The unprecedented political power of the Ottoman imperial harem in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is widely viewed as illegitimate and corrupting. This book examines the sources of royal women's power and assesses the reactions of contemporaries, which ranged from loyal devotion to armed opposition. By examining political action in the context of household networks, Leslie Peirce demonstrates that female power was a logical, indeed an intended, consequence of political structures. Royal women were custodians of sovereign power, training their sons in its use and exercising it directly as regents when necessary. Furthermore, they played central roles in the public culture of sovereignty--royal ceremonial, monumental building, and patronage of artistic production. The Imperial Harem argues that the exercise of political power was tied to definitions of sexuality. Within the dynasty, the hierarchy of female power, like the hierarchy of male power, reflected the broadersociety's control for social control of the sexually active.
Leslie Peirce Books
Leslie P. Peirce is a historian whose work delves into the early modern history of the Ottoman Empire, with a particular focus on gender, law, and society. Her scholarship is characterized by a deep immersion into the social structures and legal systems of the era. Peirce explores the intricacies of daily life and power dynamics through meticulous analysis of historical sources. Her approach offers a unique perspective on the formation of society and the position of women within the early modern Ottoman world.
Empress of the East
- 384 pages
- 14 hours of reading
The extraordinary story of a slave-girl who rose from concubine to become the Ottoman Empire's only queen.