Nurbanu Sultan (; 1525 – 7 December 1583), also called Afife Nurbanu Sultan, was the Haseki Sultan and possibly legal wifePeirce, Leslie: Empress of the East(2017): "Selim left behind the onetime experience of a politically active queen working alongside a monogamous king...favorite: Nurbanu, mother of his first son, Murad. He was far from monogamous; nor was she celebrated as his queen, although he allegedly married and dowered her. Nurbanu’s prestige would come as queen mother to Murad..." of Ottoman sultan Selim II. As the mother of Murad III, she officially served as Valide Sultan from 1574 until her death in 1583. She was one of the most prominent figures during the Sultanate of Women.
Theories about her origin There are several theories about the ethnic origins of Nurbanu. It is claimed that she was of Venetian, Greek, or Jewish origin.
Although none of these theories has been definitively proven, the Venetian-origin theory is the best known, the most widely accepted, and the one that receives the greatest consensus among historians.
Cecilia Venier-Baffo In 1900, Emilio Spagni claimed that she was a Venetian patrician, illegitimate daughter of Nicolò Venier and Violante Baffo, abducted on Paros when it was captured by Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa in the Third Ottoman-Venetian War. The opinion that Nurbanu Sultan was Cecilia Venier-Baffo has been followed by Franz Babinger in his article about Nurbanu Sultan for Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani.
Kalē Kartanou In 1992, historian Benjamin Arbel reassessed an older theory that Nurbanu was a Greek from Corfu named Kalē Kartanou, daughter of Nikolaos Kartanos and abducted from the island in 1537, judging it plausible if not absolutely proven. According to this theory, Venetian senators arbitrarily chose to create a new identity for her as Cecilia Venier-Baffo, and she adopted it for political and material gains.Pedani, M.P. (2000). Safiye's Household and Venetian Diplomacy. Turcica, 32, 9-32. This theory has been accepted by Italian historian Maria Pia Pidani, and Turkish historian Emrah Safa Gürkan, among others. According to the latter historian, the fact that she "forge[d] a trans-imperial link in order to ingratiate herself with the Venetians suggests that the Ottomans, too, considered the common background as a diplomatic asset".
Jewish origin Turkish historian Ahmet Refik believed she was of Jewish descent named Rachel,Çağatay Uluçay, Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları p.68, citing Kadınlar Saltanatı I p.95 as did other Turkish historians.A.H. de Groot, s.v. in Encyclopaedia of Islam vol.8 p.124
Early life Nurbanu who was said to be prominent in the palace with her beauty and extraordinary intelligence, was sent to Manisa as one of the concubines of the harem of Şehzade Selim in 1543, and she bore him a son, Murad, who succeeded his father as the next Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and one daughter.
Haseki Sultan Nurbanu became the most loved and favored consort of Şehzade Selim (who became Ottoman Sultan as Selim II in 1566) in Manisa, and the mother of his first son, Şehzade Murad (the future Murad III, born 1546). Although Selim was far from monogamous,Nurbanu persisted as a favorite for her great beauty and unusual intelligence, said by Peirce to have selected and tutored by Hürrem Sultan herself. Once he became sultan, Selim honoured his favorite consort, Nurbanu, with the title of Haseki Sultan and allowed her to stay at the Topkapı Palace throughout his reign, following the unprecedented example of his father, Suleiman the Magnificent. It is even alleged that he may have married her according to the Venetian ambassador who reported it, supposedly at the beginning of 1571, with the aim of recognising his greatly loved oldest son, Şehzâde Murad as his successor. Nurbanu’s prestige would come as the mother of Murad, a new twist to an old formula. It is fair to say that Nurbanu's career brought Hürrem's accomplishments into closer compatibility with the ingrained political habits of the Ottomans.Peirce, Leslie: Empress of the East (2017): "Selim left behind the onetime experience of a politically active queen working alongside a monogamous king...Selim did establish a favorite: Nurbanu, mother of his first son, Murad. He was far from monogamous; nor was she celebrated as his queen, although he allegedly married and dowered her. Nurbanu’s prestige would come as queen mother to Murad...
As the mother of the heir-apparent, she acted as an advisor to her husband, who valued her advice on various subjects because of his respect for her prudent judgment and intelligence. The Venetian ambassador Jacopo Soranzor reported, "The Haseki is said to be extremely well-loved and honored by His Majesty both for her great beauty and for being unusually intelligent." She became a formidable figure, with far-reaching influence during this time. According to some sources (mostly Venetian), her influence was such that Nurbanu Sultan effectively ran the government alongside the Grand Vizier, Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. Selim abrogated much of his power to Sokollu, who was said to have been the "virtual-emperor" as per a Ragusan ambassador in Rome. Nurbanu did not intervene directly in politics, but there is no doubt that she consulted regularly with her son-in-law Sokollu. The Ottoman Empire was far from stable at the top, and clashes over the imperial throne were common. It was also not unusual for the loser in such contests to be massacred along with his entire family to prevent any future challenges. Nurbanu Sultan was determined, however, that when the time came for her son to succeed his father, nothing would interfere.
When Selim II's reign ended in 1574, the haseki Nurbanu received 1,100 aspers a day, while Selim's other consorts, each the mother of a son, received only 40 aspers. In addition, Selim repeatedly, publicly stated that Murad was his heir, thus securing the position of his firstborn son and sentencing his other sons to death.
Valide Sultan
Şehzade Murad had been sent to serve as Governor of Manisa on the Aegean coast and was there when Sultan Selim II died in 1574. Nurbanu first learned the news and then ordered everyone to keep their mouths shut. She did not share the sultan's death with anyone other than Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, the Grand Vizir. Her goal was to enable her son Murad to reach Istanbul in secret before anyone could take advantage of the situation. Security and privacy in the harem were the most strict anywhere, and no one else knew when Selim II had actually died. Nurbanu told no one, hid the dead body of her husband in an icebox, and sent word to Manisa for her son to come to Constantinople immediately. It was not made known publicly until twelve days later when Murad arrived and Nurbanu delivered up Selim's body. Her son became sultan and Nurbanu became valide sultan, the highest position a woman could hold in the Ottoman Empire.
Nurbanu's real influence began at this time. She enjoyed significant power from 1574 to 1583, although she apparently did not live in the palace after Selim II's death. Although in the past she also had influence over many things as haseki, she mostly just supported Selim from the background and gradually built up her own circle for the future. However, as valide, she immediately started to work and put her own trusted people in ever higher positions to strengthen herself and her son through them. She was revered as Valide-i Atik Sultan ("the first strong mother of the reigning sultan") during her son's reign until her death.
Nurbanu became the first woman to hold both the rank of haseki and valide. Although the Valide Sultan rank had existed since the reign of Bayezid II, it was Murad III who, for the sake of his mother, transformed it into a legally recogniseed position. This means that previously the Valide Sultan was only listed as "Mother of Sultan," in every list. But thanks to Murad, the mother of the sultan acquired a formal title, that of valide sultan. And with this change, not only did valide carry out the usual responsibilities according to tradition, but its tasks and possibilities also increased significantly.
Nurbanu did not seek to rule through her son, but merely helped him to become a just and worthy sultan, who was loved, accepted and respected by the people. In this way, valide became a high status and became an important and powerful position of the dynasty. Nurbanu's pocket money, which reached high amounts among both dynastic members and high-level officials, is considered as an indicator of this power. As valide sultan she was allocated 2000 coins daily.
Also because of her absolute and ultimate authority through her son, her favorites, Canfeda Hatun, Raziye Hatun, and Hubbi Hatun, trusted ladies-in-waiting to Murad and Nurbanu, also appear to have become very powerful and influential during his reign.
The rivalry with Safiye Of all the sultans, Murad was the most devoted to his mother. However, Nurbanu's monopoly and superiority was still threatened.
Murad did not keep many consorts, and was committed to a single woman, Safiye. Safiye Sultan was given the rank of haseki as soon as Murad became sultan. Safiye herself wanted to have a say in state affairs, so she tried to influence Murad, which in turn provoked Nurbanu's dislike. Her attempts were in vain, as Murad never listened to any woman but his mother. The details of the struggle between Safiye and Nurbanu are not known, but they probably had conflicts within the harem, for in 1582 their hostility peaked.
To avoid the danger of dynastic extinction, it would have been logical for Safiye to gave birth to more children, but she had been unable to become pregnant for years at that time. In the cases where she had become pregnant, she had a miscarriage or the child was born premature and subsequently died. Murad, however, refused to accept new concubines due to the fact that he loved Safiye greatly — so much so that he was not able to have sex with anyone else. Nurbanu then devised a plan and accused Safiye of using black magic to make the sultan impotent. The rumor began to spread throughout the city, and Murad eventually exiled Safiye to the Old Palace due to his self-esteem. Doctors eventually solved Murad's impotence, who then had dozens of children in the following years.
Nurbanu may have felt that she had finally got rid of Safiye, but she could not win this fight so easily. Her grandson, Mehmed, openly disagreed with both her and the Sultan for the sake of his mother, Safiye. As a matter of fact, the sources clearly suggest that Nurbanu was afraid that Mehmed would anger Murad until Murad executed him. Although Nurbanu did not like Safiye, she loved Mehmed, as she did all her grandchildren. This is clearly indicated by a follow-up report from 1582. According to this, after Mehmed's circumcision, he impregnated one of Nurbanu's servants, which was forbidden, since the girl was a member of Murad's harem, not Mehmed's. Since Mehmed already had a very bad relationship with his father, Nurbanu killed the girl to hide the news from Murad. Murad seemingly never realised what had happened and was able to finally restore his relationship with Mehmed.
Nurbanu died suddenly in 1583, and less than two years later, in early 1585, Safiye regained her husband's trust and love. She and her exiled daughters returned to the royal harem. Thus Safiye regained enough power and influence, or far more than before, to protect her son and prepare for his reign. Safiye, like Nurbanu and her predecessor Hürrem Sultan, was able to build a circle of supporters and drive out the opposition. Even after Murad's death in January 1595, Safiye, like her late mother-in-law Nurbanu, hid the death of the Sultan until the arrival of her son to Constantinople.
Foreign politics