Hélène of Anjou

Hélène of Anjou (; ), also known as Helen, was a French noblewoman and member of the Capetian House of Anjou. She was due to marry a French gentleman as part of a political alliance made by her father, Robert of Anjou, but instead married the Albanian nobleman Andrea I Thopia. Both she and her husband were executed by her father.

Life Hélène was the illegitimate daughter of Robert of Anjou, who was the King of the Kingdom of Naples. The identity of her mother remains unknown, and little is known about her early life.

When Hélène came of age, her father, Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, sent her to marry a French gentleman of Greece, possibly Bertrand de Baux, the Bailli of Morea, or the Prince of Morea, as part of a political alliance. However, during her journey, her ship was caught in a storm and driven off course to Durrës, where she remained for several days. During this time, she met Andrea I Thopia, a nobleman from the prominent Thopia family in Albania, and they fell in love, deciding to live together and marry soon after in 1338. However, some sources identify him as Tanush Thopia, leading to conflicting accounts about the precise identity and name of her Albanian noble husband. They had two sons, Karl Thopia and Gjergj I Thopia.

Death Angered by Hélène’s marriage to Thopia instead of the French nobleman he had intended for her, King Robert invited the couple to Naples under the pretense of reconciliation, only to deceitfully have them both executed upon their arrival for what he considered their dishonorable actions. Their sons fled to Albania, escaping the fate of their parents, and were raised in the Fortress of Krujë, where Karl, driven by a desire to avenge their deaths, led a rebellion in 1358, overthrowing the last descendants of the Counts of Zante.

Family Hélène of Anjou married Andrea I Thopia. The couple had two children:

Karl Thopia, Prince of Albania, married Voisava Balsha Gjergj I Thopia

Family tree