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Beatrice Michiel
{{Short description, Venetian spy within the Ottoman court Beatrice Michiel, also known as Fatma Hatun (Venice, 1553 - Constantinople, 1613), was a Venetian spy in service in the Ottoman court, under the sultans Murad III and Mehmed III. Biography Early life Beatrice was born in the Serenissima Republic of Venice in 1553. She was daughter of the Venetian official Giacomo Michiel and his wife Franceschina Zorzi. She had at least one sister and two brothers. In 1559, while sailing with her family in the Adriatic Sea to visit her father, engaged as a diplomat in Buda, they were attacked by Barbary pirates and taken prisoner together with the other passengers. While the mother managed to save or redeem herself and her daughters, her two brothers were taken to Constantinople, where they underwent the process of castration and were made to convert to Islam with the names of Cafer and Gazanfer. Later both made careers at the court of the future sultan Selim II, entering his intimate cir ...
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Murad III
Murad III ( ota, مراد ثالث, Murād-i sālis; tr, III. Murad; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids. The long-independent Morocco was at a time made a vassal of the empire but they would regain independence in 1582. His reign also saw the empire's expanding influence on the eastern coast of Africa. However, the empire would be beset by increasing corruption and inflation from the New World which led to unrest among the Janissary and commoners. Relations with Elizabethan England were cemented during his reign as both had a common enemy in the Spanish. He was a great patron in the arts where he commissioned the '' Siyer-i-Nebi'' and other illustrated manuscripts. Early life Born in Manisa on 4 July 1546, Şehzade Murad was the oldest son of Şehzade Selim and his powerful wife Nurbanu Sultan. He received a good education and learned ...
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Kalfa
Kalfa ( Turkish for 'apprentice, assistant master') was a general term in the Ottoman Empire for the women attendants and supervisors in service in the imperial palace. Novice girls had to await promotion to the rank of . It was a rank below that of ('master'), the title of the leading administrative/supervisory officers of the harem. The titles and belong to the terminology of Ottoman guild organization and other hierarchically-organized corporate bodies. Legally slave girls, these women—depending on their rank—could wield considerable authority and influence in their duties and were generally treated with much respect by lower-ranking attendants in the harem as well as by members of the imperial family. Among craftsmen the term had a similar rank: that of a junior master yet to graduate to status and open his own shop. Imperial ''kalfas'' The ''kalfas'' in personal service to the monarch were called (Turkish for 'Imperial Kalfas'). The (Turkish for 'treasurer') ...
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16th-century Women From The Ottoman Empire
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion ...
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16th-century Venetian Women
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion o ...
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1553 Births
Year 1553 ( MDLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * May – The first Royal Charter is granted to St Albans, in England. * June – The first of the five Battles of Kawanakajima, the "Battle of the Fuse," commences in Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province, part of a major series of conflicts during the Japanese Sengoku Period. * June 26 – Two new schools, Christ's Hospital and King Edward's School, Witley, are created by Royal Charter in accordance with the will of King Edward VI of England; St Thomas' Hospital, London, in existence since the 12th century, is named in the same charter. July–December * July 9 – Battle of Sievershausen: Prince-elector Maurice of Saxony defeats the Catholic forces of Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. Maurice is mortally wounded. * July 10 – Four days after the dea ...
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17th-century Spies
The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the latter part of the Spanish Golden Age, the Dutch Golden Age, the French ''Grand Siècle'' dominated by Louis XIV, the Scientific Revolution, the world's first public company and megacorporation known as the Dutch East India Company, and according to some historians, the General Crisis. From the mid-17th century, European politics were increasingly dominated by the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the civil war of the Fronde. The semi-feudal territorial French nobility was weakened and subjugated to the power of an absolute monarchy through the reinvention of the Palace of Versailles from a hunting lodge to a gilded prison, in which a greatly expanded royal court could be more easil ...
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16th-century Spies
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion o ...
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1613 Deaths
Events January–June * January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans). * January 20 – King James I of England successfully mediates the Treaty of Knäred between Denmark and Sweden. * February 14 – Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England, marries Frederick V, Elector Palatine. * March 3 (February 21 O.S.) – An assembly of the Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, ending the Time of Troubles. The House of Romanov will remain a ruling dynasty until 1917. * March 27 – The first English child is born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy. * March 29 – Samuel de Champlain becomes the first unofficial Governor of New France. * April 13 – Samuel Argall captures Algonquian princess Pocahontas in Passapata ...
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Murad IV
Murad IV ( ota, مراد رابع, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; tr, IV. Murad, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Constantinople, the son of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–17) and Kösem Sultan. He was brought to power by a palace conspiracy when he was just 11 years old, and he succeeded his uncle Mustafa I (r. 1617–18, 1622–23). Until he assumed absolute power on 18 May 1632, the empire was ruled by his mother, Kösem Sultan, as ''nāʾib-i salṭanat'' (regent). His reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War, of which the outcome would partition the Caucasus between the two Imperial powers for around two centuries, while it also roughly laid the foundation for the current Turkey–Iran–Iraq borders. Early life Murad IV was born on 27 July 1612 to Ahmed I (reign 16031617) and his consort and later wife Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek. Af ...
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Esperanza Malchi
Esperanza Malchi also spelled ''Malk'' or ''Malkhi'' (died 1 April 1600) was a Jewish Ottoman businesswoman. She was the influential favorite and ''Kira'' (business agent) of Valide Sultan Safiye. Life Early life Esperanza Malchi reportedly originated from Italy. She was married to a Jewish businessman, and had at least three sons. Due to the seclusion from the opposite sex and the outside world imposed upon the women of the Imperial Harem, male merchants were not allowed in to the harem, and a custom developed with merchant wives entering the harem to act as intermediary agents, displaying the goods to the prospective clients of the harem. These women were often Jews, who as non-Muslims were not subjected to the same gender segregation as Muslim women, and thus could act as the intermediaries of the harem women in several other areas, and many became successful businesswomen as agents to the harem women, particularly as widows. This would have been the background of Esperanza Ma ...
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Esther Handali
Esther Handali (died 18 or 19 December 1588Pedani, Maria Pia. “Safiye's Household and Venetian Diplomacy”. Turcica 32 (2000). ) was a Jewish Ottoman businesswoman. She was the influential favorite and ''Kira'' (business agent) of Nurbanu Sultan, Safiye Sultan, and possibly of Hürrem Sultan. Life Early life Esther Handali was reportedly a Sephardic Jew from Jerez de la Frontera in Spain.Lucienne Thys-Senocak: Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan' She was married to the Jewish merchant Eliya Handali, who traded in luxuries such as jewellery, expensive clothing and cosmetics to the women of the Imperial Harem. Due to the seclusion from the opposite sex and the outside world imposed upon the women of the harem, male merchants were not allowed in to the harem, and a custom developed with merchant wives entering the harem to act as intermediary agents, displaying the goods to the prospective clients of the harem. These women were often Je ...
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Safiye Sultan (mother Of Mehmed III)
Safiye Sultan ( ota, صفیه سلطان; "''pure''" 1550 – 20 April 1619) was the Haseki Sultan (chief consort) of Murad III and Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire as the mother of Mehmed III and the grandmother of Sultans: Ahmed I and Mustafa I. Safiye was also one of the eminent figures during the era known as the Sultanate of Women. She lived in the Ottoman Empire as a courtier during the reigns of seven sultans: Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, Murad III, Mehmed III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I, and Osman II. After the death of Selim II in 1574, Prince Murad took the throne as the new sultan in Constantinople under the name of Murad III. Safiye was by his side and moved with him to Topkapi Palace, and less than a year into his reign she received the title of Haseki Sultan (chief consort), which placed her above the princesses. Nurbanu, her Mother-in-law, who was with them as the Sultan's mother, was upset with Safiye's influence on Murad and wanted to replace her with anoth ...
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