#consort mahidevran

[lachicavoltron333]

"They say she was beautiful...

Strong, determined...

A protective, and caring mother to her children..

Tell me Geralt, how many times has she cried for you?

How many times did she pray for your safe return?

How many times did she show you loyalty and trust?

Did you even know how much she loved you, Geralt ?"

[womenoftheottomanempire]

Consorts known for thei beauty Pt. 2

[sevgilisultana]

Historical Ottoman Dynasty Drama/Ottoman Dynasty Historical Concubines and Consorts (1/?)

Mahidevran Hatun (c. 1500 – 3 February 1581)

[hermitessun]

Rohini nakshatra and envy.

Rohini as a nakshatra involves other people's envy, it's like a side effect and indisputable, as rohinis attract a lot of jealousy from peers and kinswomen/-men. however it isn't mentioned as much, that rohini natives are prone to it themselves. perhaps it doesn’t happen as often but when it does, god the jealousy eats you alive.

good examples are mahidevran sultan from a famous Turkish series. She is portrayed by a rohini moon actress. mahidevran sultan was a consort of ottoman sultan suleiman the magnificent and the mother of his eldest son. she held a prominent position in Suleiman's harem as his first favorite and mother of his first born son, which gave her considerable influence.

However, her relationship with hurrem sultan, another consort of Suleiman who later became his legal wife, was marked by intense rivalry. hurrem sultan rose to power quickly and became suleiman's favorite, which diminished mahidevran's influence and left her emotionally demolished. However it is important to note, that initially it was hurrem who was envious of mahidevran, not vice versa. here you really see that rohini energy play both ways

another great example of rohini’s proneness to jealousy/envy is david mccall, who is portrayed by a rohini sun, mark wahlberg. david mccall, the character from the 1996 movie Fear, is known for his extreme jealousy and possessiveness.

initially, david appears charming and caring, but his jealousy quickly surfaces as he becomes obsessed with nicole, the protagonist. his jealousy manifests in controlling and violent behavior, which is reminiscent of mahidevran’s tendencies to immoral behaviour towards hurrem such as burning her face in the beginning of the series.

However, it is absolutely undeniable that both, david mccall and mahidevran sultan, were the og favourites for a reason, rohinis have quite the looks as well as the charm clearly , however, they’re equally as crazy as they’re hot.

[awkward-sultana]

"In the popular version of Roxelana's history that would come to depict her as ruthlessly determined to eliminate all rivals in her path, she engineers Mahidevran's banishment from Istanbul to Manisa. The two women may well have been eager to put distance between themselves, but it was political tradition, not scheming on Roxelana's part, that sent Mahidevran into the field as mother to a provincial governor. Once in Manisa, Mustafa and Mahidevran would take up residence in their old home, together with their newly assembled entourages. For her part, Mahidevran was no doubt delighted that her son was finally head of his own household and she now in charge of its female court. As Hafsa had monitored Mahidevran in her early years at Suleyman's consort, she would look after the young women in Mustafa's harem." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce 

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

in the end, all sultanas are like rose brides...

brought into the system through trauma and loss, struggling to survive and eventually becoming enmeshed in its rules and integrating themselves into its harmful power structure as they internalize that they can only be worth something through their connection to the men around them... your brain is so big for this comparison

i especially think! the consorts' fight for the place next to the sultan (imo most clear example being hürrem and mahidevran) is very reminiscent in some ways of nanami always vying for her place next to touga, watching him jealously and wanting to tear down any girl that comes too close to him

[skenosbisworld]

Ok, I need to rage about something for a sec.

WHY TF DOES HURREM BOW TO MUSTAFA?! AND ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS!! IT MAKES NO SENSE!!

But seriously, there is no logic in this, and the decision to make Hurrem do this repeatedly is so disrespectful to both her character and her position.

Hurrem is Haseki Sultan. She is Sultan Suleiman's only legal wife, and she is the mother of 4 of his sons. These 4 sons who are in equal standing to Mustafa. For some dumb reason, the show likes to forget that the Ottomans weren't European. The Ottomans did not abide by the eldest son being the heir rule ever. All sehzades had an equal right, and the Sultan only had a specific heir if he himself appointed him. But for some reason, the show completely ignores this, and it pretends that Mustafa was some "Crown Prince." I like Mustafa, but he was never the legal heir.

This is also comparable to whenever it has Mahidevran bow to Ibrahim, which is equally frustrating. The family of the Sultan (which includes his consorts) are always of a higher standing than any government official.

These instances are honestly more frustrating to me than when Hurrem continued to be called a hatun even after giving birth to Mehmed, which by show logic entitled her to the Sultan title, because it was done intentionally as an insult. Having Hurrem bow to Mustafa, and having Mahidevran bow to Ibrahim was both always done with all seriousness.

Everytime it happened, I felt both the overwhelming urge to slap all the characters involved and scream into a deep empty void.

I really hope that I am not alone in my intense frustration with the show's seeming lack of awareness/respect of any proper protocol or common sense.

[starbabe569]

I'm working on an outline for the series to fix some of the larger problems with the writing. While doing that I was looking into titles for concubines other than Favorite, Hatun and Haseki. I found Gözde ('the favorite'), Ikbal ('the fortunate') and Kadin ('the woman/wife'). From what I could find Ikbal and Kadin where created in the early seventeenth century. Seeing as the writers through it was a good idea to use Haseki Sultan for Mahidevran when the title was created for Hurrem I think it's perfectly fine for me to use general titles created after the series has ended.

**Gözde** ('the favorite')

This would be the same as in the show if the Sultan likes a concubine enough he'll declare her a favorite.

**ikbal** ('the fortunate')

An Ikbal was a titled consort, and recognised as such by the sultan. The number of ikbals varied. They were ranked as baş ikbal ('senior ikbal, senior favourite, senior fortunate one'), ikinci ikbal ('second ikbal, second favourite, second fortunate one'), üçüncü ikbal ('third ikbal, third favourite, third fortunate one'), dördüncü ikbal ('fourth ikbal, fourth favourite, fourth fortunate one'), and so on, according to the order in which they had caught the sultan's eye, and elevated to that position. The ikbals usually held the prefix titles of iffetlü ('honest, virtuous'), and ismetlü ('the virtuous'), and the suffix title Hatun.

Ikbal ('the fortunate') Baş ikbal ('senior ikbal, senior favourite, senior fortunate one'), Ikinci ikbal ('second ikbal, second favourite, second fortunate one'), üçüncü ikbal ('third ikbal, third favourite, third fortunate one'), dördüncü ikbal ('fourth ikbal, fourth favourite, fourth fortunate one'), iffetlü ('honest, virtuous'), ismetlü ('the virtuous')

**Kadin** ('the woman/wife')

The sultan could have up to four kadıns at a time, although they might have more over a lifetime, because from time to time, one would die or be retired to the Old Palace. 

They were ranked as baş kadın (senior kadın, senior consort), ikinci kadın (second kadın, second consort), üçüncü kadın (third kadın, third consort), dördüncü kadın (fourth kadın, fourth consort), and so on, in order of their elevation to that position.

The kadıns usually held the prefix titles of devletlü ('illustrious', 'highness'), ismetlü ('the virtuous'), iffetlü ('honest', 'virtuous'),  saadetlü ('prosperous', 'felicitous'), and  inayetlü ('gracious'), and the suffix titles of kadınefendi ('her ladyship'), and hazretleri ('highness').

Kadin ('the woman/wife') baş kadın (senior kadın, senior consort),  Kokoikinci kadın (second kadın, second consort), üçüncü kadın (third kadın, third consort), Dördüncü kadın (fourth kadın, fourth consort), saadetlü ('prosperous', 'felicitous'), kadınefendi ('her ladyship') hazretleri ('highness')

So there will be regular Concubines, Gözde ('the favorite'), Ikbal ('the fortunate') will be favorites who have given birth and Kadin ('the woman/wife') will be chosen by Suleyman for what ever reason he see fit. Hatun will be an honorific title given with the titles Ikbal and Kadin.

Thoughts? Should we keep the prefixes with the titles?

@shivrcys @desmoonl @redxluna @faintingheroine @minetteskvareninova

[reginarubie]

Waaah. Thank you so much for considering reading it! I haven't read everything yet and while I'm a big fan of Hurrem and Suleiman's relationship, I'm also a sucker for drama and angst (and Ibrahim is a cutie here but a bit dumb, sorry Suleiman but he wins in this manga adaptation 😂).

I think some stuff was a bit exaggerated but it's still an enjoyable read. Also, Hurrem's color changes in the other volumes' covers, some depict her with brown or red hair. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Ciao nonny!,

So I read some chapters — maybe a few more than “some”, but I am digressing — so I stand correct, I love the drawing style even tho (for now) she’s blond.

I kind of enjoyed also the triangle between her, Suleyman and Ibrahim; but it kind of got old fast, especially when Ibrahim saved her from drowning and what happened after.

Like, the angst was good and the pining and that three way thing I could’ve gotten behind too; but when it consummated so fast it got old.

I really despise how they keep giving titles that were not theirs to the girls. Like Mahidevran was one of Suleyman consorts — his “chief one” — when Hurrem came along but the title of haseki (which was for favorite but kind of alliterated with queen/empress since the first few who bore it became legal wives of their sultans) was fashioned only for her. Mahidevran was not queen, in any moment. I don’t think she was ever even freed by Suleyman, but I could be mistaken (tho they call her such).

Also by what I know Hurrem wasn’t much loved by the people of the harem — like she’s depicted here — Mahidevran was favored over her also because she upheld the tradition of one concubine-one son; which Hurrem didn’t. Here instead it’s depicted differently tho I like that the ruthless environment was kept.

I loved that it was shown that Suleyman favored her for her mind too, and brought her along to secret meetings — because it’s historically accurate — under a pov — since Hurrem became Suleyman most trusted informator when he was away and whilst maybe she didn't play an outward role as such he valued her counsel.

Also loved the fact that they depict that she might not be the most beautiful concubine of the harem, that she was tiny and lovely and smart and that what really enthralled Suleyman was her voice!

On that matter, there are several legends on how Hurrem came to be part of the harem.

Some follow the version chosen by this story (and kind of the show) that Ibrahim gifted her to Suleyman.

By what I know the most plausible is that instead she was bought by some female kin of Suleyman and later gifted to him when he became sultan.

But there is another one that — since they kept the fact of her voice — I am kind of bummed they did not decide to include and use. Also because it’s my favorite and it’s very romantic. So, apparently Hurrem became a laundry girl for the palace and not a slave in the harem, and she used to sing whilst she worked.

Apparently Suleyman on his way to a meeting heard her and knowing some words of her language was moved by her voice and stopped to speak with her, enthralled and enchanted by this laundry/girl/slave and it is in that occasion that apparently he bestowed upon her his purple handkerchief which was a way for the sultan to express his favour; stopping by for several times before making her his concubine and his only companion since then.

Since, apparently for how scandalous it was, after he found Hurrem, the sultan lived with her a monogamous life.

So, so far… I enjoyed it a good 60% mostly for some little detail (like her voice and her role as Suleyman’ confidante and helper; or the fact that the eunuchs were dark skinned which is historically accurate!;) though for now there has not been some of the episodes which we know as historically accurate, like Mahidevran beating her and thus loosing Suleyman’ favour (Suleyman seems indifferent to the war in the harem between his concubines) and the matter with the Russian slaves (tho which could/should happen later); I love they didn’t make Hatice in love with Ibrahim but really disliked how whipped Hurrem seems to be with him.

Loved the design for Hafsa Sultan tho. Like 10/10.

Kind of torn if continue it or not… kinda curious about how they depicted (if they did) her relationship with her children in a world where it was one mother-one son for a reason.

But really annoyed and bored by the way they have developed the triangle.

Don’t know, what do you suggest?

[sebastianshaw]

@heartfledged - 

Shaw’s ascent as Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club had been a short-lived thing. Thanks to the betrayal of Tessa—no, he reminded himself, Sage, Tessa had never existed, only Xavier’s spy Sage—yet again, he had not seen the attack of Donald Pierce coming. And while he had dispatched the cyborg—decapitated him—he had not come out of the fight unscathed. Far from it; while Shaw was usually impervious to physical harm thanks to his powers, Pierce had of course accounted for that, and struck at him with some sort of. . .specialized energy blades that were not absorbed by his abilities. As a result, his chest—his beautiful chest!---had been carved up so deeply that he’d needed hospitalization after. He’d only just been released yesterday, but he was still far from full capacity. He’d decided to spend his recovery at one of his upstate New York estates. Yes, one of. As in he had more than one. Because of course he did. Just two, of course, nothing extravagant. He’d chosen the one where the horses were kept, hoping to check in on them and observe the new trainer and stablemaster he’d hired not long ago. Av. . .Av…Avery? Ava? Something like that. She’d been a recommendation from Madelyne, when they had still been together. And while in retrospect he trusted very little of what that viper had ever said to him, he doubted she’d go so far as to suggest a bad trainer out of sheer spite. But then, people never ceased to . . .not surprise him, that wasn’t the word. How could betrayal and depravity and cruelness ever surprise a man who had seen—and committed—so much of it? He’d still like to see an opportunity to review at length how his beauties were being managed, though, and this was exactly that. Figured it would take a near-lethal injury to get this man to take enough time off to do that, and he STILL had to find SOME task to get done during his recovery time. So here he was, hobbling out to the pasture with a cane as if he’d aged several decades since his last visit. The pastures were huge and rolling and expertly maintained at his command. He’d taken a car most of the way, of course, in his condition, but he approached now on foot. Beneath his jacket, there was no shirt, though his chest was not bare; it was wrapped in freshly-changed bandages. Was wearing fabric over it irritating, or was he just trying to show off? Yes. Shaw kept black Percherons, black Shires, and Friesans. The mares were named for great female rulers and royal consorts, like Zenobia and Mahidevran. The stallions were named for great military leaders of the ancient world, like Scipio and Hannibal. And the geldings, or those destined to become geldings. . .were called after famed eunochs and castrati, like Bagoas and Farinelli, because Shaw thought he was clever. Mostly, they were a status symbol, to show that he COULD have horses, and for his own aesthetic pleasure, but also for carriage work and, when he had the time, simple hacking. Shaw was not an advanced rider by any means, as he’d only met his first horse as an adult man; he’d grown up a poor city boy in Pittsburgh. Which, probably was in part WHY horses were an exotic status symbol to him. He hadn’t grown up with them as a normal part of life like the born rich.  A few of the mares were in sight in the closest paddock, as was the petite figure of the trainer, whose name still escaped him at the moment. He waved a hand over his head to get her attention, and then made a beckoning gesture with the same hand signaling her to come over as he approached the fence. When she was in earshot, he said, “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything terribly important with the ladies. I was in a work accident recently—as you can see—and I thought I’d use my recovery time as an opportunity to do a surprise check-in on my herd. How are they faring?”

[fishylife]

Watched episode 1 of Magnificent Century

This show has been hyped for me for so long by a friend lmao.

The set up of this show is similar to the harem cdramas that I've seen so it was pretty easy to follow. The first episode was split between introducing us to the main character Alexandra, and the politics in Sultan Suleyman's court.

Alexandra is headstrong, stubborn, mischievous, and smart in the right ways. She knows what the rules are, and she knows when to toe them and when to overstep them to draw attention.

Alexandra had her whole family and a life before she was enslaved so of course she was incredibly angry and nihilistic about being captured. But in a dream, her family told her that she can't go yet, so I guess that kind of prompted her to go for it and be ambitious lol.

Alexandra has already drawn attention by the end of the first episode. She was impolite by calling out to the Sultan but that drew his attention, and then she fainted in his arms. Later, she sort of went hard and choreographed a solo performance during the party. And it all worked! She was called to see him. But we shall see what comes of it since it appears Mahidevran got to Suleyman first that evening.

We got to see a bit of politics in this first episode. Suleyman newly ascended the throne, so he's just getting things together, building his court and advisors around him.

We already got some of the harem politics in the first episode, when Mahidevran comes back to the palace. She's Suleyman's chief consort, but we see that she is rather insecure. She's indirectly told her son that this is his palace, implying that he will be the one to ascend the throne, which is presumptuous. She is very upset when she finds out Suleyman's having a party and will be entertained by the concubines, and when she finds out that Alexandra will spend the night with Suleyman, she intercepts.

The Valide Sultan is the mother of the Sultan and like many Queen/Empress Dowagers, she keeps a close eye on the household, especially the harem. It seems she is from the same place as Alexandra, and that's how they are drawn to each other. I guess Alexandra sees the Valide Sultan as a position she can work towards, and the Valide Sultan first saw Alexandra when she heard her yelling and screaming about how much she hated it there.

I don't know much about the Ottoman Empire at all, so all of the history is very new to me but it's pretty interesting.

I'm also not knowledgeable at all about the naming customs in Turkey (or of historical Turkey) but I guess I'll pick it up slowly. I'm guessing Sultan, in addition to a title, is also a general term that refers to someone of a high rank, as several other members of the royal family have also been referred to as "Sultan." Will have to find out more about this.

This show is long as heck so I might split up the seasons. Or I might just binge a few of the seasons together since this seems like the kind of show that will be bingeable lol.

The episodes themselves are pretty long lol. I think most of them are around 1 hr 30 min to 1 hr 40 min. So this show is like, twice as long as I think it is lmao.

[lachicavoltron333]

My dear, you fell in love with a monster.

Did you really expect to come out unscaved?

Mahidevran Gif by @awkward-sultana

[womenoftheottomanempire]

Disputed noble background:

[ottomanladies]

𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨: Süleyman I

[minny5ca2018]

Suleyman and Hurrem Muhtezem Yuzyl

In the Turkish TV show Magnificent Century, I really don't think that Suleyman knows which way is up at times.

He's always, regarding Hurrem, a doubting Susan, until the last moments that is. And by then, she's sick and dying. Up until that moment he'd always sided with his family. But one by one in this show, they proved him wrong.

This however has no bearing on the real life couple. This is only with regard to the TV drama.

During the course of the series Hurrem has been beaten to a pulp by Mahidevran, poisoned by Gulshah while doing Mahidevran's bidding and had a dagger pulled on her.

They've tried to marry her off and thrown her in the dungeon. They killed her horse and set fire to the woman. They cast a spell on her - actually black smoke incense blowing out into her bedroom making her crazy and hallucinate.

They deliberately set bandits on her in an attempt to kill her. Bit by bit the worst culprits turn out to be Ibrahim and Suleyman's family, namely his mother and all his sisters. They are vile and treat Hurrem horribly. Hatice even has her kidnapped. Thank goodness for M. Bali Bey, who like a dog with a bone, for the second time rescues Hurrem and brings her back.

And they're all wondering why she lashed out at them all, behaving like she did.

If she schemed and plotted, given her treatment from them, who'd blame her?

Most of their antics backfire and only serves to drive the girl closer to Suleyman.

In the end Hurrem winds up being the legal wife of the Sultan and it all hits back against them as she systematically watches as they all fall as her powerful hold on everything builds.

But on the surface, Suleyman always seems oblivious as to who is causing all the misfortune that befalls Hurrem. He seems reluctant to believe the worst of his family.

He always gets angry at Hurrem and tests her loyalty to him, time and time again. But Hurrem is loyal to a fault with Suleyman and their children. She even willingly drank what she thought was poison for him. What drives Hurrem is love, but she is possessive and doesn't share well. She lashes out at anyone who she thinks would hurt her children, or threaten Suleyman's position on the throne or take him from her. She tells Suleyman many times - if there is no Suleyman, there is no Hurrem. She threatened to kill herself rather than share him with another.

Her behavior in this respect is made worse when Suleyman continues to sleep with other women while with Hurrem. A polygamous society, he would not believe that he did anything wrong, but jealous Hurrem doesn't see it that way. It continues to happen and Hurrem continues to meddle and plot against these women. As she rises in power as Empress Consort, her manipulating gets more sophisticated and determined.

Suleyman only gets angrier, but in the end, to appease Hurrem, he sends the women away.

First with the two Russian concubines, then with Isabella and also Firuze. In the first case, he wanted Hurrem more than the two Russian women so he sent them away. And gave Hurrem the brooch he'd made as a peace offering.

In Isabella's case, he warned Hurrem to stop meddling, but when she didn't, and the woman was almost poisoned and the viewer was led to believe that Hurrem ordered the princess killed, I think Suleyman interfered and got the princess out of there both to protect Hurrem from the others trying to frame her for killing Isabella, and to protect Isabella from Hurrem's plotting.

In the case of Firuze, Hurrem told Suleyman that Firuze was from their Persian rival Safavid Dynasty. But, because Suleyman decided that Firuze was not a spy to have kept her it meant he would have had to marry her. Sum Bul Aga gave this information to Hurrem much to her chagrin. Afife Hatun however tells a relieved Hurrem that Suleyman decided to send Firuze away - Hurrem all this time has been carrying poison around preparing to kill herself rather than share Suleyman. At one point Afife stops Hurrem from doing so in a heartbroken moment of despair.

Despite his feelings Suleyman sends Firuze away and through Rustem Pasha Hurrem arranged a date for her with the Persians.

Yup, Hurrem wins again. And two episodes later after Suleyman recovers from being poisoned over several months (Firuze?) he's spouting poetry again to Hurrem. The lovesick bloke.

But it just cycles with Suleyman. Hurrem schemes. He gets angry. Then he forgives her. Every time. Over time, he's banished her and exiled her. But he always goes back to Hurrem.

As time goes on after she's rescued by Bali Bey, he puts her from him again and says I will never trust you or believe you again. He moves on and flaunts other women in front of her. He has another child, a daughter, by a concubine. Hurrem gets upset over it all - but by that time Hurrem is no longer able to conceive children. Even so, she fretted about the child being a boy. Through Nurbanu, she has the concubine killed. The daughter actually dies young. But, still Hurrem interferes to protect her own children.

As the years pass, Suleyman again is ill, and Hurrem stays by his side and looks after him along with the physicians. They keep his illness hid, but sooner or later it gets out and Mahidevran and the others flock to his beside, hoping His Majesty will succumb to his illness.

Mustafa and Hurrem at this time have an honest talk at Suleyman's bedside where Hurrem insists she had nothing to do with the recent attempt on Mustafa's life.

At this moment, the growing popularity of Mustafa with the people and the Janissary really shows and without Mustafa's help, his brother Selim's life would have been threatened by the restless Janissary.

Thankfully Suleyman recovers and order is restored.

Suleyman's recent illness, made him see once again just how loyal Hurrem is to him and his place on the throne as Padishah. He starts to thaw towards her, but is further troubled after events and growing dissention with the Safavid Dynasty and the increasing popularity of Mustafa with the people and the Janissary that forces Suleyman to order the execution of Mustafa much like increasing mistakes had forced him to execute Ibrahim.

It all sets him apart emotionally from everyone including Hurrem. But it didn't stop him from protecting her however. He has a habit of going out disguised and walking around the city as such. He discovered on one occasion people in general were gathering around coffee shops and drinking coffee and mouthing off every gossip going. Including bad mouthing his Queen, calling her a Russian witch who had bewitched the Sultan into marrying her. That was bad enough but another incident at similar shops sparked the gathering of a mob who had cornered Hurrem and threatened to stone her. In the heat of the moment, Hurrem walked out into the street and stared them down while Suleyman arrived at the precise moment that one of them was about to strike his Queen.

He can get angry at her, but you don't harm his Sultana!

As a result of all the melee coffee and the coffee shops are banned in the city.

All this time, Suleyman is continually reading from what looks like journals - Ibrahim's?

They ultimately blamed the attack on Hurrem to one of Suleyman's sisters and when confronted, she doesn't deny it, saying that Hurrem is a demon. All of his family have hated Hurrem and even Ibrahim... Suleyman replied saying that Hurrem is no angel but nobody is. But unlike you, (his sister) she is loyal to a fault. She has never betrayed him or stabbed me in the back or tried to remove him from his throne. Ever. He ultimately banished his sister.

But, suddenly we have a change in Suleiman's opinion on Hurrem. After all these years he suddenly realized that she had never betrayed him. Where did that knowledge come from? He went from declaring that he'd never believe or trust her again to declaring that she'd never betrayed him. Wow. Big turnaround. Same thing with Isabella. He never was that hard on Hurrem about it because he knew she hadn't harmed the princess. He knew where she went - therefore he had to be the one who got her out of there. Same with Firuze - when he found out someone had been poisoning him for months - it was a good bet it was Firuze. There's nothing deadlier than women. Again, he knew that Hurrem was right. He's realizing that Hurrem always has his best interests at heart. Always. It's just her love is possessive.

Once Suleyman was able to let go of his emotional hold and anger regarding Mustafa and when he realized that the other woman he'd hung around, Senora Mendes had deceived him, he wrote the letter/poem, went back to the Palace ahead of Hurrem and left the letter for her to find on her bed in her chamber.

Hurrem comes back to the Palace and finds the letter.

Smiling at each other, they meet in the corridor and embrace each other with longing.

Though glad to be close to Suleyman again, Hurrem is wary, thinking that his affection is suddenly from genuine compassion and obligation. She realizes that his intentions had nothing to do with her illness, even though Sum Bul had told Suleyman about it after he'd left the letter.

Their scenes as the final Hurrem episodes count down is a marvel to watch. He starts spouting poetry again... they become like one person. Amazing. Love truly wins. In spite of her illness at this point. They are like one person as she once again starts sharing his bedroom. "I want you beside me, your breath is enough,"

Vahide Percin as the older Hurrem truly lights up once Hurrem is back together with her Suleyman. She totally rocked it as much as Meryem Uzerli did as the younger Hurrem. With makeup she likely could have continued the role - alas the viewer will never know. Meryem was an absolute icon in that role. No doubt about it

Halit Ergenç as Suleyman is a total hottie and his voice and the poetry - you can watch the women playing Hurrem simply melt. I don't blame them. Wow. He rocked.

Magnificent Century so well acted and yet so much of a soap opera. Emotionalized fiction. But still parts of it are so far apart from the real life Hurrem and Suleyman.

But they got the love part right. Love wins. They loved each other. I have no doubt about it. I question the other women though especially later. Every account I have read said that he was faithful to Hurrem. Hmmm.

[awkward-sultana]

"More shocking was Ibrahim's elevation in June 1523 from personal service in the inner court directly to the grand vizierate, the highest office in public service. Suleyman's other viziers had worked their way up the ranks, gaining years of experience in government. They had earned their status; Ibrahim was given his. Suleyman's decision so alienated Ahmed Pasha, who believed himself next in line for the office, that he used the consolation prize of the Cairo governorship to stage a rebellion, thereby entering historical memory as "Traitor Ahmed." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce 

"Mahidevran had nothing left to lose but her rank once Suleyman focused his favors so lavishly on Roxelana. The sultan was upsetting the careful balance among consorts that the politics of reproduction demanded, and Mahidevran apparently took it on herself to right it. She was a product of the old world of separate but equal family constellations, a system that imbued the role of mother to a prince with considerable honor and dignity. The monopoly by a favorite with multiple sons inevitably stole a portion of that stature." - Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, Leslie Peirce