Background
Helena was born in the Despotate of the Morea in 1431, the eldest daughter and child of Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea and Catherine Zaccaria of Achaea.
Helena was born in the Despotate of the Morea in 1431, the eldest daughter and child of Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea and Catherine Zaccaria of Achaea.
She later became a nun, assuming the name of Hypomone (Хипомона, υπομονή meaning "patience" in Greek). Her maternal grandparents were Centurione II Zaccaria and Creusa Tocco. In March 1458, when the Ottomans invaded Smederevo, and local rebel Serbs took Anđelović prisoner and Palaiologina and Branković assumed control as joint de facto rulers of Serbia.
On 20 June 1459, the Ottomans launched a major assault against Smederevo and succeeded in taking the city, effectively ending the despotate in Serbia.
Palaiologina was compelled to leave and, in April 1462, she arrived in Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik), where she stayed for a year. Eventually she came to live on the Greek island of Leukas, where she died 7 November 1473, having become a nun and taking the name Hypomone.