The previous article learned a little about Madame de Pompadour, a legendary woman in European medieval history, lover of King Louis XV of France, and the most powerful royal mistress in Europe.
Today, we will learn about a legendary woman in the history of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire was a state during the European Middle Ages that ended the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire; It took Islam as its main faith and had a long-term rivalry with European countries that believed in Christianity, which had a profound impact on the historical development of Europe.
The establishment of the Ottoman Empire is also related to the Crusades in Europe during the Middle Ages.
The impact of the Crusades on the establishment of the Ottoman Empire
Between 1096 and 1291, medieval Europe launched a 200-year-long campaign of nine consecutive crusades (because of the reason and temporal continuity of the last two crusades, some scholars regard the last two crusades as one, and there are eight crusades), religious wars against the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East.
In this war, the Christian countries of Europe continued to plunder and destroy areas of the Islamic faith, and provoked a revolt among the local people.
In the ongoing war, the crusading armies of the Holy See in Europe did not achieve much victory; The religious states established by European countries and the Holy See were gradually defeated by rising Muslim forces after the First Crusade.
When Saladin, the hero of the Islamists, rose, the crusades never yielded tangible results and eventually gradually withdrew from the Eastern Mediterranean, ending in failure for two hundred years.
The crusades led to the unification and further integration of the Islamic forces.
At the same time, the Byzantine Empire, which had suffered from wars in the Crusades, weakened day by day, especially in the Fourth Crusade, the Crusading Army not only failed to achieve its goal, but also carried out unprecedented aggression against the Byzantine Empire.
In particular, the sack of Constantinople led to the rapid decline of this eastern fortress of Christianity in medieval Europe, and European countries and the Holy See even divided the Byzantine Empire and established the Latin Empire, which lasted for 57 years.
The establishment and early development of the Ottoman Empire
At the same time as the decline of the Byzantine Empire, the formerly powerful Seljuk Rom Sultanate also rapidly declined while moving towards division.
In 1299, the Ottomans, who originated from the Turkic nomadic tribes of Central Asia, took advantage of the division of the Seljuk Rom Sultanate and began to become independent, and its ruler was Ottoman I, with the title Gachi, laying the foundation of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. And the name of Ottoman Turkey is also derived from the name of Ottoman I.
In 1326, Ottoman I's son Orhan succeeded to the throne, changed his name to governor, established a standing army, and annexed most of the Romani Sultanate.
In March 1331, Orhan led an army to defeat the Byzantine Empire, captured Nicaea, the largest city in Anatolia and moved the capital there.
Orhan was also the founder of Ottoman Turkey, he integrated the various nationalities in the country, and established the organization of state administration, established various administrative institutions, issued currency, etc.
In 1360, the expansion of the successive Ottoman monarch Murad I in southeastern Europe yielded decisive results.
In 1389, the Ottoman army defeated the combined forces of Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary in the Battle of Kosovo; The battle shook the rulers of Europe, which sent reinforcements to support the Byzantine Empire.
In 1396, Bayezid I's Ottoman army defeated the combined forces of Hungary, France, and the Holy Roman Empire of Germany at the Battle of Nico Fort and occupied most of the Balkans.
In the Battle of Nikburg, nearly 10,000 crusaders in Europe were captured, of which only about 300 noble knights were redeemed for huge sums.
In 1402, the Ottoman army fought the newly rising Timurid Empire and suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Ankara, in which the monarch Bayezid was captured.
Due to the rise of the Timurid Empire, the expansion of the Ottoman army into Europe was contained, and the Byzantine Empire barely existed for some time.
After that, Bayezid's four sons fought for the throne, and Ottoman Turkey was divided.
In 1413, after almost 10 years of fighting for the throne, Mehmed I won and ended the division, restoring the lost territories of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1444, Murad II repelled armies organized by Hungary, Poland and other European countries at the Battle of Varna and re-expanded into Europe.
In 1453, Mehmed II, who had been on the throne for less than two years, personally led an army of 80,000 troops to attack Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, at the age of twenty-one.
On May 29, after 53 days of fierce fighting, Constantinople fell, the Ottoman Empire moved its capital here, and the Byzantine Empire collapsed.
At the same time, Mehmed II renamed Constantinople Istanbul.
From 1453 until 1683, this period was a period of steady development and expansion of the Ottoman Empire; As the hegemon of southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, after a long period of conquest, it expanded its territory to Europe and North Africa, establishing the Ottoman Empire spanning Europe, Asia and Africa.
After the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs united with the Italians and gradually monopolized the traditional trade routes between East and West, forcing European countries to find new routes to the East, opening the era of geographical discoveries in Europe.
The woman we are going to talk about today appeared during this period and influenced the entire history of the Ottoman Empire.
Heurem - From slave girl to queen
There is no actual record of Xureim's original name, and the folk also call him Alexandra Lisoska, or Anastasia; European countries call it Rouxelana, which can also be called Roxelana, Rossilana.
The Turkish name of Roxelana is Hürem, and in Arabic it is called Karima, which means noble; Under her influence, Suleiman I adjusted many of the policies of the Ottoman Empire, and as a result, she was also an important political ally of Suleiman the Great.
Hürem was the favorite wife of the greatest sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the "legislator" Suleiman the Great, and she was also known as the Sultan of Hürem in the history of the Ottoman Empire because of her political power.
Hürem was also the promoter of the harem of the Ottoman Empire, and she began the centuries-old history of the Ottoman Empire's harem power struggle.
In Francis Bacon's essays, Shrem is a queen-type woman; She began as a slave girl with modest appearances and gradually grew into a powerful woman in the history of the Ottoman Empire.
After her son's accession to the throne, the mighty Ottoman Empire went into decline.
Early life experience
Roxelana came from an ordinary background, born in 1506 to a peasant family of Ukrainian origin near Lviv, Poland (then part of Poland), the son of an Orthodox priest.
Originally, Roxelana's fate was already sealed. But during an attack by the Crimean Khanate on Poland, she became a prisoner and was sold as a slave girl.
At first, Roxelana was taken to the slave market in Istanbul to be sold, and Farek Ibrahim, then the Ottoman Grand Prime Minister, bought her.
Since then, Roxelana began her legendary life; At this time, she could not be called Heurem until she became the queen of the Sultan.
White slave trade in Turkey and Crimea
Speaking of Schreim's early experience, we have to talk about the white slave trade that arose in Turkey and Crimea in history.
Unlike the slave trade of European colonists during the Great Voyage, the slave trade at this time was mainly aimed at Europeans at that time.
For a long time in history, on the northern shores of the Black Sea and in the mountains of the Caucasus, the slave trade existed due to the lack of labor.
The slave trade flourished on the Black Sea coast at least since the time of the ancient Greek city-states.
During the Crusades, due to the failure of several successive crusades, European countries, under the propaganda of the Holy See, believed that the impurity of adults led to the failure of the crusade and found excuses for the mistakes of the Holy See.
At the time, fanatical Europeans believed that only the innocence and purity of children could undo the defeat; Therefore, European countries organized two children's crusades of 20,000~30,000 people each in an attempt to retake Jerusalem.
But both children's crusades were undoubtedly failures, not only did they not reach the Jerusalem area, but they even disbanded on the way.
With the exception of some children who died of disease and starvation along the way, most were sold into slavery by Italian traders on the Mediterranean coast to North Africa.
After the Fourth Crusade, the Genoese began to trade on the Black Sea. At this time, the local separatist powers of Byzantium and other Italian seafaring republics joined in the slave trade.
In addition to the Italians, the later Crimean Khanate and Nogai Khanate joined them.
Beginning in the 14th century, a group of pirates specializing in the slave trade - Barbary pirates - was formed in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, and they developed and gradually expanded the white slave trade.
The actual situation of these white slaves:
- (1) they are sold as if they were goods, and they are very cheap in price; It is recorded that one horse could be exchanged for three white slaves.
- (2) some of the men of the white slaves were used as labor for various manual labor; Some were castrated and elected to the army or the sultan's court.
- (3) As for female white slaves, they were often used as maids and concubines of the nobility; Some were even elected to the harem to serve the sultan or the royal family; The rest may be sold as prostitutes, and life is more miserable.
- (4) Skilled slaves tend to be treated better, but they are also less free and can only serve their masters for the rest of their lives.
Barbary pirates
The Barbary Pirates were originally a Turkic and Moorish pirate organization in North Africa, supported by Ottoman Turkey and based on Morocco and the Barbary coast.
The name "Barbary" comes from the Berber people who lived there.
As the Barbary pirates expanded in scope, a large number of Turks and Greeks joined them, and they gradually became powerful in the 16th century.
According to statistics, from the 16th century to the early 19th century, about 800,000 to 1.25 million people in Europe became slaves in less than three hundred years.
The Barbary pirates' plunder was initially limited to the western Mediterranean, then extended south to the coast of West Africa and north to Iceland; Even with the gradual maturity of navigation routes and navigation technologies of geographical discoveries, they can be seen in South America.
The Barbary Pirates were a feared force in Western maritime history, plundering not only ships but also coastal towns and villages.
On land, in addition to looting property, they captured people specifically for the slave trade between Ottoman Turkey and Arabia.
As Algiers, Tunisia and Tripoli in North Africa successively became the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire, some areas even became the provinces and autonomous regions of the empire, such as Barbary State, so Barbary pirates are sometimes called Ottoman pirates.
Barbary pirates also kept in touch with white European pirates in the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas, learning from their sailing experiences, drawing on their navigational techniques, and using their sailing routes.
From the 16th century onwards, Barbary pirates became more widespread and reached their peak in the 17th century.
At that time, coastal towns in Italy, Spain and other countries were deeply disturbed, and residents chose to move inland; It was not until the 19th century, with the decline of the Barbary pirates, that anyone returned to their settlements.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the U.S. Navy launched two Barbary Wars against the Barbary Pirates, which greatly damaged the morale of the Barbary Pirates and the local government that supported the Barbary Pirates.
Subsequently, following consultations at the Vienna Conference, European countries began a joint campaign against the Barbary pirates.
In 1830, France occupied Algiers, making it a French colony; The Barbary pirates, on the other hand, were gradually eradicated due to the loss of their base of activity.
After talking about Barbary pirates and the white slave trade, we will have a detailed understanding of the development of Xurem after entering the court.
Entering the palace life
At that time, there was a special slave in Ottoman society called noble female slaves, who were bought from their infancy and then learned various talents and techniques to please men and win people's hearts.
In the end, these slaves, like carefully wrapped gifts, were groomed by their masters to give away as tools to seduce the nobles for some purpose.
Although these noble slave girls were lowly slaves, they often had good looks; They are not only knowledgeable and good at writing love poems, but also have a unique temperament.
Although the young Roxelana was not particularly outstanding in appearance, she had a unique temperament, was intelligent and learned things very quickly, so after a period of training, she was presented by Ibrahim as a "gift" to Suleiman the Great.
Since then, Roxelana has entered Suleiman's harem, and her fate has changed.
Since Roxelana's appearance was not particularly outstanding, she was only one of the many slave girls of the sultan during the 10 years after entering the court, and did not attract much attention from Suleiman the Great.
Farek Ibrahim
Speaking of Xurem, a legendary woman who became a sultan queen from a slave girl, we have to mention the initiator who gave her to Suleiman the Great, the Ottoman Grand Vizir (similar to the prime minister) Farek Ibrahim Pasha.
Interestingly, this Ottoman prime minister has a very similar origin to Xureim.
Ibrahim was the leader of the Demishemé class (the Sultan's direct slave class) and played a huge role in the development of the empire in the early years of Suleiman the Great's reign.
The Demishemé class, that is, the children of prisoners of war (usually Christians) in the Ottoman occupation zone. The young sons of these Christian families, because of their low status, were selected by the Demishme, also known as the Devhilme system (i.e., blood tax or child tax), to become personal guards loyal only to the Sultan, i.e. the Ghanishari or Janichri Guards.
The early Demisemé class was quite low, but after the formation of the Demishemé system, these guards usually gained great power, wealth and privileges due to the sultan's favor, and although they were still slaves, they often held the highest power in the empire, and later even controlled the deposition of the sultan's candidates.
Ibrahim came from a Greek-Christian family in Parga, on the Ionian Sea, the son of a sailor. In order to gain Suleiman's favor, he declared that he was born in the same week of the same year as Suleiman the Great.
As a child, Ibrahim was abducted by pirates and sold as a slave to a widow in Magnesia, where he received a good education and even learned to play a musical instrument.
Ibrahim then entered the Ottoman court school under the Demishemé system; During this time, he met the equally young Suleiman I.
Ibrahim's intelligence gained the trust of Suleiman I.
Later, as he grew older, Ibrahim became an officer of the Guards, and Suleiman was transferred to become governor of Magnesia.
As Suleiman I consolidated his power, he approached Ibrahim and bought him, making him his personal attendant.
Ibrahim helped Suleiman both militarily and politically, and soon became Suleiman I's favored, most important, and closest attendant.
In 1520, Suleiman I ascended the throne as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Ibrahim was appointed chief royal falcon.
Subsequently, he was quickly promoted to various positions in the court.
In 1523, Suleiman appointed Ibrahim Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Empire and commander-in-chief of the whole army.
Even because of Ibrahim's military capabilities and his merits in helping the Sultan suppress rebellions everywhere, Suleiman the Great gave Ibrahim all territorial jurisdiction over Europe, as well as wartime command of all armies stationed in those territories. Because of this, Europeans at that time still called him Ibrahim the Great.
Ibrahim was also called the Grand Vizir because Suleiman the Great broke with tradition and was selected from among his personal chamberlains, whereas before that, the position of Grand Vizier was too important, and it was generally selected for military judges or provincial governors.
In addition to the Sultan and his family, the Ottoman system of rule included the Sultan's courtiers, government administrators, standing troops, and a large number of young people who were being trained to become the first three.
And these people, like Ibrahim, were almost all men from Christian families or their children, slaves of the Sultan, that is, the Demishem class.
The rise of Ibrahim's status led to a rapid change in the position of the Demishemé class within the Ottoman Empire, and even under the propaganda of those who cared, they began to replace the ruling class of the time, that is, the old Turkic aristocracy. This caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the Ottoman aristocracy.
During the early years of Suleiman the Great's reign, his mother, Empress Hafsha, often tried to interfere in imperial politics, forming a political alliance with Ibrahim to squeeze other powers into the core of the empire's ruling power.
Suleiman the Great gradually came under a lot of restrictions from the Empress Dowager's faction, and by this time he already had the idea of changing this situation; Ibrahim's frenzied enrichment during this period made Suleiman the Great even more dissatisfied.
In 1534, Empress Hafsha died, and Ibrahim's position began to waver; In 1536, Suleiman the Great executed Ibrahim for colluding with the Shavis dynasty.
In this political struggle, Xurem constantly advised Suleiman the Great, and it was Xurem who first tried to kill Ibrahim.
Ibrahim sent Hhurem to the court to please Suleiman the Great, but it was this slave girl he didn't care about in the first place that became the last straw that killed him. He forgot that he had grown from a slave to a powerful vizier in the Ottoman Empire.
Xurem became the favored concubine of Suleiman the Great
In the early days, Xu Rem was not the woman who attracted the attention of Suleiman the Great, and she was not a person with outstanding appearance among many female slaves, but Xu Reim's character made her gradually stand out from many competitions.
She is an excellent politician and power strategist, playing political games handily, eliminating political opponents one by one. And many of these people are even Sultan's cronies and loved ones.
Hürem first learned about Suleiman I's hobbies over a long period of observation, and she dressed herself up as a mature woman with high manners, wisdom, and good storytelling.
When Hhourem's transformation was revealed to the sultan, he managed to attract the attention of Suleiman the Great.
Especially during the expedition of Suleiman the Great, Xu Rem did something that no other harem woman dared to do, that is, write love letters to this magnificent sultan.
Sherem doesn't just simply write love letters, she puts her energy into it almost every day, every moment.
After Suleiman returned to the court, Xurem seized the opportunity to tell various stories to the sultan frequently, and at that time, people were very sought after for people who could remember a large number of classic stories, and even greatly respected in the eyes of many people.
These stories not only reflect a person's erudition, but those who listen to the stories are often able to learn a lot from them; Moreover, listening to stories was also one of the important ways for people at that time to have leisure and relaxation.
Suleiman often shows people with a majestic image in normal times, and he is no exception in the harem, and almost all the harem women at that time are afraid of his majesty, even if they please him, it is the most popular praise, and there is a cautious tone here.
Xu Reim is different, she is more direct and bold, and the passionate love letters, witty and humorous stories, and straightforward and generous praise all amaze Suleiman.
When Suleiman went out to fight, Xu Rem wrote a love letter like the most secret tenderness given to the sultan on the cruel battlefield of sword and shadow.
When Suleiman the Great returned from his expedition, Hurem's witty humor and stories full of novelty became the best way for him to relax.
Gradually, Suleiman was completely attracted to Xu Rem and was deeply fascinated by it. In particular, Xureim's political insights gave Suleiman the Great a very important help, and in the struggle against the Empress Dowager and the Ibrahim alliance, Xurem gradually became Suleiman's most trusted ally.
Therefore, the first thing that attracts a woman to a man is her appearance, but its inner excellence is the most fundamental reason why this man cannot extricate himself.
Xu Rem is such a woman, she is a seemingly ordinary wine, but when the man drinks it, he is deeply drunk and has never been able to extricate himself.
For Suleiman the Great, here in Xu Rem, he can not only get the fiery love that other women can't give, but also get physical and mental relaxation, and have a unique tenderness.
And most importantly, Hürem's ingenuity and stratagem made Suleiman the Great a confidant, and she was undoubtedly the sultan's most trustworthy man in the brutal power struggle.
Everything is ready, and Xu Reim's status naturally rises.
Hürem's power grew, and he became the Sudan's most important political ally
Suleiman I was completely conquered by Xureim, and in his eyes, she was his angel of light, and Suleiman turned a blind eye to her psychological darkness.
At that time, Xurem could make any request without fear of causing the sultan's displeasure.
Suleiman the Great even brought her with him to public appearances, which in the Ottoman Empire at the time was almost considered a big mistake against secular and religious beliefs. (Ottoman women were often required to stay in strict secluded boudoirs, even ordinary women were required to go out and cover their faces.) ）
In Suleiman the Great and his wife Sultan Ghurbahar had a prince, the eldest son, Prince Mustapha; However, due to the contradiction between Xu Rem and Gülbahhar, the two were in the same situation, Suleiman gradually snubbed the once favored wife, and Xu Rem won exclusive favor.
In 1524, Suleiman the Great and Selim, the first son of Hürem, was born, and in the following time she bore Suleiman four sons and a daughter.
Suleiman the Great had eight sons in his lifetime, half of whom were born to him and Xureim, which shows the depth of his love for her.
Since then, Xureim's position has been consolidated.
Expelled Prince Mustafa
Only five of Suleiman the Great's eight sons grew to adulthood, and the eldest prince Mustafa was born to him and his first wife, Gülbahhar.
Prince Mustafa was supported by the Ottoman army and had a very good reputation in the empire, loved by the people and supported by most officials.
This great prince has also always been valued by Suleiman the Great, and his military achievements are also good, and he is the worthy heir to the throne of the Ottoman Empire at that time.
But that began to change after Hurem gave birth to her son.
At the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman ruler Mehmed II promulgated a "killing of brothers" law, which stipulated that when a new sultan took the throne, other brothers could be executed, which can be said to be very cruel.
Xurem had to plan for her son's future, and Prince Mustafa was destined to become her enemy.
In 1534, Hürem used a series of means to get Suleiman the Great to send the Sultan of Gülbahar to a remote province.
Prince Mustafa and his mother were expelled from circles that could approach the sultan, which foreshadowed their future defeat.
Death of Ibrahim the Great Vizi
Ibrahim's death was partly due to an alliance with the Empress Dowager Hafsha, but also partly due to Hürem.
The first to start the harem of the Ottoman Empire was Suleiman the Great's mother, the old Sultan Aiché Hafsha.
Suleiman the Great was deeply troubled by his mother's interference in imperial politics, but coincidentally, he got rid of the problem of his mother's harem interference, but single-handedly promoted the road of his favorite concubine's harem to interfere in politics.
In the struggle for the throne, Ibrahim, like most officials, supported the Grand Prince Mustafa, and to this end, he managed to make Mustafa the crown prince of Suleiman the Great.
In this regard, after expelling Mustafa's mother and son, Xu Rem was the first to target the big vizier.
Hürem secretly collected evidence of Ibrahim's wealth over the years and told Suleiman the Great about the people's call for him a sultan; And he, as the leader of the Demishemé class, gradually replaced the old Turkic aristocratic power of the Ottoman Empire with this class, touching the interests of the royal family; When Hürem further referred to the Europeans as Ibrahim the Great, Suleiman the Great could no longer tolerate the former most trusted Grand Vizier.
In 1536, Ibrahim was executed by Suleiman the Great unprepared.
Called the empress, unprecedented, the harem interferes with politics
After getting rid of all opponents in politics and in the harem, Schreem began to gain more practical power.
He asked Suleiman the Great to give her a title and officially and publicly proclaim her empress.
Prior to this, the Ottoman royal family stipulated that female spouses of sultans were not allowed to hold any title, interfere in imperial politics, and not appear in the palace. And Xu Rem did all three, and with the permission of Suleiman the Great.
Before that, the sultans had never had a wedding.
The wedding caused a stir in both the Ottoman Empire and Europe at the time, and Hulem's sons were granted public and legal inheritance, and she herself was called a demagogue queen by Europeans.
In 1541, when the old Ottoman palace burned down by a fire, Schrem and his retinue moved to the Grand Saraquirio Palace in Grand Serariu, which was also the political center of the Ottoman Empire and the place where the sultan and ministers deliberated.
In fact, in 1453, after capturing Constantinople, Mehmed II separated the harem from the sultan's chambers to prevent the harem from interfering in government.
And Xu Rem quickly moved into the Grand Saraquirio Palace by burning down the old palace, which was the official beginning of the Ottoman harem; Prior to this, even if Suleiman's mother tried to do so, most of the time she could not get close to the political center and it was difficult to control the government for a long time.
At that time, Suleiman wanted to prevent Xurem from doing this, so he proposed to build a new palace for her.
But Hulem cleverly avoided the question, using the Empire's blessings as an excuse for Suleiman I to spend money on the construction of the mosque, an answer that made Suleiman neither disgusted and obeyed her advice.
Since then, the Ottoman Empire has become popular for harem women to build mosques, and these harem women tried to gain people's support and gratitude by doing so, and make them remembered by future generations.
The prince fought for the crown prince, and Mustafa lost
As Hulem's sons grew up and Suleiman grew older, competition for the sultan's position was inevitable.
At this time, although the Grand Prince Mustafa was expelled from Suleiman I's side, he was still supported by the army, some officials, and the people because of his long-established reputation and influence in the empire.
In particular, Suleiman I has always admired this son and has publicly installed him as his successor.
To this end, Hürem used various traps and contacted her son-in-law, Grand Vizir Rustan Pasha (husband of Hürem's only daughter), to inform Suleiman that Mustafa wanted to learn from his grandfather and use force to oust his father, Suleiman the Great.
This incident made Suleiman the Great gradually suspect Prince Mustafa.
In 1553, when Suleiman I was on his way to fight against the Safavid Empire in Persia, his army stopped at Erellly for some time, at which point Rustan Pasha proposed to Prince Mustafa to lead an army to join his father's army to support Suleiman's expedition.
But Rustan also warned Suleiman I and convinced Suleiman to convince him that his son Mustafa intended to kill him.
When Mustafa accepted Rustan Pasha's advice and summoned his troops to join his father's troops, Suleiman I was more convinced that Mustafa had led his army to force the palace.
When Mustafa met Suleiman the Great, he ordered the son to be executed.
The prince did not have a chance to explain until his death, and perhaps the truth was so important to Suleiman the Great.
Fry with the same root, helpless choice
Mustafa's death caused a shock in the Ottoman Empire.
Prior to this, Mustafa, as the elder brother, also cared for the younger brothers born to Xu Reim. Although the "Killing of Brothers Law" stipulated that a successor sultan could legally kill all his brothers without any reason.
But this rule is not mandatory, and because of this incident, Shrem's youngest son, Jehangir (born hunchback), fell ill from guilt and died in anger.
Xureum's two remaining sons, Selim is the eldest son, but incompetent and addicted to wine; Another son, Bayezid, was violent and ferocious. The two engaged in a brutal rivalry, but this time the act was in accordance with the law promulgated by Mehmed II.
However, at this time, Xu Rem did not wait for the day when his son succeeded to the throne.
Selim eventually gained the support of his sister Sultan Mihrima, defeated the murderous Bayezid and succeeded him as Sultan Selim II after the death of Suleiman the Magnificent.
In fact, of all the children of Xureim, Sultan Mihrima was the most capable, and in the battle for the throne, she attracted the attention of the entire empire.
It was her support that enabled Selim II to be a sultan who did nothing.
After his death, Sultan Mihrima was allowed to be buried with Suleiman in the Suleimaniye Mosque, and none of Suleiman's other children were allowed.
Sultan Mihrima's husband was Rustan, who was also a major figure in plotting to help Hürem kill Prince Mustapha, and he was also the richest Grand Vizier in Ottoman history.
Died
In 1558, Xurem died of illness, which caused grief for the elderly Suleiman, which also hastened the death of Suleiman the Great.
Suleiman the Great specially buried Xurem in a mausoleum built for her, next to the newly built Suleimaniye Mosque, it can be said that Suleiman was moved by Xureim.
But in fact, the real Xu Rem probably still worries about power even more.
summary
Sultan Xurem is undoubtedly a legendary woman in the history of the Ottoman Empire, who entered the royal family as a slave and was freed.
Even constantly broke the Ottoman tradition of the time, making Suleiman the Great submit to her.
She did not need any force to make the famous Suleiman the Great willingly conquered.
Suleiman the Great loved her until his death, arguably his only love, and he did many principle-destroying things for her, even causing the Ottoman Empire to decline after him.
But Heurem may not love the heroic Sultan so much, she came from the lowest level of society at that time, and her only purpose was to live.
She has experienced all the enslavement, life and life slavery, and for her, love may be just one of the weapons she can use for defense.
But Xu Rem is not without feelings, she loves her children, so she desperately fights for all the favorable conditions for her children, and does not care whether it is right or wrong, just like the Empress Zhen Huan in Chinese history.
At the same time, she still loved her country deeply, and thanks to her efforts, the Ottoman Empire maintained a long-term peace and alliance with Poland, and she used her efforts to protect the people of her country from suffering from war.
Xu Rem may not be so great and kind, but she is the most real legendary woman, she lives very real, loves very selfishly, but her love and hate, all her choices, is the most real appearance of the enslaved people at the bottom of that era.
She has her own love and strives to protect it at all times!
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