Ana was the daughter of
Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and his third wife,
Elizabeth of Hungary. On her paternal side, she belonged to the
Nemanjić dynasty. On her maternal side, she was related to the Hungarian
Árpád dynasty and the
Anjou dynasty. Her aunt,
Maria Árpád, was married to
Charles II, King of Naples and Sicily. Anna Neda was a first cousin of Charles and Maria Árpád's sons, King
Robert of Anjou and Prince
Philip I of Taranto, and her son,
Ivan Stefan, was a second cousin of
Louis of Taranto and Queen
Joanna of Anjou. Her marriage with Michael Asen III produced: •
Michael,
despotes (in Vidin?), probably the eldest son, died before 1330 •
Ivan Stephen of Bulgaria, emperor of Bulgaria in 1330–1331, died between 1339 and 1357 •
Lodovico, pretender to the Bulgarian throne in the Kingdom of Naples, died after 1363, probably distinct from any of the above In 1324, in order to cement an alliance with the Byzantine Empire against the Serbians, Michael Asen III divorced the Serbian Ana Neda in order to marry Theodora of Byzantium. Anna Neda and her children were sent out of
Tǎrnovo into the countryside, and imprisoned. During Ivan Stephen's one-year reign, Ana seems to have acted as co-ruler and held significant power. Ana, Ivan Stephen, and Lodovico fled to Serbia, while Šišman fled to the Mongol "
Golden Horde." The new Bulgarian emperor, Ivan Alexander, allied with Ana's nephew, the new Serbian king
Stefan Dušan (who married Ivan Alexander's sister
Helena), and demanded the extradition of Ana and her children from Serbia. They sought refuge in
Dubrovnik, where they are found already in 1332. As indicated in Neapolitan documents, Ana sought and received the support of her Neapolitan cousins,
King Robert and
Queen Joanna I. In 1340, Ana was said to be about to depart for Italy, where her son Lodovico had received royal favor since 1338 and married Maria of Taranto, the illegitimate half-sister of the future King
Louis I of Naples in 1342. Nevertheless, Ana is found at Dubrovnik between 1343 and 1346. At some point before 1357/1362, Ana had converted to Catholic Christianity like at least two of her sons (probably Ivan Stephen and certainly Lodovico), as reported by King Louis I of Naples to
Pope Innocent VI. The date of her death is unknown. At the end of her life, Ana may have taken monastic vows and received the name
Jelena. She was buried in the
Dečani monastery. She was consecrated in the
Serbian Orthodox Church as
Venerable (
prepodobna) "St. Jelena of Dečani" (Света Јелена Дечанска), her feast day is on June 3 (May 21, Julian calendar). ==Annotations==