Stefan Dušan spouse Helena of Bulgaria
Family
By his wife, Helena of Bulgaria, Emperor Dušan had at least one child, Stefan Uroš V, who succeeded his father as Emperor, r. 1355–1371. According to contemporary Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras, Dušan also had a daughter, Theodora.
According to Gregoras, Dušan was negotiating a potential alliance with Orhan, which would have involved marrying off his daughter to Orhan himself or one of Orhan's sons in 1351. However, these negotiations broke down after the Serbian emissaries were attacked by Nikephoros Orsini – the marriage proposal was withdrawn and Serbia and the Ottoman Empire resumed hostilities. Theodora most likely died between 1352 and 1354.
Some historians speculate that the couple had another child, a daughter. J. Fine suggested that it might be "Irene", the wife of caesar Preljub (governor of Thessaly, d. 1355–1356), mother of Thomas Preljubović (Ruler of Epirus, 1367–1384). In one theory, she married Radoslav Hlapen, Governor of Voden and Veria and Lord of Kastoria, after her first husband's death in 1360. This hypothesis is not widely accepted.
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