He was the greatest of the sultans of his dynasty, under him the Ottoman Empire reached its highest development. In Europe, Suleiman is known by the nickname the Magnificent, and in the East this ruler deserved, perhaps, a less bright, but much more honorable nickname - Kanuni, which means "Fair".
In all splendor
The Venetian ambassador Bragadin, in a letter dated June 9, 1526, wrote about him like this: “He is thirty-two years old, he has a deathly pale complexion, an aquiline nose and a long neck; he does not look very strong, but his hand is very strong, which I noticed when I kissed it, and it is said that he can bend a bow like no one else. By his nature, he is melancholy, very partial to women, generous, proud, quick-tempered and at the same time sometimes very gentle.
Suleiman became famous for military campaigns, wise rule and a love story that connected his name with a woman who received the nickname Roksolana.
Military campaigns
Suleiman I, son of Sultan Selim I Yavuz and daughter of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray Aishe, tenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was born in November 1494, his reign began in September 1520, when he was 26 years old. Suleiman I died in September 1566.
Suleiman I spent his entire life in military campaigns. Not having time to sit on the throne of the Ottoman Empire, he began to expand its boundaries. In 1521, Suleiman took the fortress of Šabac on the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade. After a long siege, the city fell. In 1522, Suleiman landed on Rhodes with a large army. This island at that time was the stronghold of the Knights of the Order of St. John, who felt themselves masters in this part of the Mediterranean litter. However, in less than a few months, the fortified citadel of the knights fell.
Having gained a foothold in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Suleiman set about Red, where at that time the Portuguese sailors were in charge. In 1524, the Turkish fleet entered the Red Sea from the port of Jeddah (modern Saudi Arabia) and cleared it of Europeans. In 1525 Suleman captured Algiers.
From 1526 to 1528, Suleiman waged continuous wars in Eastern Europe. He conquered Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slavonia, the rulers of Hungary and Tansylvania recognized themselves as vassals of Suleiman. Turkish detachments invaded Bulgaria and Austria.
From these campaigns, Suleiman returned with rich booty, he ravaged cities and fortresses, drove thousands of inhabitants into slavery. Austria recognized Turkey's dominance over central and eastern Hungary, pledging to pay an annual tribute to Suleiman.
Not satisfied with the victories in the west, Suleiman also fought with the eastern countries. In 1533, Suleiman launched a campaign against the Safavid state (modern Azerbaijan). After capturing the Safavid capital of Tabriz, he advanced towards Baghdad and captured it in 1534. Not only the rulers of Baghdad and Mesopotamia, but also the princes of Basra, Bahrain and other states of the Persian Gulf submitted to him.
By the 50s of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary to Egypt, from the Balkan Peninsula to Iran and the Transcaucasus. In addition, Suleiman had possessions in northern Africa, he controlled the Mediterranean Sea and seriously threatened Rome itself.
Suleiman and Russia caused a lot of trouble. The Crimean Khan was his vassal. At various times, Kazan and even Siberian khans recognized themselves as Suleiman's vassals. The Turks more than once took part in the campaigns of the Crimean khans against Moscow.
Suleiman made his last campaign on May 1, 1566. The Turkish army moved into eastern Hungary and laid siege to the fortress of Szigetvár. It was the thirteenth campaign in which the Ottoman ruler was directly involved. Thirteenth and last. On the night of September 5, the ruler died in his camp tent. The tireless conqueror at that time was 72 years old.
Domestic politics
Suleiman took his father's throne as a young man, but quite an experienced ruler. He, as was customary in the Ottoman dynasty, during the life of his father became the ruler of one of the regions of the empire with the center in the city of Manisa.
When the next sultan occupied the throne, a series of executions began in his family. According to the bloody custom, the Sultan destroyed all possible rivals from among the pretenders to the throne. Since each of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire had a huge harem, the sons of all the sultan's concubines could be considered such applicants. Providing himself with a calm rule, the new ruler did not spare anyone, even small children. Not without reason, at the Sultan's palace, there was a special cemetery for little "shah-zade" - princes who became victims of adult intrigues and wars.
Suleiman's reign began without such horrors. It so happened that all of his little brothers died in infancy from disease. In addition, the first step of the young Suleiman was a good deed: he released the Egyptian captives, who were kept in chains by his father.
Suleiman not in vain deserved the honorary nickname "Just". He fought corruption, was known as an ardent enemy of the abuses of officials. It was said about him that, like the legendary Harun al-Rashid, he walks around the city, dressed in simple clothes, and listens to what people say about him and about the order in his capital.
But one should not imagine Suleiman as an ideal ruler, kind to his subjects, but harsh to the enemies of the empire. He was as cruel, suspicious and despotic as all the representatives of the Ottoman dynasty, mercilessly executing anyone who, in his opinion, could be a danger to him or simply caused displeasure. An example is the fate of three people close to Suleiman, whom he, in his own words, once loved.
His eldest son and heir, Mustafa, the son of a concubine named Mahidevran-sulta n, was executed on his orders and before his eyes. Suleiman suspected that Mustafa wanted to take the throne without waiting for his father's death from natural causes.
Ibrahim Pasha, nicknamed Pargaly, the Grand Vizier and Suleiman's closest friend from the time of his youth in Manisa, was also executed on the orders of the Sultan on suspicion of some kind of intrigue. Suleiman swore in his youth that Pargaly would never be executed as long as he, Suleiman, was alive. Deciding to execute yesterday's favorite, he resorted to the following trick: since sleep is a kind of death, then let Ibrahim Pasha be executed not during Suleiman's life - wakefulness, but when the ruler is sleeping. Ibrahim Pasha was strangled after a friendly dinner with the ruler.
Finally, on the orders of Suleiman, one of his concubines, Gulfem-Khatun, was also strangled. In her youth, she was his favorite and gave birth to the ruler of the heir. However, the child soon died of smallpox. Suleiman, contrary to custom, did not drive Gulfem away, but left her in his harem. And although she never returned to his bed, he considered her a friend, appreciated conversations with her and her advice. Nevertheless, the same silk lace became the finale of Gulfem-Khatun's life.
The portrait of Suleiman the Magnificent will not be complete without mentioning his love for the arts. Under him, Istanbul was adorned with magnificent buildings, mosques and bridges. He loved poetry, he himself composed poems, which are considered excellent in Turkey to this day. In addition, Suleiman was fond of blacksmithing and jewelry, and became famous for making jewelry for his favorite concubines.
Love for Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska
And, of course, when talking about Suleiman the Magnificent, one cannot help but recall his love for his concubine, who received the nickname Roksolana in European diplomatic correspondence.
Who this woman was is not known for certain today. The nickname given to her unequivocally alludes to Slavic, even Russian origin, since it was Russians who were called “Roksolans” in the Middle Ages.
The Sultan noticed and brought this girl closer to him, and gave her the name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, which means "Joy". Apparently, the temper of the Slav was really cheerful. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska succeeded in the impossible: she achieved that Suleiman let her go free and made her his lawful wife, which has never happened in the Sultan's harem so far. Moreover, it had a serious influence on the foreign, domestic policy of the Sultan, which was noted by all the diplomats who were in Istanbul.
It was Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska who was the mother of Shahzade Selim, who became the next ruler of the empire after Suleiman.
When Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska died, Suleiman ordered the construction of an exquisitely decorated mausoleum for her. A tomb was erected next to this mausoleum, in which the great conqueror himself rested.
P The last sultan of Ottoman origin was the mother of Suleiman I the Magnificent, her name was Aishe Sultan Hafsa (December 5, 1479 - March 19, 1534), according to sources, she was from the Crimea and was the daughter of Khan Mengli Giray. However, this information is controversial, has not yet been fully verified.
After Aisha, the era of the "women's sultanate" (1550-1656) begins, when women influenced state affairs. Naturally, they cannot be compared with European rulers (Catherine II, or Elizabeth I of England), because these women had disproportionately less power, personal freedom and were further from absolutism. It is believed that this era began with Anastasia (Alexandra) Lisovskaya, or Roksolana known to us. She was the wife of Suleiman I the Magnificent and the mother of Selim II, and she became the first sultana taken from the harem.
After Roksolana, two relatives, two beautiful Venetians from the Baffo family, Cecilia and Sofia, became the main women of the country. And one and the other came to the top through the harem. Cecilia Baffo became Roksolana's daughter-in-law.
So, Cecilia Vernier-Baffo, or Nurbanu Sultan, was born on the island of Paros around 1525. Her father was a noble Venetian, the governor of the island of Paros, Nicolo Venier, and her mother was Violanta Baffo. The girl's parents were not married, so the girl was named Cecilia Baffo, giving her mother's surname.
According to another, less popular version based on Ottoman sources, Nurbanu's real name was Rachel, and she was the daughter of Violanta Baffo and an unknown Spanish Jew.
Little is known about Cecilia's history.
It is known that in 1537 the pirate and admiral of the Turkish flotilla Khair ad-din Barbarossa captured Paros and 12-year-old Cecilia was enslaved. She was sold to the Sultan's harem, where Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan was noticed for her intelligence. . Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave her the name Nurbanu, which means "Queen exuding divine light" and sent her into the service of her son, Prince Selim.
According to the chronicles, having reached the age of majority in 1543, Selim was sent to Konya to take the post assigned to him as heir, Cecilia-Nurbanu accompanied him. At this time, the young prince burned with love for his beautiful accompanying odalisque.
Soon, Nurbanu had a daughter, Shah Sultan, and later, in 1546, a son, Murad, who at that time was the only son of Selim. Later, Nurbanu Sultan gave birth to Selim four more daughters. And after Selim's accession to the throne, Nurbanu becomes Haseki.
Selim in the Ottoman Empire itself was nicknamed "The Drunkard", because of his passion for wine, but he was not a drunkard in the literal sense of the word. Nevertheless, state affairs were handled by Mehmed Sokollu (Grand Vizier of Bosnian origin Boyko Sokolovic), who fell under the influence of Nurbanu.
As a ruler, Nurbanu corresponded with many ruling dynasties, pursued a pro-Venetian policy, for which the Genoese hated her and, judging by the rumors, the Genoese ambassador poisoned her.
In honor of Nurbanu, the Attik Valide mosque was built near the capital, where she was buried in 1583, bitterly mourned by her son Murad III, who often relied on her mother in her politics.
Safiye Sultan (translated from Turkish as "Pure"), born Sophia Baffo, was a Venetian by birth, and was related to her mother-in-law, Nurbanu Sultan. She was born around 1550, was the daughter of the ruler of the Greek island of Corfu and a relative of the Venetian senator and poet Giorgio Baffo.
Sophia, like Cecilia, was captured by corsairs, sold into a harem, where she then attracted Crown Prince Murad, for whom she became the only favorite for a long time. It was rumored that the reason for such constancy was the problems in the intimate life of the prince, which only Safiye knew how to somehow overcome. These rumors are very close to the truth, because before Murad became Sultan (in 1574, at 28, after the death of his father, Sultan Selim II), he had children only from Safiye.
Having become the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Murad III apparently recovered after some time from his intimate illness, since he switched from forced monogamy to sexual excesses, and practically devoted his future life exclusively to the pleasures of the flesh, to the detriment of state affairs. So 20 sons and 27 daughters (however, one should not forget that in the 15th-16th centuries infant mortality was very high and out of 10 newborn babies 7 died in childhood, 2 - in youth and youth, and only one had any chances to live at least to 40 years old), which Sultan Murad III left after his death is a completely natural result of his lifestyle.
in the XV-XVI centuries, infant mortality was very high and out of 10 newborn babies, 7 died in childhood, 2 died in youth and youth, and only one had any chance of living at least up to 40 years
Despite the fact that Murad never married his beloved Safiye, this did not prevent her from becoming one of the most influential women of that time.
For the first nine years of his reign, Murad completely shared Nurban with his mother, obeyed her in everything. And it was Nurbanu who played an important role in his attitude towards Safiye. Despite family ties, both in state affairs and in the affairs of the harem, Venetians constantly fought each other for leadership. Nevertheless, as they say, youth won.
In 1583, after the death of Nurbanu Sultan, Safiye Sultan began to strengthen the position of her son Mehmed as the heir to Murad III. Mehmed was already 15 years old and he was very popular with the Janissaries, which greatly frightened his father. Murad III even prepared conspiracies, but Safiyya always managed to warn his son. This struggle continued for 12 years, until the death of Murad.
Safiye Sultan received almost unlimited power at the age of 45, simultaneously with the title of valid sultan, after the death of Sultan Murad III in 1595. Her son, the bloodthirsty Mehmed III, immediately after his accession to the throne, the Ottomans ordered to kill not only his 20 younger brothers, but also all his father's pregnant concubines. It was he who introduced the pernicious custom in the Brilliant Porte not to allow the princes to take part in government during the life of their father, but to keep them locked up in the seraglio, in the Kafes pavilion (cage).
He was the greatest of the sultans of his dynasty, under him the Ottoman Empire reached its highest development. In Europe, Suleiman is known by the nickname the Magnificent, and in the East this ruler deserved, perhaps, a less bright, but much more honorable nickname - Kanuni, which means "Fair".
In all splendor
The Venetian ambassador Bragadin, in a letter dated June 9, 1526, wrote about him like this: “He is thirty-two years old, he has a deathly pale complexion, an aquiline nose and a long neck; he does not look very strong, but his hand is very strong, which I noticed when I kissed it, and it is said that he can bend a bow like no one else. By his nature, he is melancholy, very partial to women, generous, proud, quick-tempered and at the same time sometimes very gentle.
Suleiman became famous for military campaigns, wise rule and a love story that connected his name with a woman who received the nickname Roksolana.
Military campaigns
Suleiman I, son of Sultan Selim I Yavuz and daughter of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray Aishe, tenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was born in November 1494, his reign began in September 1520, when he was 26 years old. Suleiman I died in September 1566.
Suleiman I spent his entire life in military campaigns.
Not having time to sit on the throne of the Ottoman Empire, he began to expand its boundaries. In 1521, Suleiman took the fortress of Šabac on the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade. After a long siege, the city fell. In 1522, Suleiman landed on Rhodes with a large army. This island at that time was the stronghold of the Knights of the Order of St. John, who felt themselves masters in this part of the Mediterranean litter. However, in less than a few months, the fortified citadel of the knights fell.
Having gained a foothold in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Suleiman set about Red, where at that time the Portuguese sailors were in charge. In 1524, the Turkish fleet entered the Red Sea from the port of Jeddah (modern Saudi Arabia) and cleared it of Europeans. In 1525 Suleman captured Algiers.
From 1526 to 1528, Suleiman waged continuous wars in Eastern Europe. He conquered Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slavonia, the rulers of Hungary and Tansylvania recognized themselves as vassals of Suleiman. Turkish detachments invaded Bulgaria and Austria.
From these campaigns, Suleiman returned with rich booty, he ravaged cities and fortresses, drove thousands of inhabitants into slavery. Austria recognized Turkey's dominance over central and eastern Hungary, pledging to pay an annual tribute to Suleiman.
Not satisfied with the victories in the west, Suleiman also fought with the eastern countries. In 1533, Suleiman launched a campaign against the Safavid state (modern Azerbaijan). After capturing the Safavid capital of Tabriz, he advanced towards Baghdad and captured it in 1534. Not only the rulers of Baghdad and Mesopotamia, but also the princes of Basra, Bahrain and other states of the Persian Gulf submitted to him.
By the 50s of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary to Egypt, from the Balkan Peninsula to Iran and the Transcaucasus. In addition, Suleiman had possessions in northern Africa, he controlled the Mediterranean Sea and seriously threatened Rome itself.
Suleiman and Russia caused a lot of trouble. The Crimean Khan was his vassal. At various times, Kazan and even Siberian khans recognized themselves as Suleiman's vassals. The Turks more than once took part in the campaigns of the Crimean khans against Moscow.
Suleiman made his last campaign on May 1, 1566. The Turkish army moved into eastern Hungary and laid siege to the fortress of Szigetvár. It was the thirteenth campaign in which the Ottoman ruler was directly involved. Thirteenth and last. On the night of September 5, the ruler died in his camp tent. The tireless conqueror at that time was 72 years old.
Domestic politics
Suleiman took his father's throne as a young man, but quite an experienced ruler. He, as was customary in the Ottoman dynasty, during the life of his father became the ruler of one of the regions of the empire with the center in the city of Manisa.
When the next sultan occupied the throne, a series of executions began in his family. According to the bloody custom, the Sultan destroyed all possible rivals from among the pretenders to the throne. Since each of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire had a huge harem, the sons of all the sultan's concubines could be considered such applicants. Providing himself with a calm rule, the new ruler did not spare anyone, even small children. Not without reason, at the Sultan's palace, there was a special cemetery for little "shah-zade" - princes who became victims of adult intrigues and wars.
Suleiman's reign began without such horrors. It so happened that all of his little brothers died in infancy from disease.
In addition, the first step of the young Suleiman was a good deed: he released the Egyptian captives, who were kept in chains by his father.
Suleiman not in vain deserved the honorary nickname "Just". He fought corruption, was known as an ardent enemy of the abuses of officials. It was said about him that, like the legendary Harun al-Rashid, he walks around the city, dressed in simple clothes, and listens to what people say about him and about the order in his capital.
But one should not imagine Suleiman as an ideal ruler, kind to his subjects, but harsh to the enemies of the empire. He was as cruel, suspicious and despotic as all the representatives of the Ottoman dynasty, mercilessly executing anyone who, in his opinion, could be a danger to him or simply caused displeasure. An example is the fate of three people close to Suleiman, whom he, in his own words, once loved.
His eldest son and heir, Mustafa, the son of a concubine named Mahidevran-sulta n, was executed on his orders and before his eyes. Suleiman suspected that Mustafa wanted to take the throne without waiting for his father's death from natural causes.
Ibrahim Pasha, nicknamed Pargaly, the Grand Vizier and Suleiman's closest friend from the time of his youth in Manisa, was also executed on the orders of the Sultan on suspicion of some kind of intrigue. Suleiman swore in his youth that Pargaly would never be executed as long as he, Suleiman, was alive. Deciding to execute yesterday's favorite, he resorted to the following trick: since sleep is a kind of death, then let Ibrahim Pasha be executed not during Suleiman's life - wakefulness, but when the ruler is sleeping. Ibrahim Pasha was strangled after a friendly dinner with the ruler.
Finally, on the orders of Suleiman, one of his concubines, Gulfem-Khatun, was also strangled. In her youth, she was his favorite and gave birth to the ruler of the heir. However, the child soon died of smallpox. Suleiman, contrary to custom, did not drive Gulfem away, but left her in his harem. And although she never returned to his bed, he considered her a friend, appreciated conversations with her and her advice. Nevertheless, the same silk lace became the finale of Gulfem-Khatun's life.
The portrait of Suleiman the Magnificent will not be complete without mentioning his love for the arts. Under him, Istanbul was adorned with magnificent buildings, mosques and bridges. He loved poetry, he himself composed poems, which are considered excellent in Turkey to this day. In addition, Suleiman was fond of blacksmithing and jewelry, and became famous for making jewelry for his favorite concubines.
Love for Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska
And, of course, when talking about Suleiman the Magnificent, one cannot help but recall his love for his concubine, who received the nickname Roksolana in European diplomatic correspondence.
Who this woman was is not known for certain today. The nickname given to her unequivocally alludes to Slavic, even Russian origin, since it was Russians who were called “Roksolans” in the Middle Ages. Considering the numerous military campaigns of Turkish and Crimean troops on the territory that Ukraine today occupies, such an origin of this girl can be considered quite probable. According to tradition, Roksolana is considered the daughter of a priest from the western regions of Ukraine and is called Alexandra Lisovskaya, but there is no documentary evidence for this. The Sultan noticed and brought this girl closer to him, and gave her the name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, which means "Joy". Apparently, the temper of the Slav was really cheerful. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska succeeded in the impossible: she achieved that Suleiman let her go free and made her his lawful wife, which has never happened in the Sultan's harem so far. Moreover, it had a serious influence on the foreign, domestic policy of the Sultan, which was noted by all the diplomats who were in Istanbul.
It was Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska who was the mother of Shahzade Selim, who became the next ruler of the empire after Suleiman.
When Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska died, Suleiman ordered the construction of an exquisitely decorated mausoleum for her. A tomb was erected next to this mausoleum, in which the great conqueror himself rested.
I recently read a book about Suleiman's mother. She wanted to put the first son Mustafa. But everything turned out wrong, and as a result, Selim, who was named after Suleiman's father, ascended the throne. As a ruler, he was good.
The successor to the throne after Suleiman the Magnificent was Selim, the son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan (in Europe, better known as Roksolana). According to historical data, Selim had a penchant for drunkenness and was much more interested in poetry and the development of culture than in governing the country.
After Suleiman the First the Magnificent, his third son Selim became the ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Selin was the fourth child of Roksolana and Suleiman the First. He didn’t go down in history, but got into trouble as Selim II, had the nicknames Selim Drunkard and Selim Blondin. Didn't show anything special.
The throne passed after the death of Suleiman to his red-haired son Selim. This is Suleiman's 3rd child. He executed the first son himself, the second and fifth sons died a non-violent death, the fourth was killed by Selim. So it was with them that only 1 brother, the heir to the throne, should survive.
After the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, his third son Selim II ruled, he was also called Selim the Drunkard because of his addiction to wine, which was not highly welcomed by the Ottomans. He ruled for a short time from 1566 to 1574. And he lived a total of 50 years. Historians claim that it was from Selim that the decline of the Omani Empire began. Well, they know better.
Selim had many children. Two from his beloved wife Nurbanu Sultan (a boy and a girl) and 8 more children from other concubines. Six of these children are boys. harem) and left to his heir Murad a larger state than he himself received from his father. Selim had a poetic gift. Several gazelles of his composition have survived to our time.
After the death of Sultan Suleiman in the beloved series Magnificent Century which was based on real historical events His son Selim became the ruler of the Ottoman Empire.
Only Selim survived from the sons of Suleiman.
Dzhihangir died of illness, and Bayezet, along with the children, Selim ordered to be killed.
What you will not do for the sake of the throne, of course it is terrible.
Sultan named Suleiman went down in history as Magnificentquot ;. So, and after him, his heir, the third son, born from Hürrem, entered the throne. This son's name was Selim. Selim went down in history as Drunkardquot ;, because his passion for wine was excessive.
After Sultan Suleiman Magnificent the throne was taken by the third son of the Sultan and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Selim. In history, he is known as Selim Drunkard (because of his passion for wine) or Selim Blondequot ;. He ruled the Ottoman Empire for 9 years.
After his death, the throne was taken by his son Murad.
After Sultan Suleiman, his son Herem Sultan Selim ascended the throne. Selim was not the eldest son. And not even the eldest son Herem. The eldest son of the Sultan was Mustafa. But he was executed by the Sultan. their son Mehmet died at the age of 20. After Mehmet, the eldest son remained Selim. Also Beyazet and Zhehangir. Beyazet was executed by order of Selim, and Zhehangir died mourning the death of the eldest son of the Sultan and Mahidevran Mustafa.
According to history, after Suleiman the Magnificent, one of the joint sons with Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan ascended the throne - Selim.
The story also tells that Selim was a drunkard and a poet. And as a ruler, he did not particularly show himself.
Actually, with this haseki of the grandson of Roksolana, Sultan Murad III (1546-1595), the reign of unlimited (since their overlords were just a shadow of their prominent ancestors) imperious bitches, who are at enmity with each other for their influence on their husbands (for lack of better term) and sons. “Almighty” in the series Roksolana looks like a gentle violet and an innocent forget-me-not against their general background.
MELIKI SAFIE-SULTAN (SOFIA BAFFO) (c.1550-1618/1619).
There are two versions about the origin of the main haseka (she never became the legal wife of the Sultan) Murad III, as well as about the origin of her mother-in-law Nurbanu Sultan.
The first, generally accepted - she was the daughter of Leonardo Baffo, the Venetian governor of the island of Corfu (and, therefore, a relative of Nurban, nee Cecilia Baffo).
Another version, and in Turkey itself, it is she who is preferred - Safiye was from the Albanian village of Rezi, located on the Dukaga Highlands. In this case, she was a compatriot, or, quite possibly, even a relative of the poet Tashlydzhaly Yahya Bey (1498-no later than 1582), a friend of Mustafa's shehzade executed by Suleiman I, the serial "admirer" Mihrimah Sultan, who was also an Albanian by origin.
In any case, Sophia Baffo was captured around 1562, at the age of 12, by Muslim pirates, and bought by the sister of the then ruling Turkish padishah Selim II, Mihrimah Sultan. In accordance with Ottoman traditions, the daughter of Roksolana left the girl in her service for a year. Since Mihrimah, both under her father, Sultan Suleiman, and later, during the reign of her brother Selima, ruled the main harem of Turkey, most likely, Sofia from the first days of her stay in the Ottoman Empire found herself immediately in Bab-us-Saad (the name of the Sultan's harem, literally - “The Gates of Bliss”), where, by the way, Nurbana, before she became a valid Sultan, to put it mildly, was not favored. In any case, such hardening at the very beginning of the career path of the young concubine was very useful to her in the future, including in the fight against her mother-in-law, when Murad became a sultan. After a year of teaching the girl everything that an odalisque needed to know, Mihrimah Sultan gave her to her nephew, shehzade Murad. It happened in 1563. Murad was then 19 years old, Safiye (most likely, the name Mihrimah gave her, in Turkish it means “clean”) - about 13.
Apparently, in Akshehir, where Suleiman I appointed Selim's son as a sanjak-bey in 1558, Safiye did not succeed immediately.
She gave birth to her first son (and first-born Murad), shehzade Mehmed, only three years later, on May 26, 1566. Thus, Sultan Suleiman, who was then living the last year of his life, managed to find out about the birth of his great-grandson (there is no information that he personally saw the newborn) 3.5 months before his own death on September 7, 1566.
As in the case of Nurbanu Sultan and Sehzade Selim, before Murad's accession to the throne, only Safiye gave birth to his children. However, what her position was fundamentally different from the position of her mother-in-law as a haseki of the heir to the throne was that all this time (almost 20 years) she remained the only sexual partner of Murad (if he had, as befits a shehzade, a large harem ). The fact is that the son of Nurbanu Sultan had some intimate psychological problems in his sexual life, which he could only overcome with Safiye, and therefore had sex exclusively with her (with legal polygamy among the Ottomans, which is especially offensive). Haseki Murada bore him many children (their exact number is unknown), but only four of them survived early childhood - sons Mehmed (born 1566) and Mahmud, and daughters Aishe-Sultan (born 1570) and Fatma-sultan (born 1580). The second son Safiye died in 1581 - by that time his father Murad III had been the sultan for 7 years, and thus, she, like Nurbanu, had her only son (and he was the only heir of the Ottomans in the male line).
Murad's selective impotence, which allowed him to have children only from Safiye, worried his mother Nurbanu Sultan very much only after she became a valid, and even then not immediately, but when it became clear to her that to give her all power without a fight her daughter-in-law is not going to - not so much because of his health, but because of the huge influence that the hated Safiye had on her son for this reason (and between the mother and the haseki of Murad, who had just ascended the throne, a war had just begun for influence on him) .
Nurban is quite understandable - if Roksolana was presented to Sultan Suleiman, most likely by his mother, Aisha Hafsa-Sultan, and Nurban herself was chosen for Selim by his mother Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, then Safiye was the choice of Mihrimah-Sultan, and, accordingly, she did not owe anything to her mother-in-law (who, by the way, categorically refused to recognize her relationship with her).
One way or another, in 1583, Valide Sultan Nurbanu accused Safiye of witchcraft, which made Murad impotent, unable to have sex with other women. Several servants of Safiye were seized and tortured, but they could not prove her guilt (of what?).
In the chronicles of that time, they write that Murad's sister, Esmehan Sultan, presented her brother with two beautiful slaves in 1584, "whom he accepted and made his concubines." The fact that before that Sultan Murad met (at the insistence of his mother) in a secluded place with a foreign doctor is mentioned in passing in the same chronicles.
However, Nurbanu, nevertheless, achieved her goal - having received the freedom to choose sexual partners at the age of 38, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, literally, became obsessed with his libido. In fact, he devoted the rest of his life exclusively to harem pleasures. He bought beautiful slave girls practically in bulk and for any money, wherever he could. Viziers and sanjak-beys, instead of managing the state, looked for young charmers for him in their provinces and abroad. During the reign of Sultan Murad, the number of his harem, according to various estimates, ranged from two hundred to five hundred concubines - he was forced to significantly increase and rebuild the premises of Bab-us-Saade. As a result, in just the last 10 years of his life, he managed to become the father of 19-22 (according to various estimates) sons and about 30 daughters. Given the very high early childhood mortality at that time, we can safely assume that his harem gave birth to him during this time, at least, about 100 children.
The triumph of the valid Sultan Nurbanu, however, was short-lived - she somehow believed that with one blow (naive) she knocked out her most powerful weapon from the hands of the hated daughter-in-law. However, she still could not defeat Safiye in this way. The smart woman, having accepted the inevitable, never once showed her annoyance or discontent, moreover, she herself began to buy beautiful slaves for Murad's harem, which earned him gratitude and trust, no longer as a concubine, but as a wise adviser in state matters, and after her death (in 1583), Safiye easily and naturally took her place not only in the state hierarchy of the Ottoman Empire, but also in the eyes of Murad III. Having taken into their own hands along the way all the influence and connections of the mother-in-law in the Venetian merchant circles, which brought Nurban a lot of income, as a lobbyist for their interests in the Divan.
The fact that Valide Murad III switched all her son's vital interests to the pleasures of the flesh, in the end, benefited both herself and her daughter-in-law - they were able to completely take control of the now completely uninteresting power for Murad.
By the way, it was during the reign of the sexually preoccupied Murad III that representatives of the ruling European dynasties reappeared in the main harem of the Brilliant Porte after a very long break (almost two centuries). However, now they were content with the position not of the wives, but of the sultan's concubines, at best, their haseks. The political situation in Europe has changed a lot over these 200 years, the rulers of the states that fell under the Ottoman protectorate, and those who tried to maintain their independence from Istanbul, themselves offered their daughters and sisters to the harem of the Turkish padishah. So, for example, one of Murad's favorites was Fulane-hatun (real name is unknown) - the daughter of the Wallachian ruler Mircea III Draculeshtu, the great-granddaughter of that same Vlad III Tepes Dracula (1429 / 1431-1476). Her brothers, as vassals of the Ottoman Empire, participated with their troops in the campaign of the Turkish army against Moldova. And his nephew, Mikhna II Turk (Tarkitul) (1564-1601), was born and raised in Istanbul, in Topkapi. He was converted to Islam with the name Mehmed Bey. In September 1577, after the death of his father, the Wallachian ruler Alexander Mircea, Mikhne Turok was proclaimed by the Porte the new ruler of Wallachia.
Another haseki of Murad III, the Greek Elena, belonged to the Byzantine imperial dynasty of the Great Komnenos. She was a descendant of the rulers of the Trebizond Empire (the territory on the northern coast of modern Turkey, right up to the Caucasus), captured by the Ottomans back in 1461. The biography of her son Yahya (Alexander) (1585-1648) - an outstanding either adventurer or politician, but, of course, an excellent warrior and commander who devoted his whole life to organizing military anti-Turkish coalitions (with the participation of Zaporozhye Cossacks, Moscow , Hungary, the Don Cossacks, the states of Northern Italy and the Balkan countries) with the aim of capturing the Ottoman Empire and creating a new Greek state, deserves a separate story. I can only say that this daring man, both on the side of his father and on the side of his mother, was a descendant of the Galician Rurikovichs. And, of course, he had all the rights to the throne of Byzantium, if his escapade was a success. But now the conversation is not about him.
As a ruler, Sultan Murad was as weak as his father Selim. But if the reign of Selim II was quite successful thanks to his chief vizier and son-in-law, Mehmed Pasha Sokoll, an outstanding statesman and military figure of his time, then Murad after the death of Sokoll (he was his uncle, because he was married to his own aunt - his father's sister) five years after the beginning of his own sultanate, no such grand vizier could be found. The heads of the Divan replaced each other several times a year during his reign - not least due to the fault of the sultanas - Nurban and Safiye, each of whom wanted to see their own person in this position. However, even after the death of Nurbanu, the leapfrog with the Grand Viziers did not end. When Safiye was a valid sultan, 12 chief viziers were replaced.
However, the military forces and material resources accumulated by the ancestors of Sultan Murad still gave, by inertia, the opportunity for their mediocre descendant to continue the work of conquest they had begun. In 1578 (during the lifetime of the outstanding Grand Vizier Sokollu, and his works), the Ottoman Empire began another war with Iran. According to legend, Murad III asked his entourage which of all the wars that took place during the reign of Suleiman I was the most difficult. Upon learning that it was an Iranian campaign, Murad decided to surpass his great grandfather at least in some way. Having a significant numerical and technical superiority over the enemy, the Ottoman army achieved a number of successes: in 1579, the territories of modern Georgia and Azerbaijan were occupied, and in 1580, the southern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea. In 1585, the main forces of the Iranian army were defeated. According to the Constantinople peace treaty with Iran, concluded in 1590, most of Azerbaijan passed to the Ottoman Empire, including Tabriz, all of Transcaucasia, Kurdistan, Luristan and Khuzestan. Despite such significant territorial gains, the war led to the weakening of the Ottoman army, which suffered heavy losses, and undermined finances. In addition, the protectionist administration of the state, first by Nurbanu Sultan, and after her death by Safiye Sultan, led to a strong increase in bribery and nepotism in the country's supreme power, which, of course, also did not benefit the Brilliant Porte.
By the end of his life, Murad III (and he lived only 48 years) turned into a huge, fat, clumsy carcass suffering from urolithiasis (which, in the end, brought him to the grave). In addition to the illness, Murad was also tormented by suspicions about his eldest son and official heir, shehzade Mehmed, who was then about 25 years old and who was very popular with the Janissaries - Roksolana's grandson feared that he would try to take power from him. During this difficult period, Safiye Sultan made great efforts to save his son from the danger of poisoning or murder by his father.
By the way, despite the huge influence that she again acquired on Sultan Murad after the death of his mother Nurbanu, she failed to force him to make nikah with her. The mother-in-law, before her death, managed to convince her son that the marriage with Safiye would bring his own end closer, as happened with his father, Selim II - he died three years after nikah with Nurbanu herself. However, such a precaution did not save Murad - he lived 48 years without any nikah, two years less than Sultan Selim, who made nikah.
Murad III began to get seriously ill in the autumn of 1594, and died on January 15, 1595.
His death, like the death of his father, Sultan Selim 20 years ago, was kept in deep secrecy, wrapping the body of the deceased with ice, moreover, in the same closet where Selim's corpse had previously lay, until shehzade Mehmed arrived from the throne of Manisa on January 28 . He was met, already as a valid, by his mother, Safie Sultan. Here it should be noted that the father appointed Mehmed as the sanjak-bey of Manisa back in 1583, when he was about 16 years old. All these 12 years mother and son have never seen each other. This is a word about the maternal feelings of Safie Sultan.
The 28-year-old Mehmed III began his reign with the greatest fratricide in the history of the Ottoman Empire (with the full support and approval of his valid). On one day, on his orders, 19 (or 22, according to other sources) of his younger brothers were strangled, the eldest of whom was 11 years old. But even this, to ensure the safety of his reign, was not enough for his son Safiye, and the next day all the pregnant concubines of his father were drowned in the Bosphorus. What was an innovation even for those cruel times - in such cases, they waited for the woman's permission from the burden, and only male babies were killed. The concubines themselves (including the mothers of boys) and their daughters were usually left to live.
Looking ahead, it was “thanks” to the paranoidly suspicious Sultan Mehmed that the Ottoman ruling dynasty developed a pernicious custom - not to give shehzade the opportunity to take even the slightest part in the management of the empire (as was done before). The sons of Mehmed were kept locked up in a harem in a pavilion, which was called: “Cage” (Kafes). They lived there, albeit in luxury, but in complete isolation, drawing information about the world around them only from books. It was forbidden to inform shehzade about current events in the Ottoman Empire under pain of death. In order to avoid the birth of “extra” carriers of the sacred blood of the Ottomans (and, therefore, competitors to the throne of the Brilliant Porte), shekhzade had no right not only to their harem, but also to sexual life. Now only the ruling sultan had the right to have children.
Immediately after Mehmed came to power, the Janissaries rebelled and demanded higher salaries and other privileges. Mehmed satisfied their claims, but after that riots broke out among the population of Istanbul, which took on such a wide scale that the Grand Vizier Ferhad Pasha (of course, by order of the Sultan) used artillery against the rebels in the city for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire. It was only after this that the rebellion was put down.
At the insistence of the Grand Vizier and Sheikh ul-Islam, Mehmed III moved with an army to Hungary in 1596 (where, in the last years of Murad's reign, the Austrians began to gradually regain the territories conquered from them earlier), won the battle of Kerestets, but failed to use it. The English ambassador Edward Barton, who, at the invitation of the Sultan, participated in this military campaign, left interesting records of the behavior of Mehmed in a military situation. On October 12, 1596, the Ottoman army captured the Erlau fortress in northern Hungary, and two weeks later they met with the main forces of the Habsburg armies, which took up well-fortified positions on the Mezokövesd plain. At this point, Mehmed lost his nerve, and he was ready to abandon his troops and return to Istanbul, but the vizier Sinan Pasha persuaded him to stay. When the next day, October 26, both armies met in a decisive battle, Mehmed was frightened and was about to flee from the battlefield, but Sededdin Khoja dressed the Sultan in the sacred ilash of the Prophet Muhammad and literally forced him to join the fighting troops. The result of the battle was an unexpected victory for the Turks, and Mehmed earned himself the nickname Ghazi (defender of the faith).
After his triumphant return, Mehmed III never again led Ottoman troops on a campaign. The Venetian ambassador Girolamo Capello wrote: "Doctors declared that the Sultan could not go to war because of his poor health, caused by excesses in food and drink."
However, doctors in this case they didn’t sin so much against the truth - the health of the Sultan, despite his youth, was rapidly deteriorating: he weakened, lost consciousness several times and fell into oblivion. Sometimes it seemed that he was on the verge of death. One of such cases is mentioned by the same Venetian ambassador Capello in his message dated July 29, 1600: "Great Sovereign retired to Scutari, and it is rumored that there he fell into dementia, which had already happened to him several times before, and this attack lasted three days, during which there were brief periods of clearing of the mind ”. Like his father Sultan Murad at the end of his life, Mehmed turned into a huge fat carcass that no horse could withstand. So there was no question of any military campaigns.
Such a state of the son, who, even before his illness, was not very interested in state affairs, made the power of Sophia the Sultan truly unlimited. Having become a valid, Safiye received enormous power and a large income: in the second half of the reign of Mehmed III, she received only 3,000 akçe per day as a salary; in addition, profit was brought by lands given from state property for the needs of the valid sultans. When Mehmed III went on a campaign against Hungary in 1596, he gave his mother the right to manage the treasury. Until the death of Mehmed III in 1603, the country's policy was determined by the party, which was headed by Safiye together with Gazanfer Agha, the head of the white eunuchs of the main harem of the Ottoman Empire (eunuchs were a huge political force that, without attracting outside attention, participated in government and even, later - in the enthronement of sultans).
In the eyes of foreign diplomats, Valide Sultan Safie played a role comparable to that of queens in European states, and was even considered by Europeans as a queen.
Safiye, like her predecessor Nurbanu, followed a largely pro-Venetian policy and interceded regularly on behalf of the Venetian ambassadors. The Sultana also maintained good relations with England. Safiye was in personal correspondence with Queen Elizabeth I and exchanged gifts with her: for example, she received a portrait of the Queen of England in exchange for “two robes of silver fabric, one belt of silver fabric and two handkerchiefs with gold edging.” In addition, Elizabeth presented the Valide Sultan with a chic European carriage, in which Safiye traveled all over Istanbul and its environs, causing dissatisfaction with the ulema - they believed that such luxury was indecent for her. The Janissaries were unhappy with the influence that the Valide Sultan had on the ruler. English diplomat Henry Lello wrote about this in his report: She [Safiye] was always in favor and completely subjugated her son; despite this, muftis and military leaders often complain about her to their monarch, pointing out that she misleads him and dominates him.
However, the direct cause of the revolt of the sipahis (a type of Turkish heavy cavalry of the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire, “brothers” of the Janissaries) that broke out in Istanbul in 1600 against the mother of the Sultan was a woman named Esperanza Malkhi. She was a kira and Safie Sultan's mistress. Kirami were usually women of a non-Islamic faith (usually Jewish) who acted as a business agent, secretary and intermediary between the women of the harem and the outside world. Safiye, who was in love with a Jewish woman, allowed her kira to cash in on the entire harem and even run her hand into the treasury; in the end, Malchi, together with her son (they “heated up” the Ottoman Empire for more than 50 million akce), was brutally killed by the sipahis. Mehmed III ordered the execution of the leaders of the rebels, since the son of the qira was Safiye's adviser and, thus, the servant of the Sultan himself.
Diplomats also left a mention of the sultana's passion for the young secretary of the English embassy, Paul Pindar - however, which remained without consequences. “The Sultana really liked Mr. Pinder and she sent for him for a personal meeting, but their date was cut short”. Apparently, the young Englishman was then rushed back to England.
It was Safiye-Sultan who for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire began (informally) to be called the “great valide” - and for the reason that she (the first among the sultanas) concentrated in her hands the control of the entire Brilliant Porte; and because, due to the early death of her son, new valides appeared in the state - the mother of her grandchildren, the sultans, while she was then only 53 years old.
Uncontrollably power-hungry and greedy, Safiye, even more than Mehmed III himself, was afraid of the possibility of a coup by one of her grandsons. That is why she played a major role in the execution of Mehmed's eldest son, 16-year-old shehzade Mahmud (1587-1603). Safiye Sultan intercepted a letter from a certain religious seer sent to Mahmud's mother, Halime Sultan, in which he predicted that Mehmed III would die within six months and be succeeded by his eldest son. According to the notes of the British ambassador, Mahmoud himself was upset that “that his father is under the rule of the old sultana, his grandmother, and the state is collapsing, since she respects nothing more than her own desire to receive money, which his mother [Halime Sultan] often laments”, who was “not to the liking of the queen -mothers”. Safiye immediately informed (under the necessary “sauce”) about everything to her son. As a result, the sultan began to suspect Mahmud of a conspiracy and became jealous of the popularity of shehzade among the Janissaries. All this, as expected, ended with the execution (suffocation) of his elder shehzade on June 1 (or 7), 1503. However, the first part of the seer's prediction still came true - two weeks late. Sultan Mehmed III died in his Istanbul Topkapı Palace on December 21, 1503, at the age of only 37, from a heart attack - an absolute wreck. Apart from his mother, no one regretted his death.
A cruel and ruthless man, he apparently was not capable of passion and passionate feelings. Historians know five of his concubines who bore him children, but none of them ever bore the title of haseki, not to mention the possibility of a nikyakh padishah with any of them. Mehmed, as for the Sultan of the Sublime Porte, also had few children - historians know six of his sons (two died as teenagers during the life of his father, he executed one) and the names of four daughters (in fact, there were more of them, but how many and how called - covered in the darkness of the unknown).
This time there was no need to hide the death of the Sultan - all his sons were in Topkapi, in the harem "Cage" for shehzade. The choice was obvious - the 13-year-old eldest son of Mehmed, Ahmed I, ascended the throne of the Ottomans. By the way, at the same time, he saved the life of his younger brother (he was only a year younger than him), shehzade Mustafa. Firstly, because he was (before Ahmed had his own children) his only heir, and secondly (when Ahmed had his own children) because of his mental illness.
Well, Safiye Sultan was not in vain afraid of her grandchildren coming to power - one of the first decisions of Sultan Ahmed was to remove her from power and exile to the Old Palace, where all the concubines of the late sultans lived out their days. However, at the same time, Safiye, as the eldest, “great” Valide, continued to receive her fantastic salary of 3,000 Akçe per day.
Granny Sultana, although she lived, in general, not such a long (especially by the standards of our time) life - she died at about 68-69 years old, while outliving her grandson Sultan Ahmed (he died in November 1617 ), and found the beginning of the reign of his son, his great-grandson Osman II (1604-1622), who became sultan in February 1618, at the age of 14, after the overthrow of his uncle, the mentally disabled Sultan Mustafa I by the Janissaries. By the way, after the overthrow of Mustafa in the Old Palace was exiled by his mother, Halime Sultan. One must think that she arranged the “fun” last days of the life of her mother-in-law Safiye, through whose fault Mehmed III executed her eldest son, Mahmud, in 1603.
The exact date of the death of the great valid Safie Sultan is unknown to historians. She died at the end of 1618 - beginning of 1619, and was buried in the Aya-Sofya mosque in the turba (mausoleum) of her sovereign, Murad III. There was no one to pay for it.
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