she is the sunlight when the skies are gray

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HÜRREM SULTAN | day 1: origins and early life

Tradition holds that Hürrem Sultan was born as the daughter of an Orthodox priest in a small town in Ruthenia, a “broad area that today encompasses western Ukraine but was then under the rule of the Polish king”. While there is no evidence that she was the daughter of an Orthodox priest, it seems very plausible that she was from Ruthenia: the nickname by which she was called by Europeans, Roxelana, means “the maiden from Ruthenia”, though it was often mistakenly translated as “the Russian maiden”.

Hürrem may have been presented to Süleyman I as an accession gift, and tradition holds that it was his favourite Pargali Ibrahim Pasa who did it, while other rumours maintain that she was acquired and trained by a wedded princess and then gifted to Hafsa Valide Sultan. Nevertheless it seems almost certain that she became one of Süleyman I’s bedded concubines in the winter of 1520-1521, as she would later give birth to her first child in the autumn of 1521. It is not known who gave her the name of Hürrem or whether she previously had held another Ottoman name; Hürrem means “joyful” or “the laughing one” in Persian, and it seems it was her charm and her easy laugh that enthralled Süleyman from the start. According to Venetian reports, she was not beautiful “although graceful and petite”; she was a skilled embroidered (something that she would later pass on to her only daughter Mihrimah) and was known for her singing and musical abilities.

NUR FETTAHOĞLU AS MAHIDEVRAN SULTAN

Ibo: decides to spend more than 14 minutes in his own house after what seems like a year and of course dedicates those 14 minutes to his favourite personal hobby which is playing violin, except he happens to play his violin in the same space his children are sleeping, for reasons unknown, risking to wake them up and disturb their sleep with his fuckass music that absolutely nobody asked for, least of all the children who are sleeping

- You see what’s happening,Hatice.All evening of our night,I have waited,but sultan wasn’t alone.He’s with a russian slave.

- My brother is Sultan.How can we discuss his decision?!It’s not appropriate. Mahidevran,you are his wife.Don’t act like an insignificant slave.