Hurrem Sultan

c. 1504 – 15 April 1558

Hurrem Sultan (c. 1504-1558), known in Europe as Roxelana, was the chief consort and legal wife of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Born in Ruthenia and brought to the imperial harem as a slave, she rose to unprecedented influence, becoming the first imperial consort a sultan formally married, and she inaugurated the era of powerful harem women known as the Sultanate of Women.

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Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Hurrem Sultan.

Life events

Birth in Ruthenia, traditionally at Rohatyn
c. 1504

Hurrem was born around 1504 in Ruthenia, then part of the Kingdom of Poland (in present-day western Ukraine), reputedly as the daughter of an Orthodox priest.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Captured by Crimean Tatar raiders and sold into slavery
c. 1516

As a young woman she was seized during a Tatar slave raid and eventually taken to Constantinople.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Entered the imperial harem of Sultan Suleiman
c. 1520

Around 1520, at the start of Suleiman's reign, Hurrem entered the imperial harem and quickly became the sultan's favorite.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Birth of her first son, Sehzade Mehmed
1521

In 1521 Hurrem gave birth to Mehmed, the first of her six children with Suleiman.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Birth of the future sultan Selim II
28 May 1524

On 28 May 1524 Hurrem gave birth to Selim, who would eventually succeed Suleiman as sultan.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Formal marriage to Suleiman the Magnificent
c. 1533

Around 1533-1534 Suleiman broke with Ottoman custom by freeing Hurrem and making her his legal wife, an unprecedented honor for a harem consort.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved into Topkapi Palace, breaking harem tradition
c. 1534

Hurrem left the Old Palace to live in Topkapi Palace itself, becoming the first consort to reside permanently with the sultan.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Endowment of the Haseki Sultan Complex in Constantinople
c. 1539

Hurrem commissioned the architect Mimar Sinan to build a mosque complex with a school, soup kitchen, and hospital, completed in stages from 1539.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Death of Hurrem Sultan in Constantinople
15 April 1558

Hurrem died on 15 April 1558 and was buried in a mausoleum at the Suleymaniye Mosque complex.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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