City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Empress of the East, how a slave girl became queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce

eng

Includes bibliographical referencesand index

illustrationsmapsportraits

index present

non fiction

Empress of the East

Leslie Peirce

how a slave girl became queen of the Ottoman Empire

Abducted by slave traders from her home in Ruthenia, modern-day Ukraine, around 1515, Roxelana was brought to Istanbul and trained in the palace harem as a concubine for Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire and one of the world's most powerful men. Süleyman became besotted with Roxelana and foreswore all other concubines, freeing and marrying her. The bold and canny Roxelana became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, helping Süleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women were increasingly close to power. Until now, Roxelana has been seen by historians as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, acclaimed historian Leslie Peirce reveals the compelling story of an elusive woman who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule