Hurrem Sultan Facts for Kids

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Hurrem, the title is Sultan, and there is no family name.

Quick facts for kids

Hurrem Sultan

Portrait by Titian titled La Sultana Rossa, c. 1550

Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
(Imperial Consort)

Tenure

1533/1534 – 15 April 1558

Successor

Nurbanu Sultan

Born

Alexandra or Anastasia
1502–1506
Ruthenia, Kingdom of Poland (now Ukraine)

Died

15 April 1558 (aged 51–56)
Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (now Turkey)

Burial

Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul

Spouse

Suleiman the Magnificent

Issue

Şehzade Mehmed
Mihrimah Sultan
Şehzade Abdullah
Selim II
Şehzade Bayezid
Şehzade Cihangir

Full name
Turkish: Hürrem Sultan Ottoman Turkish: خرم سلطان

Father

? Lisovsky

Religion

Sunni Islam, previously Eastern Orthodox Christian

Hurrem Sultan ( Ottoman Turkish: حرم سلطان, romanized: Ḫurrem Sulṭān, Modern Turkish: Hürrem Sultan; c. 1502 – 15 April 1558), also known as Roxelana (Ukrainian: Роксолана; lit. the Ruthenian one), was the chief consort and wife of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. She became one of the most powerful and influential women in Ottoman history as well as a prominent and controversial figure during the era known as the Sultanate of Women.

Born in Ruthenia (then an eastern region of the Kingdom of Poland, now Ukraine), Hurrem was captured by Crimean Tatars during a slave raid and eventually taken to Istanbul, the Ottoman capital. She entered the Imperial Harem, rose through the ranks and became the favourite of Sultan Suleiman. Breaking Ottoman tradition he married Hurrem, making her his legal wife; sultans had previously married only foreign free noble ladies. She was the first imperial consort to receive the title Haseki Sultan. Hurrem remained in the sultan's court for the rest of her life, having six children with him, including the future sultan, Selim II. She was the grandmother of Murad III.

Hurrem eventually achieved power, influencing the politics of the Ottoman Empire. Through her husband, she played an active role in affairs of the state. She probably acted as the sultan's advisor, wrote diplomatic letters to King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (r. 1548 – 1572) and patronized major public works (including the Haseki Sultan Complex and the Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse). She died in 1558, in Istanbul and was buried in a mausoleum within the Süleymaniye Mosque complex.

Images for kids

Suleiman the Magnificent
Statue of Roxolana (Nastia Lisovska) in Rohatyn, Ukraine
16th century Latin oil painting of Hurrem Sultan titled Rosa Solymanni Vxor (Rosa, Süleyman's Wife)
Letter of Hurrem Sultan to Sigismund II Augustus, congratulating him on his accession to the Polish throne in 1549.
Haseki Sultan Complex designed by the architect Mimar Sinan.
The türbe (mausoleum) of Hurrem Sultan at Süleymaniye Mosque in Fatih, Istanbul.
Anon., published by Matteo Pagani, Portrait of Roxelana, 1540–50. The inscription describes her as "the most beautiful and favorite wife of the Grand Turk, called la Rossa."
The son of Hurrem Sultan and Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II
18th century portrait of Hurrem Sultan kept at Topkapı Palace.
A portrait of Roxelana in the British Royal Collection, c. 1600–70
A painting of Hurrem Sultan by a follower of Titian, 16th century
Roxelana and Süleyman the Magnificent by the German baroque painter Anton Hickel, (1780)
Engraving by Johann Theodor de Bry, (1596)
16th century oil on wood painting of Hurrem Sultan
Tribute to Roxelana on 1997 Ukrainian postage stamp
Serlevha (illuminated frontispiece) from the Endowment Charter (Waqfiyya) pertaining to the architectural complex commissioned by Hürrem Sultan in the Aksaray district of Istanbul. 1540. Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts
The Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse built in 1556

Hurrem Sultan facts for kids

Images for kids

See also