Portraits of sultans and sultanas of the Ottoman Empire. Female sultanate of the Ottoman Empire

On April 27, 1494, the 10th ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent, was born, during whose reign one of the most popular Turkish TV series “The Magnificent Age” is dedicated. His release on the screens caused an ambiguous reaction from the public: ordinary viewers followed the twists and turns of the plot with interest, historians indignantly commented on the large number of deviations from historical truth. What was Sultan Suleiman really like?


The main characters of the series *The Magnificent Century*

The series is designed primarily for a female audience, so the relationship between the Sultan and the numerous inhabitants of the harem became the central storyline in it. A descendant of the 33rd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Murad V, Osman Salahaddin objects to this emphasis: “He ruled for 46 years. Over the years, I have traveled almost 50,000 kilometers on campaigns. Not in a Mercedes, but on horseback. This took a lot of time. Therefore, the Sultan simply physically could not visit his harem so often.

Francis I and Sultan Suleiman

Of course, the film initially did not claim the status of documentary historical cinema, so the share of fiction in it is really large. The consultant of the series, Doctor of Historical Sciences E. Afyonci explains: “We shoveled a lot of sources. They translated records of Venetian, German, French ambassadors who visited the Ottoman Empire at that time. In The Magnificent Century, events and personalities are taken from historical sources. However, due to lack of information, the personal life of the padishah had to be thought out by ourselves.”

Sultan Suleiman receives the ruler of Transylvania, Janos II Zapolya. antique miniature

Sultan Suleiman was not accidentally called the Magnificent - he was the same figure as Peter I in Russia: he initiated many progressive reforms. Even in Europe he was called the Great. The empire during the time of Sultan Suleiman conquered vast territories.

Engraving fragment *Turkish Sultan's Bath*

The series softened the true picture of the mores of that time: society is shown to be more secular and less cruel than it really was. Suleiman was a tyrant, according to G. Weber, neither kinship nor merit saved him from suspicion and cruelty. At the same time, he fought against bribery and severely punished officials for abuse. At the same time, he patronized poets, artists, architects and wrote poetry himself.

Left - A. Hickel. Roksolana and the Sultan, 1780. On the right - Halit Ergench as Sultan Suleiman and Meryem Uzerli as Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska

Of course, screen heroes look much more attractive than their historical counterparts. The surviving portraits of Sultan Suleiman captured a man with delicate features of a European type, who can hardly be called handsome. The same can be said about Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, known in Europe as Roksolana. Women's outfits in the series reflect European fashion rather than Ottoman - there were no such deep necklines during the "Magnificent Age".

Meryem Uzerli as Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and traditional Ottoman outfit

Intrigues and squabbles between Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and the third wife of the Sultan Mahidevran, who are given great attention in the film, took place in real life: if the heir to the throne, the son of Mahidevran Mustafa came to power, he would have killed Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska's children to get rid of competitors. Therefore, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was ahead of her rival and was not slow to give the order to kill Mustafa.

S. Oreshkova, an employee of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, draws attention to the fact that the harem is shown not quite the way it really was: “It is surprising that in the series the concubines and wives of Suleiman roam so freely. There was a garden at the harem, and only eunuchs could be with them! In addition, the series does not show that the harem in those days was not only the place where the sultan's wives with children, servants and concubines lived. Then the harem was partly like an institution of noble maidens - it contained many pupils who were not marked as the wife of the ruler. They studied music, dance, poetry.” Therefore, it is not surprising that some girls dreamed of getting into the harem of the Sultan.

Here they are - 35 heads, hanging on the wall in the Istanbul bath (!)

The bathhouse in the historical center, apparently on the site of the old Roman-Byzantine one, is fully functional, 30 euros for entry, attendant / services - separately ...

dressing room

But back to the sultans, in order, from left to right, top to bottom (the top photo, of course, is clickable - to better see the characters):

1) Osman I (1299-1326) Gazi - "Fighter for the Faith"
The founder of the dynasty (and the state on the basis of a small feudal possession of the collapsed Seljuk Sultanate of Rum), "collector of lands", son Ertogrula . Bay

2) Orkhan I (1326-1359)
Married to the daughter of a Byzantine emperor John VI . He "invented" the Janissaries (young Christian captives - later they acted in the form of a tax / tribute - were converted to Islam and raised warriors from them). Under him, the Turks crossed into Europe and occupied Gallipoli. Bay

3) Murad I (1359-1389)
Significantly expanded the European possessions of the Turks. He was the first to take the title of Sultan. In the struggle for the throne, he defeated his brothers. Killed by a Serb M.Obilic (I crept up to the Sultan under the guise of a defector; apparently the Serbs have such fun - in 1914, something similar will lead to the 1st World War ...) during the Battle of Kosovo. Byzantium became the de facto vassal of the Turks

4) Bayezid I (1389-1402) - Yildirim - "Lightning"
Introduced preventive fratricide. Married to the daughter of a Serbian prince captured in Kosovo and executed Lazarus . He defeated the crusaders near Nikopol (1396), executed most of the noble prisoners (instead of ransom!). Completed the conquest of Serbia and Bulgaria. Besieged Constantinople. Was defeated by Timur , captured, lived in an iron cage (did not last long), "worked" as a footstool

5) Mehmed I (1413-1421) - Celebi - "Scientist"
Gathered the empire after it fell apart due to Timur's campaign, defeated his brothers, minimized losses from 10-year civil strife. As a hostage at his court, for some time he was Vlad Dracul - son of Mircea of ​​Wallachia

6) Murad II (1421-44, 1446-51)
Besieged Constantinople. He defeated the crusaders at Varna (1444) and on the Kosovo field (2nd battle, 1448), deciding the fate of the Balkans. In Albania, he fought G.K. Skandenberg . For 2 years "resigned" in favor of his son.

7) Mehmed II (1444-46, 1451-81) Fatih - "Conqueror"
Captured Constantinople, took the title "Kaiser a-Rum" - Roman Caesar. Captured the Empire of Trebizond. Under him, the Crimean Khanate became a Turkish vassal. Raided southern Italy (1480-81)

8) Bayezid II (1481-1512)
Under him, clashes began with the Persian Shiites (and their supporters within the empire) and the Mamluks. Brother Jem fled to the West, they tried to use him in the fight against the Turks. The most significant wave of Spanish Jewish immigration occurred during his reign. Renounce the throne.

9) Selim I (1512-1520) Yavuz - "Fierce"
He rebelled against his father, after the defeat he fled to the Crimea. He returned, poisoned the renounced father (according to rumors) and killed all male relatives (brothers, nephews, etc.). Arranged an ethno-religious purge of Shiites in the districts bordering Persia (approximately 45,000 corpses). He conquered Syria, Palestine and Egypt (1516-17, in Cairo approximately 50,000 corpses, including 800 Mamluk beys). He was the first to take the title of caliph, received the keys to Mecca and Medina (and Jerusalem - to the heap).

10) Suleiman I (1520-66) Eve - "Fair"
Captured Rhodes, divided Hungary with the Habsburgs (the beginning of the confrontation). Unsuccessful rivalry with the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean (up to Sumatra, for which the admiral was executed Piri Reis ). Besieged Vienna and Malta. Captured Mesopotamia (with Baghdad, 1534), Tripolitania (1541), Sudan (1557). Invaded Morocco and Ethiopia. He planned to build a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. Under him he was captured and executed Dm.Vishnevetsky (Bayda). The Ottoman fleet was based at Marseille (under the command H. Barbarossa) . Beloved wife - Roksolana from Southern Russia (the era of intervention in the politics of the Sultan's wives and mother-in-law begins with it). Issued a general code of laws of the empire. With him Sinan built the Suleymaniye Mosque. The main character of the series "The Magnificent Century" (if I haven't watched it!)

11) Selim II (1566-74) Sarkhosh - "Drunkard"
The first unsuccessful clash with Russia was over Astrakhan, he planned to build the Volga-Don Canal (1569). Captured Cyprus (1571). Suffered a naval defeat at Lepanto (1571, exaggerated in the West). Reconquered Tunisia (1574). He gave the monopoly of the alcohol trade to his close Jew - Joseph Nasi (according to rumors, he wanted to become the king of Cyprus, but the sultan decided that the income from the "shinks" was enough). He carried out a total confiscation of the real estate of the Orthodox Church (with the right to buy at auctions, a few rich monasteries and parishes survived). With him Sinan built the Selimiye mosque in Adrianople (the dome is almost equal in diameter to St. Sophia, which Selim II repaired). Drowned in the pool.

12) Murad III (1574-1595)
He conquered all of Transcaucasia (another war with Persia). Campaign to the coast of Mozambique (1585 and 89). He ordered to execute his brothers dumb, passing them silk scarves for strangulation with tears in his eyes (as his Jewish doctor writes - well, how can you not remember the Simpsons - Africa, on the poster is a man, a taxi driver: "this is our new president, a good man - came to power without shedding a single drop of blood - he strangled everyone!"). Under him, the harem grows and acquires the features of a "shadow" royal palace (hundreds of living and employees). The Ecumenical Patriarchate is deprived of the temple of Pammakaristos and moved to the church of St. George in the Fener region (where it remains to this day). Corruption of money due to the price revolution (Discovery of America).

13) Mehmed III (1595-1603)
The last sultan, who passed the practice of public administration before taking the throne, leading the province.

14) Ahmed I (1603-17)
Lost Azerbaijan. He did not engage in fratricide - he simply kept relatives locked up in a harem. With him a student Sinana built the Blue Mosque (the only one with 6 minarets and the first imperial mosque not funded by the conquests) and overhauled Hagia Sophia.

Fans of the TV series "The Magnificent Century" found real photos of the harem's concubines.
As it turned out, the ladies bear little resemblance to the heroines of the popular series.

The heroine of the popular series and a portrait of her real prototype.

In February, fans of the "Magnificent Century" said goodbye to the Turkish series, which was broadcast in Russia for more than three years with a very high rating.

The hearts of housewives were conquered by the story of the Russian girl Alexandra, who in 1520 ended up in the harem of Sultan Suleiman. Subsequently, the woman became the beloved wife of Suleiman. And then she converted to Islam, receiving the name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska.

The Russian audience was bribed not only by the twisted plot of The Magnificent Century, filled with intrigue and unexpected turns of events, but also by very beautiful actresses.

Anis al-Doleh or "Soul Friend of the State"

By the way, after the “Magnificent Century” due to pregnancy, the performer of the role of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan actress Meryem Uzerli left, many housewives stopped watching the film. Because, in their opinion, the actress Vahide Gerdum, who replaced Uzerli in the series, does not have such a luxurious appearance as Meryem.

Although, if you look at the portraits of the real Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan, then she also could not be called a beauty. According to historians, the Russian wife of Sultan Suleiman was distinguished more by intelligence and worldly cunning than by her ideal appearance.

Meanwhile, bloggers have found curious photos of the harem of Iranian ruler Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, who ruled from 1848 to 1896.

And this is the incomparable Ansiodolla (sitting)

Happy polygamist.

These photos are interesting because you can see how the harem concubines actually looked.

According to bloggers, the Shah liked to photograph his beloved wives, which is why these unique pictures have come down to us.

Researchers write that the Iranian Shah had about 100 wives in the harem.

Bloggers found photos of the Shah's favorite wives. Judging by the pictures, these women are far from ideal according to modern criteria of beauty. Yes, and they are not at all like the heroines of the TV series “The Magnificent Age”, in which all the concubines of Sultan Suleiman, as a selection, are beautiful.

Many bloggers, having seen real photos of the harem, jokingly remarked that if the favorite wives of the Shah looked like this, then it’s scary to imagine what the unloved ones looked like ...

Expert opinion: "Everyone has their own ideas about female beauty!"

I can say one thing: in these photographs we see the shah's wives, - Boris Vasilyevich Dolgov, candidate of historical sciences, senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told KP. - These are not men and not hermaphrodites, as many people thought when they saw these photos. It cannot be said that there were no such inhabitants in the harem. But these were isolated rare cases that were kept secret, since the Koran, like other religions, forbids such things. Are these women beautiful or not, what's the difference? For taste and color, as they say, there are no comrades. In the vegetation on the face of the concubines of the harem, I also do not see anything surprising. A small mustache is characteristic of oriental women. If women specially painted mustaches on themselves, then the owner of this harem simply liked such ladies. In other harems, I have not heard of such a fashion.

But fused eyebrows can be safely called a fashion element of that time. As for the fullness of the inhabitants of the harem, in the 18th and 19th centuries there were a lot of plump women. Moreover, fullness was considered a sign of beauty. The women were specially densely fed and practically not allowed to move so that they became as full as the ladies in these photographs.

Roksolana is the queen of the East. All the secrets and mysteries of the biography

Information about the origin of Roksolana, or Hurrem, as her beloved Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent called her, is contradictory. Because there are no documentary sources and written evidence telling about the life of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska before her appearance in the harem.

We know about the origin of this great woman from legends, literary works and reports of diplomats at the court of Sultan Suleiman. At the same time, almost all literary sources mention her Slavic (Rusyn) origin.

“Roksolana, she is Hurrem (according to the historical and literary tradition, her birth name is Anastasia or Alexandra Gavrilovna Lisovskaya; the exact year of birth is unknown, she died on April 18, 1558) is a concubine, and then the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, mother of Sultan Selim II” , according to Wikipedia.

The first details about the early years of Roksolana-Hyurrem's life before entering the harem appear in literature in the 19th century, while this amazing woman lived in the 16th century.

Captive. Artist Jan Baptist Huysmans

Therefore, it is possible to believe in such "historical" sources that arose through the centuries only by virtue of one's imagination.

Abduction by Tatars

According to some authors, the Ukrainian girl Nastya Lisovskaya, who was born in 1505 in the family of the priest Gavrila Lisovsky in Rogatin, a small town in Western Ukraine, became the prototype of Roksolana. In the XVI century. this town was part of the Commonwealth, which at that time suffered from the devastating raids of the Crimean Tatars. In the summer of 1520, on the night of the attack on the settlement, the young daughter of a priest caught the eye of the Tatar invaders. Moreover, from some authors, say, from N. Lazorsky, the girl is kidnapped on the day of the wedding. While others - she has not yet reached the age of the bride, but was a teenager. In the TV series "The Magnificent Century" they also show Roksolana's fiancé - the artist Luka.

After the kidnapping, the girl ended up in the slave market of Istanbul, where she was sold and then donated to the harem of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman. Suleiman was then crown prince and held a government post in Manisa. Historians do not exclude that the girl was given to 25-year-old Suleiman as a gift on the occasion of accession to the throne (after the death of his father Selim I on September 22, 1520). Once in the harem, Roksolana received the name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, which in Persian means "cheerful, laughing, giving joy."

How the name came about: Roksolana

According to the Polish literary tradition, the real name of the heroine was Alexandra, she was the daughter of the priest Gavrila Lisovsky from Rohatyn (Ivano-Frankivsk region). In Ukrainian literature of the 19th century, she is called Anastasia from Rohatyn. This version is colorfully presented in the novel by Pavlo Zagrebelny "Roksolana". Whereas, according to the version of another writer, Mikhail Orlovsky, set out in the historical story “Roksolana or Anastasia Lisovskaya”, the girl was from Chemerovets (Khmelnitsky region). In those ancient times, when the future Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan could be born there, both cities were located on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland.

In Europe, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska became known as Roksolana. Moreover, this name was literally invented by Ogyer Giselin de Busbeck, the Hamburg ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and the writer of the Latin-language Turkish Notes. In his literary work, based on the fact that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska came from the territory of the Roksolani or Alans tribe, he called her Roksolana.

Wedding of Sultan Suleiman and Hürrem

From the stories of the Austrian ambassador Busbek, the author of the Turkish Letters, we learned many details from the life of Roksolana. We can say that thanks to him we learned about her very existence, because the name of a woman could easily be lost in the centuries.

In one of the letters, Busbek reports the following: “The Sultan loved Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska so much that, in violation of all palace and dynastic rules, he married according to Turkish tradition and prepared a dowry.”

One of the portraits of Roksolana-Hyurrem

This significant event in all respects took place around 1530. The Englishman George Young described it as a miracle: “This week an event took place here, which the whole history of the local sultans does not know. The great ruler Suleiman took a slave from Russia named Roksolana as empress, which was marked by a great feast. The marriage ceremony took place in the palace, which was dedicated to feasts of an unprecedented scale. The streets of the city are filled with light at night and people are having fun everywhere. Houses are hung with garlands of flowers, swings are installed everywhere, and people swing on them for hours. On the old hippodrome, large stands were built with seats and a gilded lattice for the empress and her courtiers. Roksolana with close ladies watched from there the tournament, in which Christian and Muslim knights participated; musicians performed in front of the podium, wild animals were seen off, including strange giraffes with such long necks that they reached the sky ... There are many different rumors about this wedding, but no one can explain what all this can mean.

It must be pointed out that some sources say that this wedding took place only after the death of the Valide Sultan, the mother of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. And the valid Sultan of Hafsa Khatun died in 1534.

In 1555, Hans Dernshvam visited Istanbul, in his travel notes he wrote the following: “Suleiman fell in love with this girl with Russian roots more than other concubines, from an unknown family. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was able to obtain a document of freedom and become his legal wife in the palace. In addition to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, there is no padishah in history who would listen to the opinion of his wife so much. Whatever she wished, he immediately fulfilled.

Roksolana-Hyurrem was the only woman in the Sultan's harem with the official title of Sultana Haseki, and Sultan Suleiman shared his power with her. She made the Sultan forget about the harem forever. All of Europe wanted to know the details about the woman who, at one of the receptions in the palace, in a dress of golden brocade, rose with the Sultan to the throne with an open face!

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska children born in love

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to the Sultan 6 children.

Sons:

Mehmed (1521–1543)

Abdullah (1523–1526)

Daughter:

Of all the sons of Suleiman I, only Selim survived the magnificent father-sultan. The rest died earlier in the struggle for the throne (except Mehmed, who died in 1543 from smallpox).

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and Suleiman wrote each other letters full of passionate declarations of love

Selim became the heir to the throne. After the death of his mother in 1558, another son of Suleiman and Roksolana - Bayazid - rebelled (1559). He was defeated by his father's troops in the battle of Konya in May 1559 and tried to hide in Safavid Iran, but Shah Tahmasp I betrayed him to his father for 400 thousand gold coins, and Bayezid was executed (1561). Five sons of Bayazid were also killed (the youngest of them was only three years old).

Hürrem's letter to his master

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska's letter to Sultan Suleiman was written when he was on a campaign against Hungary. But there were many similar touching letters between them.

“The soul of my soul, my lord! Hail to the one who raises the morning breeze; a prayer to the one who bestows sweetness on the lips of lovers; praise to the one who fills with heat the voice of the beloved; reverence for the one who burns, like the words of passion; boundless devotion to the one who is illumined by the most pure lordship, like the faces and heads of the ascended; the one who is a hyacinth in the form of a tulip, perfumed with the fragrance of fidelity; glory to the one who holds the banner of victory in front of the army; the one whose cry is: “Allah! Allah!" - heard in heaven to his majesty my padishah. God help him! - we convey the wonder of the Highest Lord and the conversations of Eternity. An enlightened conscience that adorns my mind and remains a treasure of the light of my happiness and my sad eyes; the one who knows my innermost secrets; the peace of my aching heart and the pacification of my wounded chest; to the one who is the sultan on the throne of my heart and in the light of the eyes of my happiness, the eternal slave, devoted, with a hundred thousand burns on her soul, worships him. If you, my lord, my highest tree of paradise, even for a moment deign to think or ask about this orphan of yours, know that everyone except her is under the tent of mercy of the All-Merciful. For on that day when the unfaithful sky with all-encompassing pain inflicted violence on me and numerous swords of separation plunged into my soul, despite these poor tears, on that judgment day, when the eternal fragrance of paradise flowers was taken away from me, my world turned into nothingness my health into sickness, and my life into ruin. From my incessant sighs, sobs and painful cries, which do not subside day or night, human souls were filled with fire. Maybe the creator will have mercy and, responding to my longing, will return you to me again, the treasure of my life, in order to save me from the current alienation and oblivion. May it come true, my lord! The day has turned into night for me, O yearning moon! My lord, the light of my eyes, there is no night that would not be incinerated by my hot sighs, there is no evening when my loud sobs and my longing for your sunny face would not reach heaven. The day has turned into night for me, O yearning moon!

Fashionista Roksolana on the canvases of artists

Roksolana, she is Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan in many areas of palace life was a pioneer. For example, this woman became the trendsetter of the new palace fashion, forcing tailors to sew loose-fitting clothes and unusual capes for herself and her loved ones. She also adored all kinds of exquisite jewelry, some of which were made by Sultan Suleiman with his own hands, while the other part of the jewelry was purchases or gifts from ambassadors.

We can judge the outfits and preferences of Hürrem from the paintings of famous artists who tried to both restore her portrait and recreate the outfits of that era. For example, in a painting by Jacopo Tintoretto (1518 or 1519–1594), a painter of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is depicted in a long-sleeved dress with a turn-down collar and cape.

Portrait of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, stored in the museum of the Topkapı Palace

The life and rise of Roksolana so excited creative contemporaries that even the great painter Titian (1490-1576), whose student, by the way, was Tintoretto, painted a portrait of the famous sultana. A painting by Titian painted in the 1550s is called La Sultana Rossa, that is, the Russian sultana. Now this masterpiece of Titian is stored in the Ringling Brothers Museum of Art and Circus Art in Sarasota (USA, Florida); The museum contains unique works of painting and sculpture from the Middle Ages in Western Europe.

Another artist who lived at that time and was related to Turkey was a prominent German artist from Flemburg, Melchior Loris. He arrived in Istanbul as part of the Austrian embassy of Busbek to Sultan Suleiman Kanuni, and stayed in the capital of the Ottoman Empire for four and a half years. The artist made many portraits and everyday sketches, but, in all likelihood, his portrait of Roksolana could not have been made from nature. Melchior Loris portrayed the Slavic heroine as a little plump, with a rose in her hand, with a cape on her head, decorated with precious stones and with her hair in a braid.

About the unprecedented outfits of the Ottoman queen colorfully told not only picturesque canvases, but also books. Vivid descriptions of the wardrobe of the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent can be found in the famous book by P. Zagrebelny "Roksolana".

It is known that Suleiman composed a short poem, which is directly related to the wardrobe of his beloved. In the view of a lover, the dress of his beloved looks like this:

I repeated many times:

Sew my favorite dress.

Make the top of the sun, line the moon,

Pluck fluff from white clouds, twist threads

from sea blue

Sew on buttons from the stars, and make loops out of me!

enlightened ruler

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan managed to show her mind not only in love affairs, but also in communication with people of equal status. She patronized artists, corresponded with the rulers of Poland, Venice, and Persia. It is known that she corresponded with the queens and the sister of the Persian Shah. And for the Persian prince Elkas Mirza, who was hiding in the Ottoman Empire from enemies, she sewed a silk shirt and vest with her own hands, thus demonstrating generous maternal love, which should have aroused both gratitude and the prince's trust.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan even received foreign envoys, corresponded with influential nobles of that time.

Historical information has been preserved that a number of contemporaries of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, in particular Sehname-i Al-i Osman, Sehname-i Humayun and Taliki-zade el-Fenari presented a very flattering portrait of Suleiman's wife, as a woman revered "for her numerous charitable donations, for her patronage of students and respect for learned men, connoisseurs of religion, as well as for her acquisition of rare and beautiful things.

Contemporaries believed that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska bewitched Suleiman

She implemented large-scale charitable projects. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska received the right to build religious and charitable buildings in Istanbul and other major cities of the Ottoman Empire. She created a charitable foundation in her name (tour. K?lliye Hasseki Hurrem). With donations from this fund, the Aksaray district or women's bazaar, later also named after Haseki (tour. Avret Pazari), was built in Istanbul, the buildings of which included a mosque, a madrasah, an imaret, an elementary school, hospitals and a fountain. It was the first complex built in Istanbul by the architect Sinan in his new position as chief architect of the ruling house, as well as the third largest building in the capital, after the complexes of Mehmet II (tour. Fatih Camii) and Suleymaniye (tour. S?leymanie).

Other charitable projects of Roksolana include complexes in Adrianople and Ankara, which became the basis of the project in Jerusalem (later named after Haseki Sultan), hospices and canteens for pilgrims and the homeless, a canteen in Mecca (under Haseki Khyurrem’s imaret), a public canteen in Istanbul (in Avret Pazari), as well as two large public baths in Istanbul.

The myth that Suleiman loved a witch

The mutual love of the ruling spouses caused not only envy and bewilderment, but also numerous gossip. The Habsburg envoy noted: "The only flaw in the character of Suleiman is his excessive devotion to his wife."

A certain Zara wrote about this: “He loves her so much and is so faithful to her that everyone just marvels and says that she fascinated him, for which her name is none other than jade, or a witch. For this reason, the military and judges hate her and her children, but, seeing the Sultan's love for her, they do not dare to grumble. I myself have heard many times how they curse her and her children around, but they speak kindly of the first wife and her children.

Unable to explain how Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was able to achieve such a high position, contemporaries attributed to her that she simply bewitched Suleiman. This image of an insidious and power-hungry woman was also transferred to Western historiography.

And the rival – in a bag...

The Venetian ambassador Pietro Bragadin described such a case. A certain sanjak-bey gave the Sultan and his mother each a beautiful Russian slave girl. When the girls arrived at the palace, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, who was caught by the ambassador, was very unhappy. Valide Sultan, who gave her slave to her son, was forced to apologize to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and take the concubine back. The Sultan ordered the second slave to be sent as a wife to another sanjak-bey, for the presence of even one concubine in the palace made Haseki Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska unhappy.

Whether as a legend, or as a true story, the writers described the case of Suleiman's massacre of a concubine. It is said that one day, after a quarrel, the Sultan cheated on Hürrem by spending the night with an odalisque from the harem. What Haseki Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska immediately learned about. She wept bitterly and refused to talk to the Sultan. Upon learning that his beloved was sobbing, the sultan, tormented by remorse, ordered the odalisque to be sewn into a leather bag and drowned in the Bosphorus. The order of the Sultan was carried out.

Intrigues attributed to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska

Haseki Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska played an important role in the elimination of both the son of Mahidevran, the senior crown prince Mustafa, and her worst enemy, the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha, her unenviable, fatal role. She took part in the erection of the husband of her daughter Mihrimah - Rustem Pasha to the position of Grand Vizier. Her efforts to enthrone her son Bayezid are known. Hurrem grieved greatly over the death of her two sons, Mehmed and Cangir, at a young age.

Roksolana-Hyurrem on a Venetian engraving

She spent the last years of her life in illness until her death in 1558.

Myth of the end times: the Vatican trail

Recently, the media presented a completely new answer to the question: who is Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan, and where is her homeland? And the documents were not found anywhere, but allegedly in the secret archives of the Vatican. According to these papers, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is not the daughter of a poor parish priest from the Ivano-Frankivsk parish.

A certain doctor of historical sciences, Rinaldo Marmara, was not looking for the pedigree of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan at all, but this was his main sensational find. While cataloging a book on the history of diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Vatican, Dr. came across documents confirming that Pope Alexander VII (1599–1667) and Sultan Mehmed IV (1648–1687) were related.

Having started a detailed study of the Pope's genealogical tree, the following facts came to light. Pirates of the Ottoman Empire in the suburbs of the Italian city of Siena attack a castle belonging to the noble and wealthy family of Marsili. The castle is plundered and burned to the ground, and the daughter of the owner of the castle, a beautiful girl, is taken to the Sultan's palace.

The genealogical tree of the Marsili family indicates: mother - Hanna Marsili (Marsili).

The first branch is her son Leonardo Marsili. Branches from it: Cesaro Marsili, Alessandro Marsili, Laura Marsili and Fabio Chigi.

More precisely, Laura Marsili marries a representative of the Chigi family, and their son, Fabio Chigi, born in Siena in 1599, becomes Pope in 1655 and takes the name Alexander VII.

The second branch is the daughter of Hanna Marsili - Margarita Marsili (La Rosa, nicknamed so for the fiery red hair color ... and again it is not clear: who owns the black hair in the portrait of Hu in Topkapi Palace). From her marriage to Sultan Suleiman, she had sons - Selim, Ibrahim, Mehmed. Selim ascended the throne as the XI ruler of the Ottoman Empire.

According to this alignment, Hürrem's maiden name was Margarita, and not Anastasia or Alexandra Lisovskaya.

But where is the guarantee that the documents found are genuine, not falsified? Not a fiction of the Venetian ambassadors who put a fake in historical papers? Not gossip transferred to the diplomatic correspondence of the 16th or even later, say, the 17th century? After all, it was not possible to verify this fact - about the origin of a woman who lived in the Sultan's harem under the name of Rokoslana-Hyurrem. And it is unlikely that the lady of the Ottomans herself indicated in letters to high-ranking persons with whom she carried on diplomatic and secular correspondence, details about her childhood or youth. Why would she give out details about herself - the one that she no longer was and never will be?!

Journalists replicating the news about the Italian origin of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska claim that the family tree of the Ottoman padishah family and the noble Marsili family can be traced back to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV, nicknamed the Hunter, and this document is signed by Mehmed himself and sealed with his seal. And yet - as if the authenticity of the document was confirmed by the current Pope Bartholomew himself. Only now there is no Pope Bartholomew - when this shocking news appeared - in the Vatican, because Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) then sat there.

And along with this new “delusion”, a real researcher can discover other absurdities, which, one by one, are revealed by Sophia Benois, the author of the popular book “Hürrem. The famous beloved of Sultan Suleiman.

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WOMEN OF SULTAN SULEIMAN It is not known how many women were in the life of Sultan Suleiman I, but his relationship with some of them is provable. Suleiman's first woman was Montenegrin Mukrime (Mukerrem - Mukarrem), who was introduced to him by valide Hafsa in Kaffa in 1508/09. Mukrimé was born in Šokdra in 1496 (or 1494), she was the daughter of Prince Stefan (Staniš) Černojević of the Montenegrin royal family of Crnojević (Černojević) and an Albanian princess; it was granted to the Sultan's court in 1507 as a tribute. Stefan Chernoevich converted to Islam after the conquest of Montenegro by the Turks (circa 1507) and called himself Iskender. Selim I gave him one of his daughters as his wife and gained control of Montenegro. Due to family connection with the Sultan's dynasty, Stefan Chernojevic (Iskender) remained viceroy in Montenegro until his death in 1530. Mukrimé gave birth to three children: Neslihan (1510) and Meryem (1511) were born in Kaffa: both girls died during a smallpox epidemic in 1512. Seven years later, Mukrimé gave birth to a son, Murad, in Saruhan, who also died of smallpox in 1521 in the summer palace of Edirne. As a childless sultana, Mukrimé remained in the shadows until 1534. After the death of her mother-in-law Hafsa, she was expelled from Istanbul along with two other women of Suleiman - Gulbahar and Mahidevran. Suleiman provided Mukrimah with a mansion in Edirne and she remained there until her death in 1555. Suleiman's second wife was an Albanian Gulbahar Melekdzhihan (also called Kadriye), who became the Sultan's concubine around 1511 in Kaffa. She is often mistakenly identified with Mahidevran. Gulbahar came from an Albanian noble family and, thanks to family ties with the Ottoman dynasty, became a servant of Hafsa. It is not known how many children she gave birth to Suleiman: it must have been at least two. Being a childless concubine, after the appearance of Roksolana in the harem, she lost her influence, and in 1534 she was expelled from Istanbul along with Mukrime and Mahidevran. She first lived in a mansion in Edirne, then in a manor near Arnavutköy near the capital, and died there in 1559 at the age of 63. The third wife of Suleiman, Mahidevran (one of the most famous wives of the Sultan), was the daughter of the Circassian prince Idar. She was born in Taman in 1498; her mother, Princess Nazkan-Begum, was the daughter of the Crimean Tatar ruler Mengli 1st Giray. Mahidevran met Suleiman in the winter of 1511 in Kaffa, where she was visiting her mother. Suleiman married Mahidevran a little later, on January 5, 1512 in Kaffa. At the end of the same year, she gave birth to her first child, Shehzade Mahmud, in 1515 - Shehzade Mustafa, in 1518 - Shehzade Ahmed, in 1521 - Fatma Sultan and, finally, in 1525 - Razie Sultan: at this time Mahidevran already was not the first favorite of Suleiman, since the Slavic slave Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska became his favorite concubine. It was assumed that Mahidevran was also named Gyulbahar, but the second name was not named in the certificate of the issuance of a monetary reward to her. In historical documents, Mahidevran is referred to as Valide-i Şehzade-Sultan Mustafa Mahidevran Hatun. Expenditure documentation (1521) shows that Gülbahar Hatun, the mother of the deceased Shehzade Abdullah (orig.: Gülbahar Hatun mader-i mürdü Şehzade Sultan Abdullah), spent 120 Akçe on her stables. Another document of 1532 states that 400 akche were given to Gulbahar khatun's brother, Tahir aga from Ohrit. (Original: padişah-ı mülkü alem Sultan Suleyman Han Hazretlerinin halile-i muhteremeleri Gülbahar Hatunun karındaşı Ohritli Tahir Ağa’nın şahsi hükmüne atayayı seniyyeden 400 Akça ihsan edildi). A letter dated 1554 says: “Gulbahar Kadriye, daughter of Hassan Bey and highly revered wife of Suleiman, Shah of Peace, asks from her native state the amount of 90 aspers.” (orig. Gülbahar Kadriye binti Hasan Bey, harem-i muhtereme-i Cıhan-ı Şehinşah-ı Cihan-ı Suleyman Han, hane-i ahalisi içün 90 Asper mercuu eyler). This important document shows that Gulbahar's middle name was Kadriye. This proves that Mahidevran and Gulbahar are two completely different women. In a document dated 1531, Gulbahar is referred to as Melekcihan (orig. Padişah-ı mülk Sultan Suleyman Han harem-i Arnavut nesebinden Kadriye Melekcihan Hatun). Around 1517 or 1518, a woman named Kumru Khatun appears in the harem, who is said to have been Suleiman's concubine. In a document of 1518, Kumru Khatun is mentioned among the influential ladies of the harem. But since 1533, her name has not been found in any of the historical documents; perhaps she died or was expelled. A certain Kumru Memduha Khatun (died in 1561) was a servant of Mukrima Khatun. Presumably, these two Qumru Khatuns are identical. Hürrem, whose real name is Alexandra Lisowska, was the daughter of a peasant from Ruthenia and was born in 1505 in eastern Poland. Very young, she was kidnapped by the Cossacks and sold to the court of the Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. She stayed there for a short time, and then was sent along with other slaves to the Sultan's court. As soon as she arrived in the imperial harem, she became the Sultan's mistress. In the autumn of 1520, she was already pregnant with her first child, and in early 1521 she gave birth to Şehzade Mehmed. For the next five years, she was constantly pregnant and gave birth every year: Mihrimah Sultan was born at the end of 1521, Abdullah in 1523, Selim in 1524, and Bayezid in 1525. Six years passed after the birth of Bayezid, and she again gave birth to her son Dzhihangir (in December 1530). The boy probably suffered from scoliosis, which progressed throughout his life and caused severe pain. With this group of children, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska strengthened her position at court and replaced her rival Mahidevran, becoming the first favorite of the Sultan. Between the two women began a struggle for the future of their sons. Mahidevran lost this war because Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, with the help of her daughter Mihrimah and son-in-law Rustem Pasha, convinced the Sultan that Mahidevran's son, Prince Mustafa, was a traitor. Suleiman executed Mustafa. After the murder of Prince Mustafa on October 6, 1553 in Aktepe near Konya, the path to the throne for the sons of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was free, but she did not live to see the time when her son Selim II became the 11th Ottoman sultan. She died after a short illness on 15 April 1558 in Istanbul. Suleiman fell into a deep depression and allegedly mourned his beloved wife until his death. Little is known about Suleiman's last women. They say that even during the life of Hürrem, he took two concubines, from whom he had children. Around 1555, he chose Merziban Hatun, an Albanian, as his concubine, and around 1557, Meleksime Hatun, a Bosnian from Mostar. The power-hungry Venetian wife of Selim's heir, Nurbanu, did not tolerate rivals in the palace, especially since Suleiman had a son from Meleksime Khatun, and the boy could be considered a contender for the throne. Shortly after the execution of Bayezid and his sons in 1561, the little prince died unexpectedly at the age of about seven, and his mother Meleksime, as well as Merziban, were forced to leave the palace. Apparently, Suleiman did not mind, because from 1564 Meleksime lived in Edirne, and Merziban lived in Kyzylagach. Suleiman had 22 children from 6 women: From Mukrime Khatun: 1. Meryem (1510 - 1512) 2. Neslikhan (1511 - 1512) 3. Murad (1519 - 1521) Gulbahar Khatun: 1. daughter - name unknown (1511 - 1520) 2. Abdullah (1520 - 1521) died of smallpox 3. Hafiza (1521 - circa 1560) died a widow, her husband's name is unknown. Mahidevran Khatun: 1. Mahmud (1512 - 1521) died of smallpox 2. Mustafa (1515 - 1553) 3. Ahmed (1518 - after 1534) the date of death is unknown, possibly around 1540 or later. Whether Prince Ahmed died of natural causes is unknown, murder is not ruled out. 4. Fatma (1520 - 1572) was married to Gazi Khoja Mehmed Pasha (died in 1548). Mehmed Pasha was the son of Ghazi Yahya Pasha and Princess Shahzadi (daughter of Sultan Bayezid II). 5. Razie (1525 - 1556) died a widow, the name of her husband is unknown. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan: 1. Mehmed (1521 - 1543) 2. Mihrimah (1522 - 1578) 3. Abdullah (1523 - 1523) died in infancy 4. Selim II (1524 - 1574) 5. Bayezid (1525 - 1561) 6. Dzhihangir (1531 - 1553) Merziban khatun: 1. Hatice (about 1555 - after 1575) died in her youth 2. son, whose name is unknown (ca. 1556 - about 1563) this prince may have been killed. Meleksime Khatun: 1. Orkhan? (about 1556 - 1562) in other sources he is called Mehmed. However, Şehzade Bayezid also had a son named Orhan, who was killed in Bursa around 1562. It is quite likely to be confusing. 2. Shakhihuban (1560 - about 1595) presumably she was married and had children.