Angelina of Greece - Disputed origins

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelina_of_Greece

Judging by the dates of her marriage, she is considered to have been born around 1380. She likely had at least one sister, Maria, who accompanied her to Spain, as did a certain Catalina.

Regarding the story how she came to end up in an Ottoman harem, it has been speculated that she was taken by Murad I after the capture of Thessalonica in 1387, or that she was demanded as tribute by their son Bayezid I after defeating Thessalonica in 1391. Later they would be captured by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1402, after the Ottoman defeat in Battle of Ankaraa. Around 1402 the first embassy sent by Henry III of Castile and consisting of Payo González de Sotomayor and Hernán Sánchez de Palazuelos arrived at the court of Tamerlán. At the moment after the return of the ambassadors, Tamerlán sent Angelina and her sister María to the Castilian king, along with another Christian woman, Catalina.

The embassy entourage arrived in Seville in 1403, whereupon the poet Francisco Imperial composed a poem dedicated to Angelina. Later, after passing through Jódar, a possession of Luis de Sotomayor, brother of the ambassador Payo González de Sotomayor, they arrived at the Alcázar of Segovia, where they met Henry III and his court. The king took them under his protection, arranging the marriage of Angelina with the Segovian nobleman Diego González de Contreras. Her sister Maria married the ambassador Payo González de Sotomayor, after having been exiled away to his holdings in Galicia, and later going to France, because the king considered that such romantic involvement was inappropriate for those entrusted with the protection of the ladies during their return trip. Catalina is said to have married Hernán Sánchez de Palazuelos. The married Angelina and Diego moved to live in Segovia, specifically in a house which is still preserved today located in the neighborhood of San Juan de los Caballeros. [Note 2][3]

1913 article

Doña Angelina de Grecia : ensayo biográfico (1913) - Lozoya, Juan de Contreras y López de Ayala, Marqués de, 1893-1978 Imágenes digitales Imágenes digitales [PDF] Ejemplares

https://bibliotecadigital.jcyl.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?pat...

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/71052371.pdf

Page 137

Juan de Contreras, marqués de Lozoya y descendiente de Angelina de Grecia, escribió una biografía sobre ella, aportando los siguientes detalles:

Fue Doña Angelina hija de Conde Ivan de Hungria, duque de Esclavonia, y vástago de la casa de Anjou, que entonces reinaba en Hungría, Nápoles y Sicilia, Príncipe del cual hacen mención los Santamartas. En cuanto a la madre de la dama, aunque nada concreto dicen sobre ella los historiadores, suponemos que debió ser una princesa griega, atendiendo a que fue su hija llamada siempre Doña Angelina de Grecia [...]. Fue hijo del conde Ivan de Andrés, Rey de Hungría y de Sicilia (aunque no reinó de hecho más que en este último país), y que estuvo casado con Juana I, Reina de Nápoles [...]. Nació la Infanta en Hungría, aunque no sabemos en cuál de sus ciudades, hacia el año 1380. Tenía pues 15 años cuando fue hecha prisionera por primera vez en Nicópolis, y 18 años cuando en 1398 vino a España. (1913: 13-14)

(And a great deal more)

Angelina de Grecia is proposed as daughter of Ioannes Doukas, ruler of Thessaly & his wife .... Palaiologos

As of 18 February 2025, I do not see firm evidence for this.

Angelina and her sister Maria are not shown as children of that count John at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Uros or elsewhere that I see.

I’d like to see more information about how Ioannes Doukas, ruler of Thessaly could be the father of the princesses captured by Bayezid I "the Thunderbolt", ottoman sultan

Angelina and Maria are in fact described as consorts of Bayezid I:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayezid_I

• Angelina Hatun (1380 - 1440). Daughter of the Hungarian count János (Juan), was freed by Timur and handed over to Henry III of Castile. She later married Diego González de Contreras.
• Maria Hatun. Angelina's sister, she was freed by Timur and handed over to Henry III of Castile. She later married Payo González de Soto Mayor.

(Angelina Hatun link resolves to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelina_of_Greece)

The issues I see are:

1) Angelina and Maria are NOT defined as children of Ioannes Doukas, ruler of Thessaly So how can we say they are when there are no records or descriptions that they are?

2) "Conde Juan" could be many different men.

It's just too speculative for me.

This is such an interesting puzzle!

I would mention that the families of European rulers are rather well documented, and it seems unlikely that two daughters would just disappear into an Ottoman harem without a mention in the historical record either by their own families or by the Ottomans. It was common practice to hold nobles captured following battles for ransom and I would image that the capture of the daughter or granddaughter of a king would make for a noteworthy event.

For the profile of conde Juan since our singular source for his existence has the name Juan, I think it would be more appropriate to have his name be conde Juan, rather than translating it into Hungarian.

Ah, I had done in it both languages, in accordance with sources. Maybe will switch it around.

I just started reading Burkiewicz, Lukasz. (2016). Ł. Burkiewicz, Two Christian princesses offered as Timur's present for King Henry III of Castile. The analysis of the introduction to Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo's narrative (1403-1406), „Perspektywy Kultury” 2015, vol. 13 (2), pp. 159-178.. Perspektywy Kultury. 13. 159-178.

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000215668202821

It's probably the most comprehensive look. What do you think?

Were Maria, Angelina and also Catalina actually concubine / partners of the Ottoman emperor though? I saw something that concubines were "required" to convert, and since they didn't, they weren't?

Burkiewicz (https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000215668202821) concludes:

1. The likelihood that Angelina and Mary belonged to the Hungarian royal family is not very high. The analysis of the Angevin family tree and academic sources on the Crusade of Nicopolis do not mention Duke John (Ivan), the son of the Hungarian king and the father of two daughters, who were kept as captives by the Turks or captured by the Ottomans after the Battle of Nicopolis.

Other points he makes include:

• they were captured at a border raid, and "tradition" changed that into the Battle of Nicopolis.
• King Sigismund of Luxemburg allowed the crusaders to take with them a large number of women ... so presumably they could have been part of a crusader entourage.
• Perhaps their mother was Greek; perhaps they were members of the Angelos family.

And my favorite (see page 175)

"6. Also, the words of the poet, Francis Imperial, that Angelina could be Tuerta, that is Tarta, coming from the country of Tatars, should be taken into consideration. Maybe she came from Asia, and her facial features, resembling European ones, allowed her contemporaries to assume she came from Hungary or Greece. In the face of scientific evidence on the girls’ origins available to us, this hypothesis seems probable."