After Smederevo fell to the Ottoman Turks on 20 June 1459, she fled Serbia for the Greek island of Lefkada, where she converted to Catholicism.

Her maternal grandparents were Centurione II Zaccaria and an unnamed Byzantine lady by the Asen Palaiologos houses.

They had three surviving daughters:[4] When her husband died after a year of rule, Mihailo Anđelović was chosen to lead a council, becoming the de facto ruler of Serbia (Voyvoda).

[5] 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.