Biography
She was captured by corsairs and presented to the Ottoman harem sometime in the 1560s, and became chief wife of the sultan after the death of her stepmother in 1574.Following the steps of Nur Banu, Safiye Sultan played an important political role during the reigns of both sultans after this year. She was Valide sultan between 1583 and 1594, and together with Nur Banu one of the most influential ones; she deserved the status of co-regent, which is sometimes the formal definition of a Valide sultan.
Safiye followed Nur Banu's pro-Venetian policy and corresponded by letter with queen Elizabeth I of England; in 1599, Elizabeth presented Safiye with a carriage, which she actually used after having covered it, to excursions in the town, which was considered quite scandalous.
She is also known of having been (or believed to have been) strongly influenced by her kira, Esperanza Malchi; a kira was an agent employed to handle the economic affairs of the harem women. This was normally a Jewish woman, who as a non-Muslim was allowed to have an active life outside the harem, and Safiye's kira was the Jewess Esperanza Malchi; they were said to have been so close that people believed them to have been lovers, and Esperanza was killed by a lynch mob in 1600.
She is also famous for starting the construction of the Yeni Valide Mosque (New Mosque) in Istanbul in 1598. The Al-Malika Safiyya Mosque (Malika Safiya) in Cairo is named in her honor.
References
- Maria Pia Pedani, Safiye’s Household and Venetian Diplomacy, Turcica, 32 (2000), pp. 9-32.
External links
- http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1570.htm
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Last updated on Wednesday April 09, 2008 at 02:31:03 PDT (GMT -0700)
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