Nurbanu Sultan is a bright representative of the historical period of the Ottoman Empire, called the “sultanate of women”.
She had a significant impact on the policy of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of her son Sultan Murad. In order to survive and retain power in the harem, she had to go through a thorny path, eliminating competitors, committing immoral, and sometimes bloody deeds.
In this video, I will tell you 5 facts from the life of Nurbanu Sultan that may surprise you.
1. Nurbanu Sultan was born in 1525 on the Greek island of Paros. It is generally accepted that she came from 2 Venetian noble families: her father is the governor of Paros Nicolo Venier, and her mother is Violanta Baffo.
The girl, who received the name Cecilia Venier-Baffo at birth, was considered illegitimate, since her parents were not husband and wife.
When the girl was 12 years old, the island was attacked by the Ottoman admiral Khairaddin Barbarossa. The admiral plundered the island and captured some of its inhabitants. Young Cecilia was among the captives.
Since the girl had an attractive appearance, she was donated or sold to the harem of Sultan Suleiman I's heir, shehzade Selim.
Cecilia changed her religion and converted to Islam, after which she was given an oriental name - Nurbanu.
2. Sultan Selim II passed away under strange circumstances. According to the main version, he slipped in the bath and fell, hit his head hard on the marble floor. He died at dawn the next day.
The clever and cunning Nurbanu Sultan, together with her son-in-law, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu, hid Selim's corpse in a box of ice. The death of the Sultan had to be kept in strict secrecy, until the arrival of the son of Selim and Nurbanu from Manisa, Murad, who served as governor there. Murad reached Istanbul 12 days after his father's death and immediately went to the throne room, where the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu proclaimed him Sultan.
On the night of the same day, all the other sons of Sultan Selim II from other concubines were executed according to the Fatih law. The oldest of them was 8 years old, when the mother of one of these shekhzadeh learned about the death of her son, she committed suicide.
And all the side daughters and concubines of Sultan Selim were sent forever to the old palace.
3. Nurbanu Sultan had a strong influence on her son Sultan Murad III in almost everything from the harem to political decisions.
But, she also had to fight for influence on her son with her own daughter-in-law Safiye.
For many years, Safiye remained the only concubine of Murad. He was so fascinated by her that he did not look at other girls. Nurbanu accused Safiye of witchcraft, which made Murad impotent, unable to take a new concubine. A serious conflict broke out between the women, information about which went beyond the walls of the Sultan's palace and scattered throughout Istanbul. Murad's sisters, as well as his aunt Mihrimah Sultan, took the side of Nurban and tried to discredit Safiye in the eyes of the Sultan.
In the end, the women of the Sultan's family managed to convince the padishah not to be limited to one heir from Safiye for the sake of the future of the empire, and began to send numerous concubines to him. Over the next few years, Murad became the father of several dozen sons and daughters.
4. In the last years of her life, Nurbanu was involved in a palace murder. One of the palace guards, Rydvan-aga, who ensured the connection of harem women with the outside world, won the trust of the Valide Sultan and became responsible for escorting jewelry merchants in the palace. Once, a Jewish woman who came with Rydvan, after showing what she had brought, left the harem gate, passed the Middle Gate, and disappeared into the ceremonial square. Rydvan was detained, searched, and the jewelry of the missing Jewish woman was found sewn into the lining of his clothes. The body of a Jewish woman was found in a woodshed. Under torture, Rydvan confessed that Nurbanu Sultan forced him to this murder. The offender was executed, but rumors about this haunted the valid for a very long time. After this disgrace, the Valide Sultan left Topkapi and moved to the Sultan's garden palace in Yenikapı, built on her orders. A little later, Sultan Murad III also moved there, as he badly needed the support of his mother and her advice.
5. Death came to Nurban at the age of 58.
Court physicians testified to death from natural causes, although there were rumors that the Genoese ambassador poisoned the woman for political reasons.
By his order, Nurbanu Sultan was buried next to his father Sultan Selim II in the complex of the Aya-Sofya mosque.
Her burial changed the very tradition of burial of members of the ruling dynasty.
Nurbanu became the first concubine of the Sultan, buried next to her master.