Empress of the East

Empress of the East PDF Author: Leslie Peirce
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093094
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Get Book Here

Book Description
The "fascinating . . . lively" story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to become the only queen of the Ottoman empire (New York Times). In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian homeland and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman became besotted with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women, from Isabella of Hungary to Catherine de Medici, increasingly held the reins of power. Until now Roxelana has been seen as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, Peirce reveals the true history of an elusive figure who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

Roxelana & Suleyman

Roxelana & Suleyman PDF Author: P. J. Parker
Publisher: Phillip John Parker
ISBN: 0998685666
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
The internationally acclaimed, polarizing, fictional Romantic Saga. Roxelana was the most seductive, powerful, egotistical, intriguing, manipulative, and enigmatic woman of the early sixteenth century. History had known no one of such beauty and cunning. Yet very few know her story... Europe is in turmoil under the oppressive rule of the Hapsburgs and the incessant raids of marauding Tartar Warriors. Istanbul, the eye of the Ottoman Sultanate and considered to be the center of the Universe, is the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world. It is intoxicating and vibrant. But it is also a metropolis of mis-placed trust, of decadence, run by a sexually charged, drug-riddled bureaucracy. In the middle of this city, high on an imposing promontory, is the fabled Topkapi Palace - the Seraglio of Sultan Suleyman Khan - the Shadow of God on Earth. Within its multitude of gazel-filled courtyards, along its secluded arcades and twisting down through its labyrinth of corridors to the solidly locked doors of the Sultan's Harem, are secrets and whispers that promise death by strangulation to some, and absolute power to others. It is in this world that a young girl, abducted by Tartars and sold into slavery, captured the heart of the greatest Ottoman Sultan and rose to control the largest armies on Earth from within the gilded cage of Topkapi Harem. But does she know that there are those who would see her dead? And yet another whose undying love, if revealed, would lead to the destruction of all her well-laid plans? The story of Roxelana has remained hidden for centuries and needs to be told. It is about someone we should all be acquainted with intimately.

Empress of the East

Empress of the East PDF Author: Leslie Peirce
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093094
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Get Book Here

Book Description
The "fascinating . . . lively" story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to become the only queen of the Ottoman empire (New York Times). In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian homeland and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman became besotted with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women, from Isabella of Hungary to Catherine de Medici, increasingly held the reins of power. Until now Roxelana has been seen as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, Peirce reveals the true history of an elusive figure who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

Roxelana and Suleyman

Roxelana and Suleyman PDF Author: P. J. Parker
Publisher: Phillip John Parker
ISBN: 9780998685625
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
A polarizing, fictional Romantic Saga. Roxelana was the most seductive, powerful, egotistical, intriguing, manipulative and enigmatic woman of the early sixteenth century. History had never known anyone of such beauty and cunning. Yet very few know her story... Europe is in turmoil under the oppressive rule of the Hapsburgs and the incessant raids of marauding Tartar Warriors. Istanbul, the eye of the Ottoman Sultanate and considered to be the center of the Universe, is the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world. It is intoxicating and vibrant. But it is also a metropolis of mis-placed trust, of decadence, run by a sexually-charged, drug-riddled bureaucracy. In the middle of this city, high on an imposing promontory is the fabled Topkapi Palace - the Seraglio of Sultan Suleyman Khan - the Shadow of God on Earth. Within its multitude of gazel-filled courtyards, along its secluded arcades and twisting down through its labyrinth of corridors to the solidly locked doors of the Sultan's Harem are secrets and whispers that promise death by strangulation to some, and absolute power to others. It is in this world that a young girl, abducted by Tartars and sold into slavery, captured the heart of the greatest Ottoman Sultan and rose to control the largest armies on Earth from within the gilded cage of Topkapi Harem. But does she know that there are those who would see her dead? And yet another whose undying love, if revealed, would lead to the destruction of all her well laid plans? The story of Roxelana has remained hidden for centuries and needs to be told. It is about someone we should all be acquainted with intimately.

Roxelana

Roxelana PDF Author: Osyp Nazaruk
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781703127669
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Roxelana" is a historical novel by Ukrainian writer Osyp Nazaruk, first published in 1930, yet still considered the best work about Hürrem Sultan. The book was forbidden in the Ukrainian SSR and returned to the readers only after Ukraine gained independence in 1991. Nazaruk put a lot of effort into creating his book. He read old Polish, German, Latin sources about the Ottoman empire and Roxelana, studied Koran, books on medieval philosophers, old maps of Istanbul, legends and travellers' accounts. He added copious footnotes to explain many of the facts and traditions of that era. Throughout the book the author describes Roxelana through the prism of her Ukrainian nationality, raises the problems of religious intolerance, slave trade in Europe, occupation, oppression using poetic language and deep philosophical undertones. The book has never been translated into English before. Author's notes and afterword, translator's notes.The section "Notes and Clarifications" contains the author's afterword with additional historical information, sources and explanations about how the book was written. Osyp Nazaruk writes: "I dedicate this work about a great Ukrainian female who sparkled with wit and happiness, decisiveness and compassion, pearls and blood, to the Ukrainian women. Dedicate to ensure that they, even in the most difficult times of their people and theirs, do not lose the cheerfulness of their spirit and were the support of their husbands and sons and the active individuals of their people - primarily through learning some profession and loving it.""Influences - Ukrainian, Eastern, Byzantine, Western, Renaissance, and others - are woven into the colourful carpet of the background upon which, like bright comet flew Roxelana, the Ukrainian Odysseus in the women's dress.""I feel the obligation to express my sincere gratitude for the shipping of the scholarly books from the libraries of Shevchenko Scientific Society, the university and Ossolineum libraries in Lviv... to two people who are now on the Bolshevik territory and who, if I revealed their names, could be in a lot of trouble, even for former "relationship with the counter-revolutionaries.""The next day Nastunya also couldn't eat any of the Tatar delicacies. She only drank water and was so weakened that she could no longer walk. But she was afraid that Tatar would think that she was just pretending so used the remains of her strength to stay up on her feet. She fell in the evening - on the plains of Pantalyha. As if conspired with her, almost at the same time several other women fell on the road.""Her pink young body discretely clothed and beautiful as spring soil that bears fragrant flowers shone through thin and white as snow muslin.""Long afterwards black Hassan troubled her: she dreamed how he counted gold coins at the bottom of the sea, on the shallow sand among red coral...""And many of them fell dead among the wilderness, and they never saw their houses again.""and you instead of doing great things... stole one soul... and are hiding with your plunder... my daughter ... my daughter!.."

Roxolana in European Literature, History and Culture

Roxolana in European Literature, History and Culture PDF Author: Galina I. Yermolenko
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317061179
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection is the first book-length scholarly study of the pervasiveness and significance of Roxolana in the European imagination. Roxolana, or "Hurrem Sultan," was a sixteenth-century Ukrainian woman who made an unprecedented career from harem slave and concubine to legal wife and advisor of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). Her influence on Ottoman affairs generated legends in many a European country. The essays gathered here represent an interdisciplinary survey of her legacy; the contributors view Roxolana as a transnational figure that reflected the shifting European attitudes towards "the Other," and they investigate her image in a wide variety of sources, ranging from early modern historical chronicles, dramas and travel writings, to twentieth-century historical novels and plays. Also included are six European source texts featuring Roxolana, here translated into modern English for the first time. Importantly, this collection examines Roxolana from both Western and Eastern European perspectives; source material is taken from England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Poland, and Ukraine. The volume is an important contribution to the study of early modern transnationalism, cross-cultural exchange, and notions of identity, the Self, and the Other.

Rick Steves Istanbul

Rick Steves Istanbul PDF Author: Lale Surmen Aran
Publisher: Rick Steves
ISBN: 1631213067
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description
You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in Istanbul. Following Rick's self-guided tours, you'll experience the wonders of East and West in this fascinating city—the capital of two great empires. Explore one of the world's largest domed churches, haggle with merchants in the exotic Grand Bazaar, and discover the secrets of the sultan's harem in Topkapi Palace. Wander through monumental mosques, shop along sophisticated avenues, and watch whirling dervishes in action. Cruise the Bosphorus for a quick trip to Asia, and end the day relaxing in a Turkish bath. Rick's candid, humorous advice will guide you to good-value hotels and restaurants in delightful neighborhoods. You'll learn how to get around on the city's trams and ferries, and which sights are worth your time and money. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket.

The Singing Turk

The Singing Turk PDF Author: Larry Wolff
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804799652
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 505

Get Book Here

Book Description
While European powers were at war with the Ottoman Empire for much of the eighteenth century, European opera houses were staging operas featuring singing sultans and pashas surrounded by their musical courts and harems. Mozart wrote The Abduction from the Seraglio. Rossini created a series of works, including The Italian Girl in Algiers. And these are only the best known of a vast repertory. This book explores how these representations of the Muslim Ottoman Empire, the great nemesis of Christian Europe, became so popular in the opera house and what they illustrate about European–Ottoman international relations. After Christian armies defeated the Ottomans at Vienna in 1683, the Turks no longer seemed as threatening. Europeans increasingly understood that Turkish issues were also European issues, and the political absolutism of the sultan in Istanbul was relevant for thinking about politics in Europe, from the reign of Louis XIV to the age of Napoleon. While Christian European composers and publics recognized that Muslim Turks were, to some degree, different from themselves, this difference was sometimes seen as a matter of exotic costume and setting. The singing Turks of the stage expressed strong political perspectives and human emotions that European audiences could recognize as their own.

In The Shadow Of A Monument

In The Shadow Of A Monument PDF Author: Anthony D. Marshall
Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1638858225
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 559

Get Book Here

Book Description
The only child of Brooke Astor, the "Queen of New York", (a powerful force who inherited the enormous Astor fortune), Anthony Marshall became a decorated Marine, a diplomat and US ambassador, a codebreaker, a covert spy with the newly formed CIA, a special assistant to the U2 program during the Cold War and dedicated to the global conservation of animal and floral habitat. Always interested in the arts, he and his third wife co-produced two Tony Award Broadway plays in the early 2000s. Marshall was the stepson of Vincent Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America, and witnessed the life of the ultra-privileged in New York City firsthand. In 2006, his carefully directed life was on the verge of being destroyed by a criminal accusation from his own son. Heartbroken, Marshall read the formal wording of the accusation: "elder abuse" of his mother who was then one hundred four years old. What followed were years of constant tabloid sensationalism and negative press that destroyed Marshall's reputation and damaged his relationships with family and friends. After a six months long trial, he was sentenced to 1- 3 years in a New York State prison when he was eighty-nine years old. Together with his beloved wife Charlene, he faced what he called "the greatest challenge of my life" since landing his Marine platoon onto Blue Beach at Iwo Jima on D+1. These two survived this brutal attack together with their souls intact and their love stronger than ever. These are his stories.

Ibrahim, or the Illustrious Bassa, an excellent new romance ... written in French by Monsieur de Scuderi in foure parts ... Englished by H. Cogan

Ibrahim, or the Illustrious Bassa, an excellent new romance ... written in French by Monsieur de Scuderi in foure parts ... Englished by H. Cogan PDF Author: M. de Scudéry (Georges)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 494

Get Book Here

Book Description


Woman in All Ages and in All Countries: Oriental women, by E. B. Pollard

Woman in All Ages and in All Countries: Oriental women, by E. B. Pollard PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Women
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Get Book Here

Book Description