Awkward Sultana

It was inevitable that Suleyman’s male and female favorites would either clash or combine. Rooted in the immediate vicinity of the sultan, their spheres of power overlapped. - The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, Leslie P. Peirce

"The name Hürrem, bestowed upon her by Suleiman, reflected her cheerful disposition. It is derived from Persian, meaning 'the one who brings joy,' symbolizing the happiness she brought to the court." - The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire" by Leslie Peirce

The Ottoman name chosen for her suggests she managed to put a congenial face on her fate...Her prose, lively and affectionate, helps us see why she acquired a name meaning "joyful." Roxelana would prove tough-minded and ambitious, but she never seemed to lose her playful side. - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire" by Leslie Peirce

She had the children and the jewels to prove Suleyman’s esteem. So it was wholly reasonable that her pride and ambition might demand official validation of her station through elevation as Suleyman’s wife—which she already was in all but name….If Roxelana refrained during Hafsa’s lifetime from pressing for public recognition of her exceptional status, she could now hope for its realization. - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce

The birth of Mehmed introduced changes into Roxelana’s life. As her status and value rose within the imperial household, so did her material circumstances. When one of the maidens becomes pregnant by the Monarch, her salary is increased and she is honored and elevated above the others… - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce

(Requested by anonymous)

Her Venetian origins continued to influence her lifestyle and decisions at court. She often favored Venetian goods, and her manners bore the refinement of Venetian nobility. It was said that she enjoyed Venetian music, and some even claimed that she kept certain elements of her Venetian upbringing alive within her private quarters. - I rapporti tra Venezia e l'Impero Ottomano, Giuseppe Campolongo (1990)

"In the popular version of Roxelana's history that would come to depict her as ruthlessly determined to eliminate all rivals in her path, she engineers Mahidevran's banishment from Istanbul to Manisa. The two women may well have been eager to put distance between themselves, but it was political tradition, not scheming on Roxelana's part, that sent Mahidevran into the field as mother to a provincial governor. Once in Manisa, Mustafa and Mahidevran would take up residence in their old home, together with their newly assembled entourages. For her part, Mahidevran was no doubt delighted that her son was finally head of his own household and she now in charge of its female court. As Hafsa had monitored Mahidevran in her early years at Suleyman's consort, she would look after the young women in Mustafa's harem." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce 

"If princes were the lifeblood of the Ottoman sultanate, princesses were loved specially. Unlike their brothers, they could never rival their father for popularity and prestige. And like their counterparts around the world, they were useful for the political alliances their marriages consolidated. A vigorous producer of sons, Suleyman may well have wished for more daughters, for only one, Mihrumah, would survive to adulthood. Later in life the sultan seemed to compensate by devoting a great deal of attention to his granddaughters' engagements and weddings...Mihrumah, approaching her eleventh birthday, was the only little princess in the palace. She must have been its darling..." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce 

"More shocking was Ibrahim's elevation in June 1523 from personal service in the inner court directly to the grand vizierate, the highest office in public service. Suleyman's other viziers had worked their way up the ranks, gaining years of experience in government. They had earned their status; Ibrahim was given his. Suleyman's decision so alienated Ahmed Pasha, who believed himself next in line for the office, that he used the consolation prize of the Cairo governorship to stage a rebellion, thereby entering historical memory as "Traitor Ahmed." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce 

"Mahidevran had nothing left to lose but her rank once Suleyman focused his favors so lavishly on Roxelana. The sultan was upsetting the careful balance among consorts that the politics of reproduction demanded, and Mahidevran apparently took it on herself to right it. She was a product of the old world of separate but equal family constellations, a system that imbued the role of mother to a prince with considerable honor and dignity. The monopoly by a favorite with multiple sons inevitably stole a portion of that stature." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce 

“The crucial role played by a prince’s mother before he ascended the throne was translated into a more institutionally secure and publicly visible role when the prince became sultan and his mother valide sultan. The valide sultan continued to carry on her roles as tutor and protector of her son...The valide sultan continued to instruct the sultan as she had the prince.”—The Imperial Harem Women And Sovereignty In The Ottoman Empire, Leslie P. Peirce

Some thought Roxelana used seductive powers, even potions, to induce the love Suleyman appeared to bear her. They called her witch. — Leslie Peirce, Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

As we have studied Ibrahim’s career, we have seen the vast power that he gradually gathered into his hands, and we have noted the amazement with which European legates listened to his own accounts of his standing in the state. He was practically the ruler of the Ottoman empire, but there was one fact that he forgot; he was absolutely at the disposal of the sultan and could be disgraced or executed at the latter’s caprice—he was but the shadow of the "Shadow of God on Earth." - Ibrahim Pasha: Grand Vizir of Suleiman the Magnificent by Hester Donaldson Jenkins

@ottomanladies​, I’ve found the The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem online free if any of your followers are looking for it.