en-US Sun, 21 Apr 2024 18:26:32 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 2160845 572 Franz Babinger 0691010781 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.80 1953
author: Franz Babinger
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1953
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves: history, ottoman-history, biographies, mena-history, to-read
review:

]]> 1112643
Contributors include Ellison Banks Findly, Elizabeth Brown Frierson, Salah M. Hassan, Nancy Micklewright, Leslie Peirce, Kishwar Rizvi, D. Fairchild Ruggles, Yasser Tabbaa, Lucienne Thys-Senoçak, and Ethel Sara Wolper.]]> D. Fairchild Ruggles 0791444708 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.33 2000
author: D. Fairchild Ruggles
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/10
shelves: mena-history, ottoman-history, maybe-reads
review:

]]> 38241715 172 Pinar Kayaalp 1138099791 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.67
author: Pinar Kayaalp
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2020/07/25
date added: 2020/08/08
shelves: history, ottoman-history, biographies, 2020-reads
review:

]]> 33776473 352 Muzaffer ÖzgĂŒleƟ 1784539260 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 4
B+ | Recommend only if you've read The Imperial Harem by Leslie Peirce AND Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan by Lucienne Thys-ƞenocak. This book definitely not a book for someone who hasn't read either one of these books (especially the latter - which I previously reviewed).

ÖzgĂŒleƟ attempts to argue that because of her patronage which showcased her “immense power”, Emetullah belongs in the “Sultanate of Women” (which is a time period in Ottoman history when women of the imperial harem exerted political influence over their sons & state matters due to the fact that their sons were minors and/or mentally unstable when they rose to power). He did a fantastic job with the research and his dedication was clear from the first. The inclusion of his own photographs of the structures that are still standing (which - unfortunately - are limited to a few since many of Emetullah Sultan's buildings/structures that she endowed and/or bore her name have fallen into disrepair, disappeared, and are forgotten) showed to me how devoted he was to this topic.

His analysis was pretty sound especially when it came to analyzing her building activities and what they meant. I appreciated and rather liked the chapters about the conversion of churches into mosques in her name and the Galata New Mosque for the research and analysis that he did for them. He really took the time to do the research and get the evidence he needed to support his idea. However, there were times when I thought he sounded too desperate and was pulling at strings.

Unfortunately, I wasn't convinced of ÖzgĂŒleƟ' argument that Emetullah belongs in the "Sultanate of Women". Sound as his analysis, there were obvious weaknesses in his arguments and the desperation was there all too often. Basically, he shined where he shined, but in the parts that were so-so, the writing and the argument were just that: so-so.

So basically? This book is a solid B+. Again, don't recommend it if you haven't read either of the books I mentioned above, especially °ŐłóČâČő-œą±đČÔŽÇłŠČč°ì'Čő Ottoman Women Builders. That book is essential to understanding this topic in my opinion. Yes, Peirce's book is important too, but I'm assuming that you've at least read that before thinking about jumping into this one. Because you need to know how the Ottoman harem operates to get a clue and a decent foundation to understand what's happening in this book. ]]> 4.00
author: Muzaffer ÖzgĂŒleƟ
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/10
date added: 2020/07/04
shelves: history, ottoman-history, mena-history, biographies
review:
I'm going to attempt to keep this review short and sweet for now. Why? Because I read this back in January 2018 (it's December 4th 2018 right now) so until I get a chance to find and review the notes I had made back then to give more in-depth reasons why I am giving this book the grade I'm giving it, this is the review.

B+ | Recommend only if you've read The Imperial Harem by Leslie Peirce AND Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan by Lucienne Thys-ƞenocak. This book definitely not a book for someone who hasn't read either one of these books (especially the latter - which I previously reviewed).

ÖzgĂŒleƟ attempts to argue that because of her patronage which showcased her “immense power”, Emetullah belongs in the “Sultanate of Women” (which is a time period in Ottoman history when women of the imperial harem exerted political influence over their sons & state matters due to the fact that their sons were minors and/or mentally unstable when they rose to power). He did a fantastic job with the research and his dedication was clear from the first. The inclusion of his own photographs of the structures that are still standing (which - unfortunately - are limited to a few since many of Emetullah Sultan's buildings/structures that she endowed and/or bore her name have fallen into disrepair, disappeared, and are forgotten) showed to me how devoted he was to this topic.

His analysis was pretty sound especially when it came to analyzing her building activities and what they meant. I appreciated and rather liked the chapters about the conversion of churches into mosques in her name and the Galata New Mosque for the research and analysis that he did for them. He really took the time to do the research and get the evidence he needed to support his idea. However, there were times when I thought he sounded too desperate and was pulling at strings.

Unfortunately, I wasn't convinced of ÖzgĂŒleƟ' argument that Emetullah belongs in the "Sultanate of Women". Sound as his analysis, there were obvious weaknesses in his arguments and the desperation was there all too often. Basically, he shined where he shined, but in the parts that were so-so, the writing and the argument were just that: so-so.

So basically? This book is a solid B+. Again, don't recommend it if you haven't read either of the books I mentioned above, especially °ŐłóČâČő-œą±đČÔŽÇłŠČč°ì'Čő Ottoman Women Builders. That book is essential to understanding this topic in my opinion. Yes, Peirce's book is important too, but I'm assuming that you've at least read that before thinking about jumping into this one. Because you need to know how the Ottoman harem operates to get a clue and a decent foundation to understand what's happening in this book.
]]> 25612480 and political life in the region over the course of the past 500 years. Beginning with the first glimmerings of the current international state and economic systems in the sixteenth century, this book examines the impact of imperial and imperialist legacies, the great nineteenth-century
transformation, cultural continuities and upheavals, international diplomacy, economic booms and busts, the emergence of authoritarian regimes and the varied forms of resistance to them and to imperialism in an area of vital concern to us all. The Modern Middle A History , Fourth Edition, is
engagingly written--drawing from the author's own research and other studies--and enriched with maps and photographs, original documents, and an abundance of supplementary materials.]]> 432 James L. Gelvin 019021886X Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.94 2004
author: James L. Gelvin
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/01
shelves: history, ottoman-history, mena-history, maybe-reads
review:

]]> 495019
“I was born in a konak (old house), which once was the harem of a pasha,” writes Alev Lytle Croutier. “People around me often whispered things about harems; my own grandmother and her sister had been brought up in one.”

Drawing on a host of firsthand accounts and memoirs, as well as her own family history, Croutier explores life in the world’s harems, from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century, focusing on the fabled Seraglio of Topkapi Palace as a paradigm for them all. We enter the slave markets and the lavish boudoirs of the sultanas; we witness the daily routines of the odalisques, and of the eunuchs who guarded the harem. Here, too, we learn of the labyrinthine political scheming among the sultan’s wives, his favorites, and the valide sultana—the sultan’s mother—whose power could eclipse that of the sultan himself.

There were the harems of the sultans and the pashas, but there were also “middle-class” harems, the households in which ordinary men and women lived out ordinary—albeit polygamous—lives. Croutier reveals their marital customs, child-rearing practices, and superstitions. Finally, she shows how this Eastern institution invaded the European imagination—in the form of decoration, costume, and art—and how Western ideas, in turn, finally eroded a system that had seemed eternal. Juxtaposing a rich array of illustrations—Western paintings, Turkish and Persian miniatures, family photographs, and even film stills—Croutier demystifies the Western erotic fantasy of “the world behind the veil.” This revised and updated 25th anniversary edition of Harem includes a new introduction by the author, revisiting her subject in light of recent events in Turkey, and the world.]]> 224 Alev Lytle Croutier 1558591591 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.87 1989
author: Alev Lytle Croutier
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/01
shelves: history, ottoman-history, mena-history, maybe-reads
review:

]]> 361130 704 Caroline Finkel 0465023967 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.73 2005
author: Caroline Finkel
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/01
shelves: history, ottoman-history, mena-history, maybe-reads
review:

]]> 514467 348 Lucienne Thys-Senocak 0754633101 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 5 Valide Sultan or "Queen Mother". However, it wasn't until her rival & Mehmed's grandmother, Valide Kösem Sultan, was murdered after plotting to have Mehmed deposed & replaced with another grandson with another mother, that Turhan Sultan was able to become de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire, a position she held for a little over three decades until her death on the 4th of August 1683. It is during her time as valide sultan that Turhan undertook her architectural patronage in which she oversaw numerous projects, including the construction of two fortresses (the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale) & the completion of the Yeni Valide Mosque in Eminönü in Istanbul.


Ottoman Women Builders was written for a general audience of early modern scholars & students. The prose is clear & straightforward. It's comprehensive. The evidence provided are numerous but presented in a manner that allows the reader to digest them, despite the fact that they are sourced from a variety of sources. The book is organized in a way that allows for paragraphs to flow into each other. Even those who are just lovers of history should have no problem reading through this book because Thys-Senocak does offer insights into the various topics to help the reader understand as she presents her evidence to support her argument that Turhan Sultan, despite being away from the public view, legitimized her political authority through patronage of bold architectural works & established her as protector of the empire when she commissioned the construction of the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale fortresses.


Chapter 1 is the introduction. It gives readers an insight to what to expect & offers an introduction to the themes presented in the following chapters.


For those who are more interested in Turhan herself, Chapters 2 & 3 gives a thorough introduction & historical context into this amazing woman as well as draws on comparisons with her Ottoman & European counterparts like Nurbanu, Kösem, Elizabeth I, & Catherine & Maria de'Medici.


Chapter 2 provides the reader with background information on Turhan herself as well as her rise from concubine to valide sultan. Even if you have not read The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire by Leslie P. Peirce, Thys-Senocak takes the possibility into account & gives a brief overview of how things operate within the harem. It is in this chapter that Thys-Senocak explains Turhan's relationship with Ibrahim as well as her relationship with Kösem. Also, there is a section in the chapter called "Administrative Duties" which recounts Turhan's duties as valide sultan & gives readers an insight into Turhan herself. Thys-Senocak makes it a point to point out that Turhan has always been concerned with the empire's security as well as the fact that she had "cultivated a strong image of an imperial figure dedicated to justice".


Chapter 3 gives more context in terms of how Turhan compared to her European & Ottoman counterparts. It's here that once more, Thys-Senocak takes into account that you might not have read Peirce's book & explains, briefly, the limitations of Ottoman women vs their European counterparts, especially in terms of their architectural patronages. Here, she also points out the relationship between a woman's life stages & their power & agency. Again, there's a comparison between European & Ottoman women ; Thys-Senocak makes it a point to point out that the prestige & legitimacy that a valide sultan had was derived from her position as the mother of the reigning sultan, not as widow of the deceased sultan.


Thys-Senocak shifts in Chapters 4 & 5 from Turhan herself to her architectual endeavors where she brings the fire so to speak. It is here that she offers a beautiful & detailed account of Turhan’s major architectural projects : the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale fortresses & the Yeni Valide Mosque in Eminönü.


In Chapter 4, goes in depth about the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale fortresses. As Thys-Senocak pointed out in Chapter 2, Turhan has always been concerned with the empire's security. However, she goes on further & is able to successfully argue that Turhan had commissioned the two fortresses to legitimize herself & her power & authority. Thys-Senocak points out that traditionally, concern with the empire's safety is something the sultan would be focused on. Thys-Senocak successfully argues that by taking on the task & commissioning the fortresses, Turhan legitimized herself as protector of the empire. She also argues that Turhan did this in hopes of preparing her son, Mehmed, to become as famed of a sultan as his ancestors.


This brings us to Chapter 5, which talks about the Yeni Valide Mosque in Eminönü in Istanbul which Thys-Senocak argues is what completely legitimized & fully established Turhan's power as well as advertised her piety. Thys-Senocak carefully explains the history behind the Yeni Valide Mosque, the architecture & planning of the mosque itself (which she argues was done on purpose to allow Turhan to view the complex), the politico-ideological messages, as well as pointing out the inscriptions on the walls which Thys-Senocak argues was meant for Mehmed in hopes of driving him to become a formidable sultan.


Chapter 6 is the conclusion which reiterates Turhan’s architectural patronage as deliberate & well calculated attempts to legitimizing her power & political authority, despite the fact that unlike her European counterparts, she was hidden from public view.


Ottoman Women Builders is a remarkable scholarly work. It represents a valuable contribution to Ottoman women’s history as well as architectural history & the study of imperial female patronage. Scholars, students, & enthusiasts alike will find this work to be worth taking the time to read & is a valuable text for those studying this field. It gets 5 stars.]]> 4.75 2007
author: Lucienne Thys-Senocak
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.75
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2017/11/15
date added: 2019/11/23
shelves: history, ottoman-history, biographies, most-loved, mena-history
review:
Captured in Russia at the age of twelve, Hadice (Hatice) Turhan Sultan (whom I shall be calling Turhan Sultan from now on) entered the Ottoman Imperial Harem as a slave. Eventually, she rose through the ranks to become one of Ibrahim I's Hasekis. She bore him a male child, Mehmed, who would become sultan after his father was deposed. When Mehmed I became sultan at the age of six, Turhan Sultan became Valide Sultan or "Queen Mother". However, it wasn't until her rival & Mehmed's grandmother, Valide Kösem Sultan, was murdered after plotting to have Mehmed deposed & replaced with another grandson with another mother, that Turhan Sultan was able to become de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire, a position she held for a little over three decades until her death on the 4th of August 1683. It is during her time as valide sultan that Turhan undertook her architectural patronage in which she oversaw numerous projects, including the construction of two fortresses (the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale) & the completion of the Yeni Valide Mosque in Eminönü in Istanbul.


Ottoman Women Builders was written for a general audience of early modern scholars & students. The prose is clear & straightforward. It's comprehensive. The evidence provided are numerous but presented in a manner that allows the reader to digest them, despite the fact that they are sourced from a variety of sources. The book is organized in a way that allows for paragraphs to flow into each other. Even those who are just lovers of history should have no problem reading through this book because Thys-Senocak does offer insights into the various topics to help the reader understand as she presents her evidence to support her argument that Turhan Sultan, despite being away from the public view, legitimized her political authority through patronage of bold architectural works & established her as protector of the empire when she commissioned the construction of the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale fortresses.


Chapter 1 is the introduction. It gives readers an insight to what to expect & offers an introduction to the themes presented in the following chapters.


For those who are more interested in Turhan herself, Chapters 2 & 3 gives a thorough introduction & historical context into this amazing woman as well as draws on comparisons with her Ottoman & European counterparts like Nurbanu, Kösem, Elizabeth I, & Catherine & Maria de'Medici.


Chapter 2 provides the reader with background information on Turhan herself as well as her rise from concubine to valide sultan. Even if you have not read The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire by Leslie P. Peirce, Thys-Senocak takes the possibility into account & gives a brief overview of how things operate within the harem. It is in this chapter that Thys-Senocak explains Turhan's relationship with Ibrahim as well as her relationship with Kösem. Also, there is a section in the chapter called "Administrative Duties" which recounts Turhan's duties as valide sultan & gives readers an insight into Turhan herself. Thys-Senocak makes it a point to point out that Turhan has always been concerned with the empire's security as well as the fact that she had "cultivated a strong image of an imperial figure dedicated to justice".


Chapter 3 gives more context in terms of how Turhan compared to her European & Ottoman counterparts. It's here that once more, Thys-Senocak takes into account that you might not have read Peirce's book & explains, briefly, the limitations of Ottoman women vs their European counterparts, especially in terms of their architectural patronages. Here, she also points out the relationship between a woman's life stages & their power & agency. Again, there's a comparison between European & Ottoman women ; Thys-Senocak makes it a point to point out that the prestige & legitimacy that a valide sultan had was derived from her position as the mother of the reigning sultan, not as widow of the deceased sultan.


Thys-Senocak shifts in Chapters 4 & 5 from Turhan herself to her architectual endeavors where she brings the fire so to speak. It is here that she offers a beautiful & detailed account of Turhan’s major architectural projects : the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale fortresses & the Yeni Valide Mosque in Eminönü.


In Chapter 4, goes in depth about the SeddĂŒ lbahir and Kumkale fortresses. As Thys-Senocak pointed out in Chapter 2, Turhan has always been concerned with the empire's security. However, she goes on further & is able to successfully argue that Turhan had commissioned the two fortresses to legitimize herself & her power & authority. Thys-Senocak points out that traditionally, concern with the empire's safety is something the sultan would be focused on. Thys-Senocak successfully argues that by taking on the task & commissioning the fortresses, Turhan legitimized herself as protector of the empire. She also argues that Turhan did this in hopes of preparing her son, Mehmed, to become as famed of a sultan as his ancestors.


This brings us to Chapter 5, which talks about the Yeni Valide Mosque in Eminönü in Istanbul which Thys-Senocak argues is what completely legitimized & fully established Turhan's power as well as advertised her piety. Thys-Senocak carefully explains the history behind the Yeni Valide Mosque, the architecture & planning of the mosque itself (which she argues was done on purpose to allow Turhan to view the complex), the politico-ideological messages, as well as pointing out the inscriptions on the walls which Thys-Senocak argues was meant for Mehmed in hopes of driving him to become a formidable sultan.


Chapter 6 is the conclusion which reiterates Turhan’s architectural patronage as deliberate & well calculated attempts to legitimizing her power & political authority, despite the fact that unlike her European counterparts, she was hidden from public view.


Ottoman Women Builders is a remarkable scholarly work. It represents a valuable contribution to Ottoman women’s history as well as architectural history & the study of imperial female patronage. Scholars, students, & enthusiasts alike will find this work to be worth taking the time to read & is a valuable text for those studying this field. It gets 5 stars.
]]> 8273343 396 Leslie P. Peirce 0199762562 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 5 4.14 1993
author: Leslie P. Peirce
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2017/10/17
date added: 2019/08/16
shelves: history, ottoman-history, mena-history, most-loved
review:

]]> 230134
This highly original look at the rise of the Ottoman empire—the longest-lived political entity in human history—shows the transformation of a tiny frontier enterprise into a centralized imperial state that saw itself as both leader of the world's Muslims and heir to the Eastern Roman Empire.]]> 205 Cemal Kafadar 0520206002 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 4.31 1995
author: Cemal Kafadar
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/03/08
shelves: to-read, history, ottoman-history
review:

]]> 1005855
This lavishly illustrated book chronicles the history of Byzantium, the evolution of the defenses of Constantinople and the epic siege of the city, which saw a force of 80,000 men repelled by a small group of determined defenders until the Turks smashed the city's protective walls with artillery. Regarded by some as the tragic end of the Roman Empire, and by others as the belated suppression of an aging relic by an ambitious young state, the impact of the capitulation of the city resonated through the centuries and heralded the rapid rise of the Islamic Ottoman Empire.]]> 250 David Nicolle 1846032008 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.69 2000
author: David Nicolle
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, byzantine, history, mena-history, ottoman-history, european-history
review:

]]> 2768797
In 1683, two empires — the Ottoman, based in Constantinople, and the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna — came face to face in the culmination of a 250-year-old struggle for power at the Great Siege of Vienna. Within the city walls, the choice of resistance over surrender to the largest army ever assembled by the Turks created an all-or-nothing scenario: every last survivor would be enslaved or ruthlessly slaughtered.

Although it was their most famous attack, the 1683 siege was the historical culmination of the Turks’ sustained attempt to march westwards and finally obtain the city they had long called “The Golden Apple.” Their defeat was to mark the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire.

With Turkey now seeking to re-orient itself towards the West and with a new generation of politicians exploiting the residual tensions between East and West, The Enemy at the Gate provides a timely and masterful account of this most complex and epic of conflicts.]]> 384 Andrew Wheatcroft 0224073648 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.77 2009
author: Andrew Wheatcroft
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, history, ottoman-history, mena-history, european-history
review:

]]> 6108 488 John Julius Norwich 0679416501 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 4.44 1995
author: John Julius Norwich
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, history, byzantine, ottoman-history, mena-history, european-history
review:

]]> 227354 Now in trade paperback, a gripping exploration of the fall of Constantinople and its connection to the world we live in today The fall of Constantinople in 1453 signaled a shift in history, and the end of the Byzantium Empire. Roger Crowley's readable and comprehensive account of the battle between Mehmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th emperor of Byzantium, illuminates the period in history that was a precursor to the current jihad between the West and the Middle East.]]> 304 Roger Crowley 1401308503 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 4.23 2005
author: Roger Crowley
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, history, byzantine, ottoman-history, mena-history, european-history
review:

]]> 8016196 300 Madeline C. Zilfi 0521515831 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.86 2010
author: Madeline C. Zilfi
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, history, mena-history, ottoman-history
review:

]]> 10703860
Coptic Christianity in Ottoman Egypt highlights how Copts, as a minority living in a dominant Islamic culture, identified and distinguished themselves from other groups by turning to an impressive array of religious traditions, such as the visitation of saints' shrines, the relocation of major festivals to remote destinations, the development of new pilgrimage practices, as well as the writing of sermons that articulated a Coptic religious ethos in reaction to Catholic missionary discourses. Within this discussion of religious life, the Copts' relationship to local political rulers, military elites, the Muslim religious establishment, and to other non-Muslim communities are also elucidated. In all, the book aims to document the Coptic experience within the Ottoman Egyptian context while focusing on new documentary sources and on an historical era that has been long neglected.
]]> 272 Febe Armanios Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 4.60 2011
author: Febe Armanios
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, history, mena-history, ottoman-history
review:

]]> 108821
In Rethinking Orientalism , Reina Lewis makes a major contribution to correcting the prevailing stereotype of the subjugated, silenced woman of the harem. Bringing together published autobiographical accounts of self-identified “Oriental” women at the turn of the twentieth century, she reveals that these women were, in fact, able to intervene in orientalist culture and manipulate cultural codes. Lewis shows how the writings of Demetra Vaka Brown, Halide Edib, Zeyneb Hanum, Melek Hanum, and Grace Ellison were part of a social and textual dialogue with Western women, and how their contentious engagement with Western feminism was an important facet of regional modernization.

Exploring the complicated ways that these writers addressed topics such as seclusion, the veil, and polygamy, Lewis vividly illustrates the possibilities and limitations of resistance that women from Islamic societies have experienced and continue to work within.  ]]> 324 Reina Lewis 0813535425 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.44 2004
author: Reina Lewis
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/06
shelves: to-read, history, ottoman-history, mena-history
review:

]]> 6974426 288 John Freely 1590202481 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.50 2009
author: John Freely
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/02
shelves: to-read, history, ottoman-history, biographies, mena-history
review:

]]> 1858605
Necipoglu focuses on the imperial iconograpy of palatial forms that lack monumentality, axiality, and rational-geometric planning principles to decipher codes of grandeur that are no longer obvious to the modern observer. She reconstructs the architectural and ceremonial impact of the palace through a step-by-step tour of its buildings, demonstrating how the palace was experienced as a processional sequence of separate courts and seemingly disjointed architectural elements that were nevertheless integrated into a coherent whole by passage through time and space.

Far more than an analysis of the architectural program of the palace, Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power raises questions and provides answers to fundamental concerns about the ideology of absolute sovereignty, the interplay between architecture and ritual, and the changing perceptions of a building through the centuries, a building that drew upon a wide range of Palatine traditions, mythical, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Romano-Byzantine, and Italian Renaissance.]]> 356 GĂŒlru Necipoğlu 0262140500 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 4.30 1992
author: GĂŒlru Necipoğlu
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/02
shelves: to-read, history, ottoman-history, mena-history
review:

]]> 33931207 414 Douglas A. Howard 0521727308 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 0 3.71 2017
author: Douglas A. Howard
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/01/02
shelves: to-read, history, ottoman-history, mena-history
review:

]]> 33773618 The extraordinary story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from the role of concubine to become the only queen in Ottoman history

In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by warriors at age twelve from her Ruthenian homeland, and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Constantinople. Suleiman became besotted with her, and forsook all other mistresses. Then, in an unprecedented step, he made her the first and only queen in the Ottoman court. Although shrouded in scandal, the canny and sophisticated Roxelana became a shrewd diplomat and administrator, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women - from Queen Elizabeth to Catherine de Medici - increasingly held the reins of power.

In Empress of the East, Pierce reveals the true history of an elusive figure who pushed the Ottoman Empire towards modernity.]]> 320 Leslie P. Peirce 0465032516 Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„ 1 The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Going against the tradition of one son per concubine, HĂŒrrem would remain in SĂŒleyman’s bed & would give birth to six children, five of them sons; her son Selim would become sultan after SĂŒleyman’s death.

Despite its interesting subject matter, Peirce’s Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire is a terribly written & biased piece that lacks structure, neglecting to include important information at logical junctures. More alarmingly, she distorts & exaggerates historical fact to embellish her subject’s power & influence, caters to fans of the ruthless second wave feminism trope, & ultimately tries to spin history into a fairytale rags-to-riches story. In the attempt to exonerate HĂŒrrem & frame her as a heroine worth rooting for, Peirce presents her as far too brilliant, far too powerful, & far too perfect. Peirce’s HĂŒrrem can do no wrong; she is intelligent, politically aware, & a keen manipulator of circumstance, but at the same time indisputably innocent of charges leveled against her - not even to ensure one of her sons would take the throne. Conversely, those who stood against HĂŒrrem’s success like Mahidevran, Ibrahim, & Mustafa are consistently painted in a far more negative light. Their importance is watered down, their merits are downplayed, & their figures presented dismissively order to serve the narrative & make HĂŒrrem look better.

When compared to her academic work, Empress falls flat on itself. While the prose is easy to read, Peirce’s writing falters as she attempts to write for a general audience. Rather than providing a scholarly analysis backed up by historical evidence, she favors a biased narrative that relies heavily on speculative “imagining”, value judgments, & tenuous yet sweeping claims. Her use of romantic & idyllic language drags down her writing rather than lift it up, & uncritically attempts to frame HĂŒrrem & SĂŒleyman’s relationship as a love story. The concluding statement of the introduction provides no better example of Peirce’s modus operandi, in which she asserts the Ottoman Sultanate’s survival was largely “bolstered by the reforms she introduced”, a process “generated along with the Ottoman empire’s greatest love story.”

This language is typical in the book. Peirce forces the reader to see the Ottoman world through her lens & adopt her wishful imagings, instead of allowing them to form their own views & imagine independently. Her “speculation” includes comparisons that make little sense, all the while implying that HĂŒrrem “must have thought” of such things herself! Peirce notes that women forced into sexual servitude may not have viewed their status positively, yet at one point abhorrently tries to justify it because of the “compensations” - that these women “must” have known they probably wouldn’t have had easy lives or happy marriages in their homelands, & would be comforted that, even as palace slaves, they could at least live in the lap of luxury: “An emotionally & sexually fulfilling marriage had not necessarily been in store for them in their hometowns & villages. The common practice of arranged marriage could saddle them with husbands who were unattractive, considerably older, or even brutal. Mostly peasants, they were more likely than not destined for a life of daily toil - perhaps poverty - early death. The dynastic family to which they now belonged at least kept them in luxurious comfort - good health.”

Of course, no one knows what HĂŒrrem thought during certain events; suggestions that she would have connected herself to other women in history, or compare the converted Ayasofya to her own experience, do not belong in a biography. Peirce can speculate - draw conclusions based on the facts that she has. However, she can’t lead readers to imagine that HĂŒrrem ever thought of what architectural endeavors she might take on should she succeed with SĂŒleyman, sympathized with Anne Boleyn, or compared herself to GĂŒrcĂŒ Hatun (a Christian-born consort beloved by a Muslim ruler) - Byzantine royals like Eirene; that SĂŒleyman instructed her in the art of war, tutored her as a diplomat, or gave her a say in how the design of the new palace harem, especially whilst SĂŒleyman’s mother Hafsa was alive. There’s no evidence for any of these things. Such fanciful scenarios are better suited for a work of historical fiction - & considering how Peirce omits pertinent information she herself described in The Imperial Harem to suit the narrative, she might as well have written a novel!

Empress gives the impression that it was by marrying SĂŒleyman that HĂŒrrem became a “queen” & obtained the stature that she had. However, this is not the case. Although Peirce mentions that noblewomen married Ottoman sultans in prior centuries, she neglects to inform the reader that because royal wives were barred from having children, they were not as powerful as their slave counterparts who did. “Women without sons were women without households & therefore women of no status,” she summarized in Harem. Because the Ottomans granted greater prestige to women who bore a son over a childless one, limiting reproduction limited access to political power: “Royal wives were deprived of this most public mark of status [the patronage of public buildings], presumably because they lacked the qualification that appears to have entitled royal concubines to this privilege: motherhood. The suppression of the capacity of royal wives to bear children is an example of the Ottoman policy of manipulating sexuality & reproduction as a means of controlling power. To deny these women access to motherhood, the source of female power within the dynastic family, was to diminish the status of the royal houses from which they came.”

Peirce gives the example of SittiƟah (Sitti) Hatun, who married Mehmed the Conqueror. She describes Sitti’s wedding to Mehmed, an event surrounded by great pomp & circumstance. However, she neglects to inform the reader that Sitti’s marriage to Mehmed bore no children. Franz Babinger writes that although she had wed to the great conqueror himself, the childless Sitti was ultimately powerless & died lonely & forsaken. As Peirce explained in 1993, unions such as that of Sitti & Mehmed were largely symbolic & strictly political in nature: “Although their careers as consorts of the sultans often began with the ceremonial of elaborate weddings, royal brides were ciphers in these events. What counted was the ceremony itself & what it symbolized: less the union of male & female than a statement of the relationship between two states. The function of the bride, particularly in view of the non role that awaited her as the sultan’s wife, was to symbolize the subordinate status of the weaker state.”

There is no question that HĂŒrrem & SĂŒleyman’s marriage rattled Ottoman society. Nevertheless, it is alarming that Peirce, who once authored a seminal work on the structure & politics of the harem, omits the fact that it was motherhood & not marriage that empowered a woman in the dynastic family. Such gaps in knowledge might lead those previously unfamiliar with the Ottoman harem to believe that marriage made HĂŒrrem a “queen” & gave her political power, going so far to describe her & SĂŒleyman as a “reigning couple” at one point. (Bizarrely, she does discuss abortion in Empress, yet avoids writing about dynastic family politics beyond mentioning “political planning”.)

Far more perturbing is Peirce’s insistence that HĂŒrrem did more than she actually did for the empire. She claims that it was HĂŒrrem who played a pivotal role in “moving the Ottoman Empire into modern times” & allowed the sultanate to survive through reforms she introduced. While she certainly paved the way in some regards for the women who followed her, Peirce overestimates HĂŒrrem’s impact on the history of the Ottoman empire. There are other influential figures who helped preserve the sultanate, other forces that allowed it to flourish. Furthermore, Peirce downplays external factors that allowed for HĂŒrrem’s ascent in the first place - namely the absence of a valide after 1534, not to mention SĂŒleyman’s lasting infatuation for her - in favor of emphasizing her purportedly “unique” qualities of endurance, intelligence, & being a survivor.

Peirce goes on to anachronistically frame HĂŒrrem as a feminist figure. In one passage, she describes her as a “forward-thinking equal opportunity employer” who “challenged women’s etiquette” because she wanted a female scribe for her foundation. Peirce’s language suggests that it was HĂŒrrem alone who bolstered women’s opportunities, yet she does not present any evidence that HĂŒrrem introduced or influenced any social or political reforms for women of the time. Yet perhaps most erroneous is Peirce’s claim that credits HĂŒrrem with the start of “a more peaceable system of identifying the next sultan”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Following their HĂŒrrem’s death, her sons Selim & Bayezid became entangled in a civil war that ultimately ended with the deaths of Bayezid & his children. Even in the absence of prolonged violence, subsequent secession crises of the sixteenth century were resolved through the execution of the new sultan’s brothers, including infants. It was only with the ascent of thirteen-year-old Ahmed in 1603 that this tradition was set aside for dynastic concerns, although the practice of fratricide did not cease entirely.

When Peirce isn’t falling over to frame HĂŒrrem as a wonder woman, she dismisses those who stood in opposition to her ascent, such as Mahidevran, SĂŒleyman’s previous consort & mother of his firstborn son, Mustafa. Peirce takes a dim view of Mahidevran, presenting her as a jealous woman who needed to be reminded of her duties as mother of a prince. She is depicted a woman worried about losing a man’s favor, rather than a woman who, by all historical accounts, was deeply concerned for her son’s future. Early in SĂŒleyman’s reign, the ambassador Pietro Bragadin reported that Mustafa was his mother’s “whole joy” at their residence in Istanbul. Later, the crucial role Mahidevran played in supporting her son at his provincial governorships was detailed by visiting diplomats. In 1540, Bassano noted her guidance in “[making] himself loved by the people” at his court in Diyarbakır. Mahidevran’s efforts to protect Mustafa, as well as the bond between mother & son, were observed by Bernardo Navagero in 1553: “[Mustafa] has with him his mother, who exercises great diligence to guard him from poisoning & reminds him every day that he has nothing else but this to avoid, & it is said that he had boundless respect & reverence for her.”

Ibrahim Pasha is another figure disparaged by Peirce’s negative bias. A friend from SĂŒleyman’s youth who quickly ascended to the rank Grand Vizier, Ibrahim was not only a skilled & cultured diplomat admired by his counterparts in Europe, but a talented administrator & commander. Eric R. Dursteler writes, “During this time, by all accounts, Ibrahim ruled the day-to-day affairs of the empire effectively. SĂŒleyman seems to have been content to give Ibrahim nearly unlimited power & autonomy in running the Ottoman state, & all matters of any significance passed directly through his hands. [...] If Ibrahim's initial ascent was due to his personal ties to SĂŒleyman, in his years as grand vizier, he proved himself a capable diplomat & an effective political & military leader. In 1524, SĂŒleyman sent Ibrahim to Egypt to restore order following an uprising led by a rebellious Ottoman official sent to rule the earlier conquered province. Ibrahim reorganized legal & fiscal institutions, punished mutinous officials & subjects with severity, established schools, restored mosques, &, by all accounts, restored peace & order to the region.”

Conversely, Peirce describes Ibrahim as “dispensable”, implies that he was holding SĂŒleyman back from achieving his greatest accomplishments, & states “other minds were better suited” to administer the empire as Grand Vizier. When comparing her portrayal of Ibrahim to that of RĂŒstem Pasha, Mihrimah Sultan’s husband - & HĂŒrrem’s son-in-law - Peirce’s bias becomes clear. She fawns over RĂŒstem while being completely dismissive of Ibrahim.

Finally, there is Mustafa: the son of HĂŒrrem’s rival Mahidevran & SĂŒleyman’s oldest living son. Empress paints Mustafa as a brat, calling him “a proud child whose sense of entitlement was apparently both acute & insecure." Peirce recounts an ambassadorial report describing the young prince’s jealousy over his father’s relationship with Ibrahim - a story she previously featured in Harem: ‘The sultan sent İbrahim the gift of a beautiful saddle for his horse with jewels & all; & Mustafa, aware of this, sent word to İbrahim to have one like it made for him ; [İbrahim] understood this & sent him the said saddle, & said to him, ‘now listen, if the sultan learns of this, he will make you send it back.”

Peirce’s two treatments of the same story is telling. In Harem, the account illustrates “İbrahim’s kindly patience in soothing the child Mustafa’s jealousy of his father’s affection for his favorite”, with Peirce noting that the relationship “seems to have consolidated” over time - particularly with the emergence of his half-brothers as a greater threat. In Empress, on the other hand, Peirce only concludes that such incidents “may simply reflect a jealousy on Mustafa’s part of anyone close to his father” without mention of the relationship improving, nor of Mustafa recognizing his true rivals to survival.

Whenever Peirce describes Mustafa’s intelligence & his worthiness, she emphasizes that these are the opinions of his contemporaries. It’s as though she wants to disagree, but can’t because historical evidence only points to Mustafa being how he is remembered to be: an intelligent & a worthy heir to the throne. Mustafa was the clear favorite among the people & the army. In Harem, Peirce notes that “Mustafa was universally desired to follow his father to the throne” according to Venetian reports in 1550 & again in 1552. He was more popular than Selim or Bayezid, HĂŒrrem’s living sons who were contenders to the throne. Mehmed, HĂŒrrem’s firstborn, could have been a match for Mustafa had he lived longer, but in the absence of evidence this is mere speculation.

Mustafa’s execution did indeed stain HĂŒrrem’s name. She & RĂŒstem Pasha were blamed by contemporaries for orchestrating the downfall of the beloved heir apparent. Peirce predictably sets out to clear HĂŒrrem’s name & exonerate her of involvement in the tragedy, but instead of focusing on a lack of hard evidence, she illogically places blame on Mustafa for his own demise. Writing that previous historians studying the topic “largely failed to consider Mustafa’s part in the affair”, Peirce points out the prince’s popularity & that people were already hailing him as “sultan” - something SĂŒleyman would undoubtedly find threatening. Perhaps Mustafa was the victim of his own success, but it would be deeply unfair to blame him for meriting praise & adoration from others, which could only be earned through excelling in his princely duties.

Had Mustafa won the throne after SĂŒleyman died, Ottoman tradition would dictate the deaths of HĂŒrrem’s sons - even Cihangir, said to be fond of his eldest half-brother. According to Navagero, SĂŒleyman reminded Cihangir of this reality, warning his son that “Mustafa will become the sultan & will deprive [you & your brothers] of your lives.” Per the Ottoman practice of institutionalized fratricide, someone would have to die.

Beyond the fact that her sons would face near-certain death had he ascended the throne, a victory for Mustafa would deprive HĂŒrrem of power, leaving her to face the fate that had befallen Mahidevran after her son’s death: destitute & cast aside. As Thys-Senocak explained in Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan: “Unlike her European counterparts, the prestige & political legitimacy that an Ottoman valide possessed was derived from her position as the mother of the reigning sultan, rather than through her position as the widow of the deceased sultan [...] Once the father of her son was dead, the valide’s sole source of power & legitimation was through her son, the reigning sultan.” If Mustafa took the throne after SĂŒleyman’s death, HĂŒrrem would have lost not only her sons, but also her status.

The fate of a mother was thus closely bound to the survival of her son. It was not only a mother’s duty to ensure that her son was a contender to the throne, but through his mother’s influence that he survived. A prince’s mother was his mediator, his guardian, his most steadfast ally; it was she who sought to safeguard him from potentially hostile forces, including his own father. While imperial lalas (tutors) ensured that a prince was prepared to take the throne, it was the mother who acted as “an effective agent for her son through her connections with the imperial court, her wealth, & her status as a royal consort & as the most honored person at the provincial court after her son.”

HĂŒrrem, however, did not accompany her sons to their provincial governorships to fulfill the principal role of a prince’s mother. Once again bucking established practice, she remained in Istanbul with SĂŒleyman during this time save for the occasional visit.

Herein lies the irony of Peirce’s HĂŒrrem. Only remotely involved with her sons’ provincial careers, painting HĂŒrrem as an innocent flower who never intrigued at court would mean she did nothing to protect, promote, or prepare them at one of the most crucial points of their lives. If she did not have a hand in anything, whether at sanjak or in Istanbul -- not even to eliminate their biggest competition -- what did Peirce’s HĂŒrrem do to ensure her sons’ success and survival? It is only in the epilogue of Empress that she briefly notes HĂŒrrem’s involvement in ensuring one of her sons received aid he might need. Nevertheless, in the quest to exonerate her subject, Peirce inadvertently makes it seem HĂŒrrem neglected her chief responsibility as mother of the sultanate’s heirs. Even with multiple sons and no precedent to follow, one would think she would’ve done anything to help or protect them -- and by extension, herself. Yet Peirce provides no evidence or examples of HĂŒrrem’s involvement in educating or preparing her sons for rulership.

Ultimately, Empress of the East only does HĂŒrrem a disservice by presenting her as a proto-feminist, empowered heroine rather than a complex, controversial historical figure. Peirce embellishes and exaggerates when it suits her narrative, just as she painstakingly aims to clear her subject of alleged wrongdoings. But this approach backfires when one considers the book as a whole: rather than a mother and a politician who understood the importance of protecting her sons and readied them for the throne, Peirce gives the impression HĂŒrrem did little to advance their interests -- despite the allegedly large clout she had as “queen”.]]> 3.72 2017
author: Leslie P. Peirce
name: Veronica đŸ‡”đŸ‡­đŸ„„
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2017
rating: 1
read at: 2017/12/14
date added: 2017/12/30
shelves: history, ottoman-history, biographies, mena-history
review:
Haseki HĂŒrrem Sultan (or Roxelana) was catapulted into the history books after she became Sultan SĂŒleyman’s concubine & his favorite. She would eventually become his chief consort - his haseki, a title created for her position as chief consort, but unequal to that of the sultan. Her true name is lost to history; however, she was renamed HĂŒrrem - a name that she used to refer to herself for the rest of her life. Captured & enslaved as a young woman, HĂŒrrem was ultimately brought to the imperial harem, an institution Peirce thoroughly examined in The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Going against the tradition of one son per concubine, HĂŒrrem would remain in SĂŒleyman’s bed & would give birth to six children, five of them sons; her son Selim would become sultan after SĂŒleyman’s death.

Despite its interesting subject matter, Peirce’s Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire is a terribly written & biased piece that lacks structure, neglecting to include important information at logical junctures. More alarmingly, she distorts & exaggerates historical fact to embellish her subject’s power & influence, caters to fans of the ruthless second wave feminism trope, & ultimately tries to spin history into a fairytale rags-to-riches story. In the attempt to exonerate HĂŒrrem & frame her as a heroine worth rooting for, Peirce presents her as far too brilliant, far too powerful, & far too perfect. Peirce’s HĂŒrrem can do no wrong; she is intelligent, politically aware, & a keen manipulator of circumstance, but at the same time indisputably innocent of charges leveled against her - not even to ensure one of her sons would take the throne. Conversely, those who stood against HĂŒrrem’s success like Mahidevran, Ibrahim, & Mustafa are consistently painted in a far more negative light. Their importance is watered down, their merits are downplayed, & their figures presented dismissively order to serve the narrative & make HĂŒrrem look better.

When compared to her academic work, Empress falls flat on itself. While the prose is easy to read, Peirce’s writing falters as she attempts to write for a general audience. Rather than providing a scholarly analysis backed up by historical evidence, she favors a biased narrative that relies heavily on speculative “imagining”, value judgments, & tenuous yet sweeping claims. Her use of romantic & idyllic language drags down her writing rather than lift it up, & uncritically attempts to frame HĂŒrrem & SĂŒleyman’s relationship as a love story. The concluding statement of the introduction provides no better example of Peirce’s modus operandi, in which she asserts the Ottoman Sultanate’s survival was largely “bolstered by the reforms she introduced”, a process “generated along with the Ottoman empire’s greatest love story.”

This language is typical in the book. Peirce forces the reader to see the Ottoman world through her lens & adopt her wishful imagings, instead of allowing them to form their own views & imagine independently. Her “speculation” includes comparisons that make little sense, all the while implying that HĂŒrrem “must have thought” of such things herself! Peirce notes that women forced into sexual servitude may not have viewed their status positively, yet at one point abhorrently tries to justify it because of the “compensations” - that these women “must” have known they probably wouldn’t have had easy lives or happy marriages in their homelands, & would be comforted that, even as palace slaves, they could at least live in the lap of luxury: “An emotionally & sexually fulfilling marriage had not necessarily been in store for them in their hometowns & villages. The common practice of arranged marriage could saddle them with husbands who were unattractive, considerably older, or even brutal. Mostly peasants, they were more likely than not destined for a life of daily toil - perhaps poverty - early death. The dynastic family to which they now belonged at least kept them in luxurious comfort - good health.”

Of course, no one knows what HĂŒrrem thought during certain events; suggestions that she would have connected herself to other women in history, or compare the converted Ayasofya to her own experience, do not belong in a biography. Peirce can speculate - draw conclusions based on the facts that she has. However, she can’t lead readers to imagine that HĂŒrrem ever thought of what architectural endeavors she might take on should she succeed with SĂŒleyman, sympathized with Anne Boleyn, or compared herself to GĂŒrcĂŒ Hatun (a Christian-born consort beloved by a Muslim ruler) - Byzantine royals like Eirene; that SĂŒleyman instructed her in the art of war, tutored her as a diplomat, or gave her a say in how the design of the new palace harem, especially whilst SĂŒleyman’s mother Hafsa was alive. There’s no evidence for any of these things. Such fanciful scenarios are better suited for a work of historical fiction - & considering how Peirce omits pertinent information she herself described in The Imperial Harem to suit the narrative, she might as well have written a novel!

Empress gives the impression that it was by marrying SĂŒleyman that HĂŒrrem became a “queen” & obtained the stature that she had. However, this is not the case. Although Peirce mentions that noblewomen married Ottoman sultans in prior centuries, she neglects to inform the reader that because royal wives were barred from having children, they were not as powerful as their slave counterparts who did. “Women without sons were women without households & therefore women of no status,” she summarized in Harem. Because the Ottomans granted greater prestige to women who bore a son over a childless one, limiting reproduction limited access to political power: “Royal wives were deprived of this most public mark of status [the patronage of public buildings], presumably because they lacked the qualification that appears to have entitled royal concubines to this privilege: motherhood. The suppression of the capacity of royal wives to bear children is an example of the Ottoman policy of manipulating sexuality & reproduction as a means of controlling power. To deny these women access to motherhood, the source of female power within the dynastic family, was to diminish the status of the royal houses from which they came.”

Peirce gives the example of SittiƟah (Sitti) Hatun, who married Mehmed the Conqueror. She describes Sitti’s wedding to Mehmed, an event surrounded by great pomp & circumstance. However, she neglects to inform the reader that Sitti’s marriage to Mehmed bore no children. Franz Babinger writes that although she had wed to the great conqueror himself, the childless Sitti was ultimately powerless & died lonely & forsaken. As Peirce explained in 1993, unions such as that of Sitti & Mehmed were largely symbolic & strictly political in nature: “Although their careers as consorts of the sultans often began with the ceremonial of elaborate weddings, royal brides were ciphers in these events. What counted was the ceremony itself & what it symbolized: less the union of male & female than a statement of the relationship between two states. The function of the bride, particularly in view of the non role that awaited her as the sultan’s wife, was to symbolize the subordinate status of the weaker state.”

There is no question that HĂŒrrem & SĂŒleyman’s marriage rattled Ottoman society. Nevertheless, it is alarming that Peirce, who once authored a seminal work on the structure & politics of the harem, omits the fact that it was motherhood & not marriage that empowered a woman in the dynastic family. Such gaps in knowledge might lead those previously unfamiliar with the Ottoman harem to believe that marriage made HĂŒrrem a “queen” & gave her political power, going so far to describe her & SĂŒleyman as a “reigning couple” at one point. (Bizarrely, she does discuss abortion in Empress, yet avoids writing about dynastic family politics beyond mentioning “political planning”.)

Far more perturbing is Peirce’s insistence that HĂŒrrem did more than she actually did for the empire. She claims that it was HĂŒrrem who played a pivotal role in “moving the Ottoman Empire into modern times” & allowed the sultanate to survive through reforms she introduced. While she certainly paved the way in some regards for the women who followed her, Peirce overestimates HĂŒrrem’s impact on the history of the Ottoman empire. There are other influential figures who helped preserve the sultanate, other forces that allowed it to flourish. Furthermore, Peirce downplays external factors that allowed for HĂŒrrem’s ascent in the first place - namely the absence of a valide after 1534, not to mention SĂŒleyman’s lasting infatuation for her - in favor of emphasizing her purportedly “unique” qualities of endurance, intelligence, & being a survivor.

Peirce goes on to anachronistically frame HĂŒrrem as a feminist figure. In one passage, she describes her as a “forward-thinking equal opportunity employer” who “challenged women’s etiquette” because she wanted a female scribe for her foundation. Peirce’s language suggests that it was HĂŒrrem alone who bolstered women’s opportunities, yet she does not present any evidence that HĂŒrrem introduced or influenced any social or political reforms for women of the time. Yet perhaps most erroneous is Peirce’s claim that credits HĂŒrrem with the start of “a more peaceable system of identifying the next sultan”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Following their HĂŒrrem’s death, her sons Selim & Bayezid became entangled in a civil war that ultimately ended with the deaths of Bayezid & his children. Even in the absence of prolonged violence, subsequent secession crises of the sixteenth century were resolved through the execution of the new sultan’s brothers, including infants. It was only with the ascent of thirteen-year-old Ahmed in 1603 that this tradition was set aside for dynastic concerns, although the practice of fratricide did not cease entirely.

When Peirce isn’t falling over to frame HĂŒrrem as a wonder woman, she dismisses those who stood in opposition to her ascent, such as Mahidevran, SĂŒleyman’s previous consort & mother of his firstborn son, Mustafa. Peirce takes a dim view of Mahidevran, presenting her as a jealous woman who needed to be reminded of her duties as mother of a prince. She is depicted a woman worried about losing a man’s favor, rather than a woman who, by all historical accounts, was deeply concerned for her son’s future. Early in SĂŒleyman’s reign, the ambassador Pietro Bragadin reported that Mustafa was his mother’s “whole joy” at their residence in Istanbul. Later, the crucial role Mahidevran played in supporting her son at his provincial governorships was detailed by visiting diplomats. In 1540, Bassano noted her guidance in “[making] himself loved by the people” at his court in Diyarbakır. Mahidevran’s efforts to protect Mustafa, as well as the bond between mother & son, were observed by Bernardo Navagero in 1553: “[Mustafa] has with him his mother, who exercises great diligence to guard him from poisoning & reminds him every day that he has nothing else but this to avoid, & it is said that he had boundless respect & reverence for her.”

Ibrahim Pasha is another figure disparaged by Peirce’s negative bias. A friend from SĂŒleyman’s youth who quickly ascended to the rank Grand Vizier, Ibrahim was not only a skilled & cultured diplomat admired by his counterparts in Europe, but a talented administrator & commander. Eric R. Dursteler writes, “During this time, by all accounts, Ibrahim ruled the day-to-day affairs of the empire effectively. SĂŒleyman seems to have been content to give Ibrahim nearly unlimited power & autonomy in running the Ottoman state, & all matters of any significance passed directly through his hands. [...] If Ibrahim's initial ascent was due to his personal ties to SĂŒleyman, in his years as grand vizier, he proved himself a capable diplomat & an effective political & military leader. In 1524, SĂŒleyman sent Ibrahim to Egypt to restore order following an uprising led by a rebellious Ottoman official sent to rule the earlier conquered province. Ibrahim reorganized legal & fiscal institutions, punished mutinous officials & subjects with severity, established schools, restored mosques, &, by all accounts, restored peace & order to the region.”

Conversely, Peirce describes Ibrahim as “dispensable”, implies that he was holding SĂŒleyman back from achieving his greatest accomplishments, & states “other minds were better suited” to administer the empire as Grand Vizier. When comparing her portrayal of Ibrahim to that of RĂŒstem Pasha, Mihrimah Sultan’s husband - & HĂŒrrem’s son-in-law - Peirce’s bias becomes clear. She fawns over RĂŒstem while being completely dismissive of Ibrahim.

Finally, there is Mustafa: the son of HĂŒrrem’s rival Mahidevran & SĂŒleyman’s oldest living son. Empress paints Mustafa as a brat, calling him “a proud child whose sense of entitlement was apparently both acute & insecure." Peirce recounts an ambassadorial report describing the young prince’s jealousy over his father’s relationship with Ibrahim - a story she previously featured in Harem: ‘The sultan sent İbrahim the gift of a beautiful saddle for his horse with jewels & all; & Mustafa, aware of this, sent word to İbrahim to have one like it made for him ; [İbrahim] understood this & sent him the said saddle, & said to him, ‘now listen, if the sultan learns of this, he will make you send it back.”

Peirce’s two treatments of the same story is telling. In Harem, the account illustrates “İbrahim’s kindly patience in soothing the child Mustafa’s jealousy of his father’s affection for his favorite”, with Peirce noting that the relationship “seems to have consolidated” over time - particularly with the emergence of his half-brothers as a greater threat. In Empress, on the other hand, Peirce only concludes that such incidents “may simply reflect a jealousy on Mustafa’s part of anyone close to his father” without mention of the relationship improving, nor of Mustafa recognizing his true rivals to survival.

Whenever Peirce describes Mustafa’s intelligence & his worthiness, she emphasizes that these are the opinions of his contemporaries. It’s as though she wants to disagree, but can’t because historical evidence only points to Mustafa being how he is remembered to be: an intelligent & a worthy heir to the throne. Mustafa was the clear favorite among the people & the army. In Harem, Peirce notes that “Mustafa was universally desired to follow his father to the throne” according to Venetian reports in 1550 & again in 1552. He was more popular than Selim or Bayezid, HĂŒrrem’s living sons who were contenders to the throne. Mehmed, HĂŒrrem’s firstborn, could have been a match for Mustafa had he lived longer, but in the absence of evidence this is mere speculation.

Mustafa’s execution did indeed stain HĂŒrrem’s name. She & RĂŒstem Pasha were blamed by contemporaries for orchestrating the downfall of the beloved heir apparent. Peirce predictably sets out to clear HĂŒrrem’s name & exonerate her of involvement in the tragedy, but instead of focusing on a lack of hard evidence, she illogically places blame on Mustafa for his own demise. Writing that previous historians studying the topic “largely failed to consider Mustafa’s part in the affair”, Peirce points out the prince’s popularity & that people were already hailing him as “sultan” - something SĂŒleyman would undoubtedly find threatening. Perhaps Mustafa was the victim of his own success, but it would be deeply unfair to blame him for meriting praise & adoration from others, which could only be earned through excelling in his princely duties.

Had Mustafa won the throne after SĂŒleyman died, Ottoman tradition would dictate the deaths of HĂŒrrem’s sons - even Cihangir, said to be fond of his eldest half-brother. According to Navagero, SĂŒleyman reminded Cihangir of this reality, warning his son that “Mustafa will become the sultan & will deprive [you & your brothers] of your lives.” Per the Ottoman practice of institutionalized fratricide, someone would have to die.

Beyond the fact that her sons would face near-certain death had he ascended the throne, a victory for Mustafa would deprive HĂŒrrem of power, leaving her to face the fate that had befallen Mahidevran after her son’s death: destitute & cast aside. As Thys-Senocak explained in Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan: “Unlike her European counterparts, the prestige & political legitimacy that an Ottoman valide possessed was derived from her position as the mother of the reigning sultan, rather than through her position as the widow of the deceased sultan [...] Once the father of her son was dead, the valide’s sole source of power & legitimation was through her son, the reigning sultan.” If Mustafa took the throne after SĂŒleyman’s death, HĂŒrrem would have lost not only her sons, but also her status.

The fate of a mother was thus closely bound to the survival of her son. It was not only a mother’s duty to ensure that her son was a contender to the throne, but through his mother’s influence that he survived. A prince’s mother was his mediator, his guardian, his most steadfast ally; it was she who sought to safeguard him from potentially hostile forces, including his own father. While imperial lalas (tutors) ensured that a prince was prepared to take the throne, it was the mother who acted as “an effective agent for her son through her connections with the imperial court, her wealth, & her status as a royal consort & as the most honored person at the provincial court after her son.”

HĂŒrrem, however, did not accompany her sons to their provincial governorships to fulfill the principal role of a prince’s mother. Once again bucking established practice, she remained in Istanbul with SĂŒleyman during this time save for the occasional visit.

Herein lies the irony of Peirce’s HĂŒrrem. Only remotely involved with her sons’ provincial careers, painting HĂŒrrem as an innocent flower who never intrigued at court would mean she did nothing to protect, promote, or prepare them at one of the most crucial points of their lives. If she did not have a hand in anything, whether at sanjak or in Istanbul -- not even to eliminate their biggest competition -- what did Peirce’s HĂŒrrem do to ensure her sons’ success and survival? It is only in the epilogue of Empress that she briefly notes HĂŒrrem’s involvement in ensuring one of her sons received aid he might need. Nevertheless, in the quest to exonerate her subject, Peirce inadvertently makes it seem HĂŒrrem neglected her chief responsibility as mother of the sultanate’s heirs. Even with multiple sons and no precedent to follow, one would think she would’ve done anything to help or protect them -- and by extension, herself. Yet Peirce provides no evidence or examples of HĂŒrrem’s involvement in educating or preparing her sons for rulership.

Ultimately, Empress of the East only does HĂŒrrem a disservice by presenting her as a proto-feminist, empowered heroine rather than a complex, controversial historical figure. Peirce embellishes and exaggerates when it suits her narrative, just as she painstakingly aims to clear her subject of alleged wrongdoings. But this approach backfires when one considers the book as a whole: rather than a mother and a politician who understood the importance of protecting her sons and readied them for the throne, Peirce gives the impression HĂŒrrem did little to advance their interests -- despite the allegedly large clout she had as “queen”.
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