Latest / The Story of Turkey: From Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire to Today — Fexingo History
The Women Who Ruled the Ottoman Harem
We often picture the Ottoman Empire through the lens of sultans and grand viziers, but for centuries, the true political gravity in Istanbul lay within the Topkapı Palace’s inner sanctum: the Harem. This episode explores the rise of the Sultanate of Women, a period where imperial mothers and consorts wielded unprecedented power over state policy, military appointments, and foreign diplomacy. We follow Hürrem Sultan, known in the West as Roxelana, from her origins as a captive to becoming Süleyman the Magnificent’s legal wife, setting a precedent that would allow women like Kösem Sultan and…
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