The Turkish series "The Magnificent Century", which was released not so long ago on the screens, stirred up an unprecedented interest in the legendary people who lived in the distant XVI century. Who is Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan and what really was the story of her life - many probably would like to know about this.
Historians disagree about the origin of Roksolana Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan. The only thing is that practically no one doubts its Slavic origin. It is believed that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was born in western Ukraine, in the family of an Orthodox priest. After 15 years, the young Slav was taken prisoner by the Crimean Tatars and sold on the slave market.
Biography
The life of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan at home for historians remains largely a mystery. However, the main milestones of her biography as a concubine of Suleiman and his wife to researchers, of course, are still known:
1502 (according to other sources, 1505 g) - date of birth Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska;
1517 (or 1522 g) - capture by the Crimean Tatars;
1520 - shehzadeh Suleiman becomes a sultan;
1521 - the birth of the first son Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Mehmed;
1522 - the birth of Mihrimah, the only daughter of Roxolana;
1523 - the birth of Abdullah, the second son Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (died at the age of 3 years);
1524 - the birth of shekhzade Selim.
1525 - birth of shehzade Bayazid;
1534 - the wedding of Suleiman the Magnificent and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan;
1536 - the execution of the worst enemy of Roksolana Ibranima Pasha;
April 18, 1558 - the death of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan.
The biography of the great haseka, the wife of Sultan Suleiman, nicknamed the Legislator in his homeland, and magnificent in Europe, was, of course, also full of other important events. However, it is not possible to find out about them for obvious reasons. Practically no exact historical information about Roksolan has been preserved.
Anastasia Lisovskaya: truth and fiction
It is believed that in the homeland of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, Sultan, whose history has been worrying the minds of residents of both Europe and Asia for many centuries, she was called Anastasia Lisovskaya. Perhaps it was. However, historians are still inclined to the idea that Anastasia or Alexandra Lisovsky is a fictitious name. The fact is that this was the name of the heroine of the popular novel about the Ukrainian Roksalan from the city of Rogatin, which came out in Europe in the century before last. The exact historical information about the name of the legendary Haseka was not preserved. Apparently, the name Anastasia Lisovskaya was invented by the author of the novel. Researchers managed to find out only that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan was born, most likely in 1502. Crimean Tatars captured it, according to legend, in the age of 14-17 years.
The Slavic slave did not name her name either to the Tatars or to the owners who bought it from them. Later in the harem, as well, no one was able to find out anything about her past. Therefore, the new slave Suleiman and received the name Roksolana. The fact is that the Turks traditionally called the Sarmatians - the ancestors of modern Slavs.
How Roksolana got into the harem of the Sultan
How exactly Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan got into the palace of Suleiman is also not known for certain. It is only known that the Slavic slave chose his friend and vizier Ibrahim Pasha for the Sultan. Most historians believe that Roksolana was bought by him on his own market with his own money as a gift for the Lord. From this time began the eventful life of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan in the palace. If she had been acquired directly from Suleiman’s harem and at his personal expense, he would hardly have been able to marry her. According to Muslim laws, marriage at that time was allowed only with a gift of odalisque.
Life in the palace and children
The title of Haseki, or beloved wife, was introduced by Suleiman specifically for Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. The impact on the Sultan of Roxolan was really huge. The love of the greatest ruler of that time for his haseki is evidenced even by the fact that after marrying her, he dispersed his entire harem. Roxolana, as in the series, actually never had any rivals. However, with all this, the family of Suleiman the Magnificent suddenly raised a slave, most likely, like in the television movie, still did not like. The mother of the Sultan, according to historical data, greatly respected Muslim traditions. And the marriage of her son with a slave for her could really be a real blow.
Life Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan in the palace, as in the series "The Magnificent Century", was full of dangers. In fact, several attempts were made on her. It is believed that it was her intrigues that led to the execution of Ibrahim Pasha and Mustafa, the son of Suleiman's first wife - Mahidevran Sultan. According to legend, initially Roksolana sought to make the heir of her beloved son Bayazid. However, the army of the Sultan more supported her other son, Selim, who, after the death of Suleiman, ascended the throne.
According to contemporaries, Haseki Roksolana was an attractive, but at the same time very smart woman. Life Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan was not only in raising children and in palace intrigues. Roksolana read many books, was interested in politics and economics. She certainly had managerial talent. For example, in the absence of Suleiman, she managed to patch a huge hole in the Sultan’s treasury in a rather cunning way, traditional, rather, for Slavic rulers. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska simply ordered to open wine shops in the European quarter of Istanbul.
