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TheMDNA OP t1_iw3fyo2 wrote

Reply to comment by PlayRevolutionary344 in Hurrem Sultan: The Sultan’s Concubine Who Became Queen by TheMDNA

I do not recall this from anything I've read about the Ottomans. I know that men from the outside were not allowed to enter the harem, therefore none of them knew what the concubine consorts looked like. The only men who were allowed in the harem were the male slave servants (eunuchs), the princes, and the Sultan himself. The paintings we see of the Ottoman concubines were all made by non-Ottomans (most of them), usually from Europe, who had never entered the harem. They imagined what these women looked like based on letters and rumours which described them.

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PlayRevolutionary344 t1_iw3mse4 wrote

It's possibly a Chinese concubine then thank you 😊 though incredible history right there 👏 thanks for sharing! Would you know any good documentaries on the ottoman empire ? I'm from Britain so the idea of concubines is so exotic and unusual considering our most infamous king literally changed religion and history of England to be able to have extra wives and lovers

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TheMDNA OP t1_iw3nk3m wrote

I can't remember any documentaries at the moment, but there are several really good books. I am currently reading Leslie Peirce's 'Empress of the East' and 'Imperial Harem'. Two very good books about the harem in particular. Then there are books like Caroline Finkel's 'Osman's dream, the Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923' and Colin Imber's 'The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650'. The latter ones are more general books about the Ottoman Empire.

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