of Hungary arranged her marriage with his cousin Béla, who had been blinded on the order of the king's father, King Coloman of Hungary. The king granted estates near Tolna to the couple.
Following the childless king's death, her husband was crowned King of Hungary on 28 April 1131. Helena exerted material influence over her blind husband during his reign. It was she who persuaded her husband's partisans, with her two sons in her arms, to massacre, at an assembly in Arad, 68 aristocrats they suspected of having suggested King Coloman blind her husband.
When her husband died on 13 February 1141, their eldest son Géza II ascended the throne while still a child. Therefore, Helena and her brother Beloš Vukanović, whom she had invited to the court, governed the Kingdom of Hungary till September 1146 when he came of age.
