Saint Angelina of Serbia

Venerable Mother Angelina, Despotess of Serbia
Fresco in Krušedol depicting Angelina
Saint, Venerable
Born	15th century Berat (present day Albania)
Died	Beginning of the 16th century Krušedol monastery (present day Serbia)
Venerated in	Serbian Orthodox Church
Major shrine	Krušedol monastery
Feast	July 30 or December 10

Angelina Branković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ангелина Бранковић; Albanian: Angjelina Arianiti ca. 1440–1520), born Angjelina Arianiti, was the despotess consort of Serbian Despot Stefan Branković (r. 1458—1459), and a daughter of Albanian nobleman Gjergj Arianit Komneni. For her pious life she was proclaimed a saint and venerated as such by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable Mother Angelina (Serbian: Преподобна мати Ангелина).

Life

Early life

Angelina was the sixth daughter of Albanian nobleman Gjergj Arianit Komneni (1383–1462) in a time when most of the people of Albania were Orthodox Christians. Angelina was married to Serbian ruler Stefan Branković (r. 1458—1459), son of the former Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković (r. 1427—1456). Angelina was the sister of Donika, who married Skanderbeg.

Exile

The couple fled to Albania and then to Italy.

In 1485, at the death of her husband, Angelina went to the Kingdom of Hungary, where her son, George, had become a titular despot in exile of the Serbian Despotate. The territory of the Despotate had been under the Ottoman Empire since its collapse in 1459. Later Angelina retired in the Krušedol monastery, in the Fruška Gora mountain of Syrmia, where she died in the beginning of the 16th century.

Sainthood

She is venerated as a saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable Mother Angelina and her feast day is July 30, while she is also venerated on December 10, together with her husband, St. Stephen, and her son, St. John. She wrote a hagiography known as Hagiography of Mother Angelina (Serbian: Житије мајке Ангелине).

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  Relic case of Angelina's remains

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  Outer wall of Krušedol with ston-icon of Angelina