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One of the most legendary women of early modern history, known in Turkey as Hurrem Sultan and in Europe as Roxolana, has always been and still remains a controversial figure. While controversies surrounded other powerful and famous women of her time - such as Catherine de' Medici, Queen Margot, or Queen Elizabeth I - Roxolana's precipitous career from a harem slave to the queen of the Ottoman Empire made her particularly fascinating, yet vulnerable to the judgment of many a historian and writer. Kidnapped from the Ukraine and sold into the Ottoman imperial harem in the early sixteenth century, Roxolana quickly became the favorite concubine (hasseki) of Sultan Suleiman I, the Magnificent (15201566), and later, his beloved wife, the powerful sultana. In the course of their four-decade-long romance until her death in 1558, Roxolana reigned supreme not only in Suleiman's heart, but also in his court, as his chief political advisor. The former slave exerted immense influence over imperial affairs and left an indelible mark on both Ottoman history and European imagination.
Various theories and interpretations have been offered throughout the ages to account for her long-term grip over Suleiman: her beauty, her joyous spirit and graciousness, her charming smile and infectious laughter, her witty and quick mind, her ruthless pragmatism and political genius, her manipulative and vile disposition, her musical talents, her use of sorcery and love potions, among others. The main problem with such interpretations is that they overstress Roxolana's psychological traits and regard her actions as being outside the social and historical context in which she lived. Another problem with most representations of Roxolana's life is that little factual information is known about her in the first place, as the sultan's harem was inaccessible to both the Ottomans and foreign visitors. The primary Ottoman sources on Hurrem - such as her correspondence with Suleiman, the harem salary records,1 Suleiman's diaries and his poetic love letters to Hurrem,2 as well as Suleiman's and Roxolana's letters to King Sigizmund II August3 - provide an authentic glimpse into her actions and psychology. However, these documents did not become known to the world at large until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the dark image of Roxolana had been already formed.
All other depictions of Hurrem-Roxolana,...