Kösem Mahpeyker

Kösem Mahpeyker with her son

Kösem Mahpeyker Sultan (* around 1589 on Tinos ; † September 3, 1651 ) was the favorite ( hasekî ) of Sultan Ahmed I of the Ottoman Empire and mother of the sultans Murad IV , İbrahim and grandmother Mehmed IV and was at this time as Valide Sultan a central figure in the empire. At the instigation of her daughter-in-law Turhan Hatice Sultan, she was strangled with a bowstring .

Life

Kösem was born in Greece around 1589 as the daughter of an Orthodox priest and was initially called Nasya (from Anastasia). It was given to the Ottoman court by the Ottoman governor of Bosnia , where it became the favorite of Prince Ahmed. According to Pietro della Valle , she received the nickname Kösem ("hairless") because of her "soft and hairless skin". After their marriage, their full name was "Kösem Mahpeyker Sultan". She exerted a great influence on politics. She influenced the election of the grand viziers and accumulated considerable wealth in her harem. As a result, she was able to both help the poorer parts of the population with donations and to lead a life in luxury. Kösem Sultan gave birth to the five sons Mehmet, Murad , Kasim, Süleyman and İbrahim as well as the four daughters Ayşe, Fatma , Gevherhan and Hanzade.

Between 1623 and 1632 she was regent of the Ottoman Empire because her son Murad IV was still a minor.

Around 1640 she was given as a gift to Turhan Hatice , later daughter-in-law and Valide Sultan.

She also ruled as regent during the reign of her underage grandson Mehmet IV. In 1651 rebellious Sipahis allied themselves with the black eunuchs of the harem, who arranged the murder of Kösem. Kösem had relied in vain on the support of the Janissaries , many of whom also died in the revolt.

reception

Today, Kösem is sometimes seen as the most influential and “fascinating” woman in Ottoman history. In order to survive, she “manipulated” both her husband and her sons and thus de facto ruled the Ottoman Empire . Due to their Greek origin, they also make it difficult to clearly distinguish between modern Greeks and Turks .

literature

Hans Georg Majer: Kösem Sultan . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 2. Munich 1976, p. 489 f.

Web links

Article of the Badisches Landesmuseum about the life of Kösem Mahpeyker

Individual evidence

↑ M. Cavid Baysun: Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. sv Kösem Walide
↑ Lucienne Thys-Şenocak: Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan . Ashgate, Aldershot 2006, pp. 17 .
↑ ^a ^b Suraiya Faroqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, Şevket Pamuk: An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England 1997, ISBN 0-521-57455-2 , pp. 414 f .
↑ ^a ^b Patrick Comerford: Defining Greek and Turk: Uncertainties in the Search for European and Muslim identities . In: Cambridge Review of International Affairs . tape 13 , no. 2 , 2000, pp. 240-253, p. 247 , doi : 10.1080 / 09557570008400313 .
^ Gerald Maclean: Introduction: Re-Orienting the Renaissance . In: Gerald Maclean (Ed.): Re-Orienting the Renaissance: Cultural Exchanges with the East . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire 2005, ISBN 978-1-4039-9233-8 , pp. 1–29, p. 14 .

personal data
SURNAME	Mahpeyker, Kösem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Wife of Sultan Ahmed I of the Ottoman Empire
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1589
PLACE OF BIRTH	Greece
DATE OF DEATH	September 3, 1651

[1] M. Cavid Baysun: Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. sv Kösem Walide

[2] Lucienne Thys-Şenocak: Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan . Ashgate, Aldershot 2006, pp. 17 .

[eshoe-3] Suraiya Faroqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, Şevket Pamuk: An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England 1997, ISBN 0-521-57455-2 , pp. 414 f .

[comerford-4] Patrick Comerford: Defining Greek and Turk: Uncertainties in the Search for European and Muslim identities . In: Cambridge Review of International Affairs . tape 13 , no. 2 , 2000, pp. 240-253, p. 247 , doi : 10.1080 / 09557570008400313 .

[5] Gerald Maclean: Introduction: Re-Orienting the Renaissance . In: Gerald Maclean (Ed.): Re-Orienting the Renaissance: Cultural Exchanges with the East . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire 2005, ISBN 978-1-4039-9233-8 , pp. 1–29, p. 14 .