When Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia, died in 1458, an interregnum ensued. Having left three daughters and no sons, he had no clear heir, so the power was shared between his blinded brother Stephen and widow Helen Palaiologina. King Thomas took advantage of their weakness to recapture Eastern Bosnian towns he had lost to Serbia in 1445. Shortly afterwards, he entered peace negotiations with Lazar's widow, Helen Palaiologina. Abandoning the prospect of his son's marriage to a daughter of the Duke of Milan, Thomas came to an agreement with Helen: Stephen was to marry the eldest of her three daughters by Lazar, the 11-year-old Helen. The match was prestigious for Stephen not only because of the bride's descent from the Byzantine imperial family, but also because it brought the government of Serbia to the groom.