Helen of Bosnia facts for kids

Helen (also known as Gruba) was a queen who ruled the Kingdom of Bosnia from September 1395 to April 1398. She was the wife of King Dabiša. After her husband died, important noblemen chose her to lead the country.

Historians still discuss whether she was a queen who ruled on her own (a queen regnant) or a temporary ruler (a regent) during a time when there was no king. Either way, the powerful noble families of Bosnia held most of the real power. Her time as ruler ended when King Ostoja was chosen to take the throne. Helen is special because she is the only woman in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina to have been the head of the country.

Her Family and Early Life

A special paper (charter) from King Dabiša and Queen Helen. It gives the village of Veljaci to their daughter Stana.

We don't know much for sure about where Helen came from. She was probably a member of the Nikolić noble family from a region called Zachlumia.

A document from 1392 is the first time Helen is mentioned as the queen and wife of King Dabiša. He had become king in 1391. As queen, Helen supported her husband's decisions. King Dabiša often wrote in his official papers that he had talked with his wife before making choices.

During Dabiša's rule, Queen Helen's family became very important in how the country was run. They even got the right to collect a special payment called the "tribute of Ston" from the city of Ragusa in 1393. Helen and Dabiša had a daughter named Stana. Stana's daughter, Vladava, married a nobleman named Juraj Radivojević while Dabiša was still alive.

Becoming Queen

In 1394, Helen agreed when King Dabiša decided that King Sigismund of Hungary would be his heir. This meant Sigismund would become the next king of Bosnia. However, when Dabiša died on September 8, 1395, the most powerful noblemen of Bosnia did not want Sigismund to be king. These noblemen included Grand Duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, Prince Pavao Radinović, Duke Sandalj Hranić, and Juraj Radivojević.

King Sigismund gathered an army and marched towards Bosnia to claim the throne. But the Bosnian noblemen held a special meeting called a stanak. At this meeting, they chose Helen to be Dabiša's successor instead of Sigismund. Sigismund decided not to fight the united Bosnian nobles. Also, his wife Mary, who was related to Dabiša and was an heir to Hungary, had died. This made Sigismund's position weaker. A big defeat by the Ottomans at the Battle of Nikopolis also made it hard for him to attack Bosnia.

Historians have different ideas about Helen's role. Some believe she was a queen who ruled on her own. Others think her rule was a temporary solution, a compromise. This compromise allowed Sigismund to still hope for the throne later, while the Bosnian nobles avoided giving it to him right away. Sigismund seemed to accept Helen becoming queen. Officials from Ragusa even asked him to speak to the Queen for them. Ragusa eventually understood that Helen would not confirm the old agreements given by Bosnian kings to their city. This was likely because she wasn't seen as having the full power to do so.

Her Time as Ruler

A stone chair believed to be used by Queen Helen. She is shown on its side.

After a major battle where much of the Hungarian army was destroyed, someone else tried to claim the Bosnian throne against Queen Helen. This person, from the town of Požega, started calling himself the King of Bosnia. But by mid-December 1395, Helen had made her position as queen strong. The person claiming to be king was killed by Sigismund's supporters in 1396. He never really threatened Queen Helen's rule. During Helen's time as queen, support for another king, Ladislaus of Naples, briefly became weaker in Bosnia.

No matter what her official title was, Queen Helen mostly acted as a "puppet" ruler for the noblemen. This means the nobles made the real decisions. All the official papers that still exist from her time clearly state that the major noblemen had approved them. In one paper, Queen Helen names "Duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, Prince Pavle Radenović, Duke Sandalj Hranić, and Tepčija Batalo" as the powerful leaders she consulted. The Bosnian noblemen became very independent during Helen's rule. They started fighting among themselves, which made the Kingdom weaker. This also stopped Bosnia from taking part in important events with other countries.

The Ottoman Turks under Bayazid I became a much bigger threat during Helen's rule. This was more so than during the reigns of Dabiša and Tvrtko I. The Ottomans had won a big victory over the Serbian lord Vuk Branković, whose land was between Bosnia and the Ottomans. An Ottoman army came to Bosnia in January 1398. It was led by Bayazid's sons and the Serbian lord Stefan Lazarević, who was now under Ottoman control. This army was larger than the ones defeated by Helen's predecessors in 1388 and 1392. However, this attack failed completely. A very cold winter and deep snow caused many of Bayazid's soldiers to die.

Losing the Throne

The Ottoman defeat did not mean Helen's success. By March 1398, Bosnia was having problems with fighting inside the country. It seems that Helen's family, the Nikolić, tried to use their connection to the queen to become more powerful. They wanted to be directly loyal to the queen instead of to the powerful House of Kosača family. This might have been why there was an uprising against Helen.

She still had a lot of support in April, when Ragusa paid its tribute to her. The last family to support her was the Radivojević noble family, including Helen's grandson-in-law Juraj. However, by May 10, her husband's relative Ostoja was crowned as the new King of Bosnia. Helen's brothers and nephews were against her being removed from power. Because of this, they had to escape to Ragusa. But Helen herself stayed in Bosnia. She was treated with respect, as a queen who had once ruled.

During King Ostoja's rule, Helen started using the name Gruba again. This was likely her common or "folk name." She kept the title of queen, but without the full royal style like "by the Grace of God Queen of Rascia, Bosnia, etc." Gruba is last mentioned in a letter sent by officials from Ragusa on March 18, 1399. She might have died from a widespread illness that affected the Zachlumia region at that time.

Images for kids

• 

  A special paper (charter) from King Dabiša and Queen Helen. It gives the village of Veljaci to their daughter Stana.

• 

  A stone chair believed to be used by Queen Helen. She is shown on its side.

See also

In Spanish: Helena I de Bosnia para niños