From what actually died Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. Historical facts about Khyurem Sultan

Who is Roksolana? A 15-year-old girl who was made the heroine of songs, poems and novels. She was admired, surprised at how suddenly she rose to the pinnacle of power, conquering the heart of the most powerful sultan in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

But how many secrets surround Roksolana? It turns out that historians still cannot give accurate and unambiguous answers even to the simplest questions, getting lost in countless guesses.

And today we will consider those questions that most often concern researchers of the life path of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan.

What was her name?

Sultan Suleiman himself called his beloved Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, which means "laughing." Nobody disputes this fact, but historians did not come to an agreement about the real name of Roksolana.

There is a version that Roksolana is the kidnapped daughter of a priest from the town of Rogatin, Ivano-Frankivsk region, in Ukraine. And her name is Anastasia Lisovskaya. But there is no documentary confirmation of this version.

Another version says that Roksolana was illegitimate child from the family of Polish kings. This version is supported by the fact that the Tatars treated the captive with great respect, did not tie her hands and carried her on horseback, and did not force her to walk. They probably understood the value of the girl.

It is known that, once in the harem, Roksolana already knew several foreign languages. In addition, she was fond of reading historical and philosophical works. Could the daughter of a simple Orthodox priest boast of such knowledge at that time? Big question.

Smart and pretty?

Roksolana's contemporaries were not particularly flattering about her appearance. According to the descriptions of the Venetian ambassador, the woman was short, thin and ugly. At the same time, the diplomat noted her good manners and subtle mind.

But if Roksolana was not particularly beautiful, then how could she win the heart of the Sultan, surrounded by the most beautiful women? Contemporaries noted that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska had a cheerful disposition. While the rest of the concubines burst into tears, complaining about their fate, Roksolana laughed in spite of everyone.

An unusual girl attracted the attention of Suleiman. And when, after spending the night with the Sultan, the girl asked not for jewelry, but for permission to visit the library, the ruler was surprised at her mind and began to spend more time with Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. Soon he stopped visiting the harem, giving his heart to a single woman.

Over time, Roksolana began to actively participate in the political life of the country: she received foreign ambassadors, implemented competent financial reforms...

To power over corpses?

Before Roksolana, Sultan Suleiman already had an official wife, Gulbahar, who gave birth to his heir, Mustafa. According to the then customs, the eldest son became the heir to the throne, and the rest were executed in order to avoid strife and riots.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, who gave birth to the ruler of 4 sons and a daughter, wanted to avert trouble from her children at all costs. Therefore, she did everything to denigrate Mustafa in the eyes of Sultan Suleiman. As a result, the heir was accused of plotting against his father and executed. Whether Roksolana was involved in this case, no one managed to prove.

These are the riddles left with Roksolana. But the Turkish people will forever remember their great sultana, the wife of the wise Sultan Suleiman, who during the years of her reign did many good deeds for the country. She closed the slave market in the main square, made hospitals and schools accessible to the poor, and opened many charities.

Roksolana Haseki Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan, a legendary figure, the only woman in history who literally ruled the Ottoman Empire.

Contrary to the canons of Islam, she met and talked with ambassadors from other countries and statesmen without a veil (this is in the 15th century!) And she had powers that only a padishah had.

Still, he adored Roksolana and even broke up the harem, since he didn’t need anyone but her. Here is his speech on the couch after the death of our heroine: “Hürrem was such a woman that her eyes penetrated into my heart, and her lips into my mind.

I wouldn't trade her look for anything in the world! When she said "Suleiman", I found myself in paradise. She was everything to me! For her sake, I drove out Mahidevran and took up arms against my mother.

See how the Sultan looks at his beloved in this picture, he just idolizes her.

How Roksolana Hurrem got into the harem.

Her name was Anastasia Gavrilovna Lisovskaya (1506-1562) (In fact, this is an invention of the author of the novel, no one really knew her name). She lived in the city of Rogatin (now it is the territory of Ukraine). And then this territory belonged to the Commonwealth (Poland).

Life there was restless, as the Crimean Tatars often made their devastating raids on it.

And in one of these raids, young Nastya, the daughter of a clergyman, was captured. And they took her on a ship to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. And when the vizier Ibrahim Pasha saw her at the slave market, he was struck by her beauty and decided to give her to the Sultan. On your head, as it turns out later.

Suleiman the Magnificent sat on the Ottoman throne at that time. Another of his nicknames was Kanuni (legislator), he was a just padishah, a fighter against bribery, a patron of art and philosophy. And he was not prone to gay orientation, like many sultans before him, including his father.

For all these qualities, the monarchs of Europe respected him, and also for the fact that he will live with Roksolana Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska for 40 years in a monogamous marriage. Unfortunately, few. And the sultan! Thousands of girls are at his service, and each only dreams of intimacy with him.

The harsh laws of the harem.

Thousands of slaves were kept in the harems of the padishahs, the strictest laws reigned there, the girls had a certain hierarchy.

Ajami is the first step, girls are beginners. Then Jarie, Shagird, Gedikli and Usta.

And only Usta could spend the night with the Sultan. Since it was the most prepared category of girls.

And they were prepared seriously: they taught music, poetry, dance, as well as the art of love. The sovereign mistress in the harem was the mother of the ruling sultan, Valide, and only she could appoint concubines who would share a bed with the sultan.

According to one legend, Roksolana nursed his son Mustafa and thus caught the eye of Suleiman.

And according to another legend, during the next entertainment for the padishah, she ran into the middle of the hall, laughing, pushed away the dance soloist and sang a song in her native language.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska's first dance from the TV series Magnificent Century

For such disobedience, death was supposed in the harem, and the eunuchs-kyzlyaragassi (chiefs of the girls) had already prepared a string with which they strangled disobedient slaves. But the sultan looked at the concubine in fascination and at the end of the dance threw her a handkerchief (a sign that he was waiting for her at night in his bedchamber).

From the very first night, he was simply bewitched by the red-haired seductress, and he was also “finished off” by the fact that she asked permission to visit the library. And soon, she already knew several languages, composed poems in Turkish, which she dedicated to her beloved Suleiman, and converted to Islam.

In those days, it was unheard of for a woman to be so educated. And the people began to call her a witch, especially since the padishah did whatever he wanted new sweetheart. He calls her Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska - dear to the heart. And he even entered into a nikah (legal marriage) with her and awarded her the title of bash-kadyna (this means the main wife).

Europe is struck by the influence of Roksolana, and at the court of the padishah she enjoys boundless respect, as she has become a convinced and zealous Muslim woman. She gives birth to 4 sons: Mohammed, Bayazet, Selim, Jehangir, as well as daughter Khamerie.

But her position still remains precarious. Firstly, Suleiman can be carried away by a new beauty at any time. And objectionable wives were put at that time in a bag with a wild cat or a snake and drowned in the Bosphorus. Secondly, the direct heir to the throne was still Mustafa, the son of the Chechen Makhidevran (pupils of Valide Sultan). And in the Ottoman Empire, after the ascension of the new sultan to the throne, all possible contenders were destroyed so that there were no uprisings and coups.

So her goal was physical destruction Mustafa. Cruel, how else? And Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska begins to act, she gives her 12-year-old daughter in marriage to 50-year-old Rustem Pasha. In order to know what the chief vizier and mentor of the heir to the throne breathes. And she began to collect the information she needed.

When there were enough of them, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska informs their master. Allegedly, a conspiracy is being prepared against Suleiman, the purpose of which is to put Mustafa on the throne. Immediately, Rustem is put in a dungeon, they begin to terribly torture, after which they cut off his head. And after that, sheh-zade Mustafa is also executed by strangulation with a silk cord (since the sacred blood of the heirs of the dynasty cannot be shed).

After that, Valide Sultan was already indignant, she expressed everything to her son, but for some reason after that she did not live even a month. Maybe Roksolana helped, maybe not. All enemies are removed from the road and you can breathe easy. Watch the video The Oath of Haseki Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska from the movie " Magnificent century»

When the beloved wife of the ruler died, he ordered the construction of a mausoleum for her. Under the dome, roses carved in stone are adorned with emeralds. So ordered the Sultan, because it was a favorite gem Roksolany.

By the way, here is a video about this mausoleum.

And right there, next to it, stands the tomb of the padishah himself, also decorated inside with emeralds, although the sultan most of all revered rubies. And they have been standing there for more than four hundred years.

So padishah Suleiman conquered half the world, and he was conquered by the Slavic slave Anastasia Lisovskaya. For her sake, he killed his beloved vizier and his son. These are historical facts, and as for the rest of the information, where is the truth and where is fiction is difficult to determine now.

Two historical novels have been written on this subject. And 2 series were filmed, the first was released in the 90s and was called "Roksolana - the captive of the Sultan."

The second was filmed by the Turks and is called "The Magnificent Age". 3 seasons have already passed and 100 episodes have been filmed. In September, the demonstration of the 4th season begins. Someone condemns the sultana, someone adores. Ukrainians consider her a Ukrainian, as she lived on the territory of today's Ukraine (but at that time it was Poland).

Russians consider Russian, since the independent state of Ukraine did not exist at that time and all Slavs were considered Russians. But no one argues that this is just an amazing and beautiful love story of a slave girl and the ruler of half of the World at that time, Sultan Suleiman.

The image of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska in the TV series Magnificent Age is very bright. Crazy and willing to do anything for her love. Alone with himself, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska often cries, yearns for her murdered relatives. Burns with love for the Sultan. But she does not show her weaknesses to anyone. Cunning, smart, arrogant - she knows how to get her way.

In the TV series Magnificent Age, Hürrem finds many enemies. In this struggle for power, she becomes cruel and does not spare any of her enemies.

Whether she really was, we will never know. But nowadays there is a lot of information about her.

The real origin is still a mystery. Disputes about this are ongoing to this day. Yes, her name is unknown. According to the legends, her name is Anastasia or Alexandra Gavrilovna Lisovskaya. Only one thing is known for sure, that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan was of Slavic origin.

It is also called nice name Roksolana. It is under this name that she is known in Europe. For the first time, this name was given to her by the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire. In his writings, he mentioned that the girl was from the territory of present-day Western Ukraine. At the end of the 16th century, these lands were called Roksolania (from the Roksolani tribe). That is why they began to call her Roksolana.

Captured Roksolana (Alexandra)

Crimean Tatars often made their raids. And in one of them the girl was captured by them. After captivity, Alexander was resold several times. As a result, it was presented to Suleiman, who at that time was the crown prince and managed important state affairs in Manisa. It is also said that Alexandra was presented to the 26-year-old Suleiman in honor of his accession to the throne.

The girl received the name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska when she got into the harem of Suleiman. She got it thanks to her cheerful nature. There is an assumption that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska appeared in the harem of Suleiman in the period from 1517 to 1520. Then she was about 15 years old.

A young, beautiful and smart girl quickly captured the attention of Suleiman. But the Sultan at that time already had another favorite, Mahidevran, mother of Shekhzade Mus

tuffs. She could not calmly accept a new rival and jealousy got the better of her. Mahidevran and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska had a big fight. There was even a fight between them. Mahidevran beat Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. She mutilated her face, pulled out tufts of her hair and tore her entire dress.

Sultan Suleiman, who did not know what happened between his concubines, invited Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska to his chambers. The girl refused him because she could not appear in front of him in this form. But, nevertheless, the Sultan called her to him and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska had to tell him everything.

Then he called Mahidevran to him to find out if Hürrem told him the truth. To which he received an answer from Mahidevran that main woman Sultan only she and that other concubines must obey her. And that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska still got little from her. Sultan Suleiman was furious at these words. Mahidevran's trick played into the hands of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and the Sultan made her his only favorite concubine.

Children Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska

In those days, there was a high mortality rate. Death did not bypass the Sultan's family either. And in 1521, two of Suleiman's three sons died. Shehzade Mustafa remained the only heir to the throne. And in conditions of such high mortality, this was a threat to the Ottoman dynasty. There was a risk of interruption of the Sultan's family.

Due to the fact that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska had every chance to become the mother of the future heir, the girl received the necessary support in the palace. And in 1521 Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to her first child from Sultan Suleiman, who was given the name Mehmed. Then, in 1522, Hürrem gave birth to Mehrimah, the only daughter of Suleiman who survived in infancy. Then shehzade Abdallah was born, who died at the age of only three years. In 1524 Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to shehzade Selim, and in 1525 she gave birth to shehzade Bayazid. His last son Cihangira Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth in 1531.

From slave to legal wife

In 1534 Sultan Suleiman's mother leaves this world. But before that, in 1533, Shehzade Mustafa, having reached his majority, goes to rule in Manisa. Together with him goes his mother Mahidevran. Two years after the death of Valide Sultan, left without the support of Hafsa, by order of Sultan Suleiman, the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha was executed. After all these events, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska strengthened her power.

Wedding Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan and Sultan Suleiman

After the death of Hafsy Valide Sultan, Suleiman officially made Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska his legal wife. Judging by everything, their wedding was very magnificent. But for some reason, the Ottoman sources do not mention it at all. Presumably, the wedding of the Sultan and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska took place in the summer, in June 1534. The special position of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was marked by the title of Haseki, which was introduced by Suleiman especially for her. He was so in love with Hürrem that he decided to award her the second most important title after Valide. So a new title appeared in the harem.

Haseki, who did not have a blood connection with the Sultan, was more important than the sisters and aunts of the Sultan. Because she could become the mother of the heir to the throne. Even her salary was much higher than that of her sisters.

Lady Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska

Sultan Suleiman spent a lot of time on campaigns. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska led with him active correspondence. She wrote to him about affairs in the palace and in the harem. Their letters have survived to this day, in which not only the state of affairs in the palace, but also love messages. In them you can see the great love and painful longing of the Sultan for Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was not only a beloved wife, but also a political partner of Suleiman. She had a strong influence on both the Sultan and his mother when she was alive. The Venetian ambassador Pietro Bragadin wrote about this. He wrote that one of the sanjak-beys made a gift to the Sultan and his Valida. He gave them one Russian beauty each. Valide decided to give her slave to the Sultan. But Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was very dissatisfied with such a gift. And Havsy Valide Sultan was forced to take the concubine back and even apologized to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. Later, the sultan also expelled the girl given to him, marrying her to another sanjak bey. Because the presence of at least one concubine in the palace made Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska very sad.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan was a very educated woman. She led meetings with foreign ambassadors. She answered letters from the rulers of other states. She built several mosques, a bathhouse and a madrasah in Istanbul.

She could not accept slavery and achieved a very high position in the palace, while taking a special place in the heart of Sultan Suleiman. She was the first woman to be both favorite and mother of children.

Sultan. But in those days, a woman in the palace could play only one role, either as a favorite, or as the mother of an heir.

It was impossible to be both a favorite and a mother at the same time, because according to the rules of the palace, the favorite did not have the right to give birth to more than one heir. The favorite who gave birth to the heir was engaged exclusively in the child.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, having given birth to six children to the Sultan, violated all these established rules, which irritated the entire Ottoman court. In addition, when her adult shekhzade went each to their own sanzhak, she did not leave with them, but remained in the capital. Which was also a violation of the rules, since the mother of shehzade had to go with her son.

Unable to explain how Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska managed to break all the rules with impunity and achieve such a high position, they began to attribute to her that she simply bewitched Sultan Suleiman. Thanks to this, she was credited with the image of an insidious and power-hungry villainess.

Death of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska's life was cut short shortly after a trip to Edirne, April 15-18, 1558. Someone writes that she was ill for a long time, and someone that she was poisoned. A year after her death, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska's body was transferred to the Mausoleum of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan, specially built for her. It can be seen that Suleiman loved his Hurrem very much. He ordered to decorate the mausoleum with exquisite ceramic tiles, which depicted the Gardens of Eden, and also inscribed verses that were written by Suleiman himself in honor of her beautiful smile.

Mausoleum of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan
Tomb of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Haseki Sultan

46-year (in 1520 - 1566) reign Suleiman the Magnificent (aka Kanuni - Legislator) is often called the golden age of the Ottoman Empire. And this is quite justified, since it was at this time that the Magnificent Porta reached its maximum power and prosperity, becoming the most powerful empire in the whole world.

But no less magnificent was the beloved wife of the Sultan, who became widely known under the name Roksolana (largely thanks to the popular Turkish TV series "The Magnificent Century", the content of which, however, does not really correspond to real history this extraordinary woman who has become from a slave concubine the actual co-ruler of the powerful Suleiman.

However, despite the fantastic circumstances of her biography, which are hard to believe, Roksolana is a completely historical person.

Suleiman and Roksolana.
Painting by A. Hickel (1780):

Her real name is probably Anastasia Lisovskaya . She was born around 1506 in the family of a priest near Lvov. During one of the numerous raids of the Crimean Tatars on the lands of the Lithuanian-Polish state, which suffered from such raids in the 16th-17th centuries no less, if not more than Moscow State, she was captured and as a result ended up in a slave market Constantinople (yes, I didn’t make a reservation, even after the capture of the “Second Rome” by Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror in 1453, the great city retained its name; officially, it became Istanbul only by the decision of Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk), who proclaimed Turkey a republic in 1923 and depriving Constantinople of both the historical name and the status of the capital. By the way, this is not recognized by everyone until now. I myself saw modern Greek maps, on which there is no Istanbul, but Constantinople is still).

However, back to our heroine.
At the slave market, among the many Polonyankas, the beautiful Anastasia was noticed by the chief vizier Suleiman and his close friend Rustem Pasha , who decided to make an elegant gift to his young master. So she, a 15-year-old slave, ended up in a harem.

PRO HAREM

Here we need to make a big digression, because contrary to popular belief, the source of which is most likely the fashion that arose in the first half of the 19th century in Europe for Orientalism (and in literature, and especially in the visual arts), the harem in Ottoman Turkey was not at all an earthly branch of a sort of Islamic Eden, where the sultan enjoyed his time in the arms of hundreds of odalisque houris.

Jean Auguste Domainin Ingres.
"Odalisque with a Slave":

In fact, the harem was a big viper, in which the main thing was intrigues and conspiracies that were woven by everyone and against everyone. At the same time, there was a completely clear subordination in the harem. And each of the women who found themselves there, sought to take the highest possible place in the harem, eliminating competitors by any means.

Giulio Rosati.
"Dancing in the harem":

Notorious odalisques ("odalik") occupied the lowest level in the harem. They were nothing more than maids, who most often did not even see the Sultan, let alone share a bed with him.

Paul Troulbert.
"Servant in the harem":

Girls who for some reason (most often - beauty, the ability to keep up a conversation, entertain the Sultan with a dance, etc.) were more fortunate, became concubines ("iqbal"). Many of the ikbals had the opportunity to be alone with the sultan only once (the choice of the ruler was quite large), but if the sultan liked one of them, and he called her a second time, then from that moment her life hung literally by a thread. The Haseki began to watch her jealously.

Giulio Rosati. "Favorite's Choice":

Haseki - the wives of the Sultan, who bore him a son. None of them needed another competitor at all, so there were cases when the Haseks united against the ikbal that the Sultan liked, trying in every possible way to discredit her, and best of all, to expel her from the harem altogether (murder did not stop anyone).
But each of the Haseki fought to ensure that it was her son who ascended the throne, so they were not friends to each other, but mortal, in literally of this word, enemies (or is it more correct to say "enemies"? In general, "demons in female form"). Everything went into business: from denunciation to a dagger or poison.

The losers ended up in a leather bag at the bottom of the Bosphorus. And the successful haseki, whose son nevertheless became a sultan (it was considered quite normal to poison her own husband in order to clear the way to the throne for her son), became "valide-sultan" (the mother of the Sultan) and turned not only into the main person of the entire harem, but also into the co-ruler of her son. And sometimes as a sovereign ruler: for example, in the second half of the 16th century, it was the Valide who ruled the empire instead of their worthless sons - drunkards or madmen.

A special word needs to be said about blacks. eunuchs , who were a kind of harem security service (they were recruited mainly in Egypt, although, of course, there were exceptions).
The head of the eunuchs was kyzlyar-aga , who occupied a fairly significant place in the hierarchy of officials of the Ottoman Empire, since he served as a kind of confidant of the Sultan.
It was he who every evening chose a girl for the sutlan from among the ikbal or haseki (at the same time, of course, he was completely unimaginable a bribe-taker).

Jean Leon Gerome.
"Pool in the harem":

Kyzlyar-aga carried out other "delicate" assignments, in charge of the same leather bags in which the losers from the harem were drowned in the Bosphorus.

By the way, the castration of eunuchs did not always make sex impossible (unlike the possibility of conception), so the eunuchs periodically abused their official position. Do you know the anecdote about how the harem sobbed because of the betrayal of the Sultan with another harem?
So, this anecdote is quite true. Now I don’t remember the name of the sutlan, who was tired of his harem in full force (it seems to be Murad III , known for his sexuality and for several years spent every night with at least three concubines at the same time. otherwise, in turn), and he ordered his faithful eunuchs to drown everyone in the Bosporus, both Iqbal and Haseks, in order to recruit new ones without interference.

But in any case, when the Sultan died (especially if not by his own death), then his heir acquired his own harem. A different fate awaited the wives and concubines of the predecessor. Some were given in marriage, some were left in the harem as nannies, and most were sent to the Palace of Tears near the Beyazit Mosque, where they lived out their days in complete oblivion, although they should have been glad that they had escaped the leather bag.

Such a lengthy narrative about the Sultan's harem was needed, first of all, in order to make it clearer the absolutely fantastic career that Anastasia (Roksolana) managed to make.

ROKSOLANA'S CAREER

How the daughter of a priest from near Lviv very quickly realized what the Sultan's harem is like is difficult to understand, if not impossible at all. But she felt like a fish in water there.
She did not linger among the odaliks (odalisques) for too long, apparently due to the fact that her closest adviser Rustem Pasha presented her to the Sultan as a gift. As an ikbal, she quickly fell in love with young Suleiman, which was not so easy, since he had about 600 concubines at his disposal.
It was whispered in the palace that the Slav was a witch and had drugged the Sultan with something. Suleiman, who was not at all distinguished by gullibility, otherwise he would not have become the greatest ruler of the Ottoman Empire, at the sight of Roksolana's radiant smile, became a perfect rag and believed everything that she whispered to him.
And these were far from always words of love.

Under her constant smile, thanks to which Roksolana received her court name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, that is, "Merry", "Laughing", there was a monster, in comparison with which some Lady Macbeth would not fit!

This is how Titian portrayed her:

First of all, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (let's call her that) got rid of the previous favorite of the Sultan - the Circassian Mahidervan. This, previously beloved haseki Suleiman, and so after the appearance of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska fell out of favor, but continued to pose a danger, because she managed to give birth to two sons to the Sultan. And Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska by all means decided to elevate her own son Selim to the throne. Mahidervan was exiled and died in exile.
Then, as a result of a virtuoso intrigue, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska managed to convince the Sultan that the eldest son Mahidervan, the heir to the throne, Mustafa, who was popular among the people and most importantly among the Janissaries, was plotting a coup against him. Mustafa was strangled, and his younger brother Dzhikhargir died, as they announced, of grief.
Then the "merry" Haseki successively exterminated everyone who could stand between her and Suleiman. One by one, the sultan executed all his closest friends, including the very Rustam Pasha who had once brought the Slavic slave to the sultan's palace as a gift.
The Sultan's mother, Ayse-Hafsa (Valide-Sultan), who had the imprudence to tell her son everything she thought about his adored Hurrem, soon died of a strange illness (most likely, she was simply poisoned).
For insurance, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska sent killers to various provincial palaces: does the Sultan still have sons on the side? There were more than 40 of them, and all of them were killed.
And finally, for greater fidelity, two younger brothers of Selim were killed - her own sons, because they could compete with her adored Selim after the death of Suleiman, since there was no rule of succession to the throne in the Ottoman Empire of the 16th century (including the rule of primogeniture ), and the animal law was in effect: whoever of the heirs was the first to kill his brothers, he became the sultan.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska never reached the peak to which she so aspired. She never became Valide Sultan, having not outlived her husband, having died 6 years earlier than him, in 1560 (it is surprising that she did not poison him or get rid of him in any other way!).
But after the death of Suleiman, in 1566, the beloved son of Hürrem-Roksonana-Anastasia nevertheless ascended the throne.
Named after Selim I the Terrible, Selim II remained in the history of the Ottoman Empire as one of its most insignificant rulers. His nickname was "The Drunkard", which he justified even by his death: he broke his head while drunk by slipping in the bath.

Selim II:

After that, is it any wonder that after the era of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire began to gradually degrade and turn into the "sick man of Europe" in the apt expression of Nicholas I.
Of course, a lot of time passed from the time of Suleiman and his beloved Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska until the complete decline of the Magnificent Porte, at the end of the 17th century, the Turks stormed Vienna. But, as they say, "a drop wears away a stone"!

Therefore, I propose: let's consider the Slavic Anastasia Lisovskaya (aka Roksolana, aka Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska) a special agent sent to Turkey during her maximum power, in order to undermine her from the inside! And Putin himself sent it there with the help of a time machine on behalf of Grand Duke Vasily III. And oversaw all her behavior, of course, Ivan the Terrible! In this case, she simply needs to be awarded the honorary title of the royal steward, and, of course, the Hero of the Russian Federation. Or maybe not the Russian Federation, but Ukraine?

If someone does not understand, then this is a joke.
But after all, as you know, in every joke there is only a fraction of a joke ...

Thank you for attention.
Sergei Vorobyov.

As you know, all births, deaths, and even more so when it concerned the ruling dynasty, were subject to clear accounting and control both in harem books and in other documents. Everything was described - starting with how much flour it took to make a dessert for shehzade and ending with the main expenses for their maintenance. Moreover, all the descendants of the ruling dynasty necessarily lived at the court, in case it was he who had to inherit the throne, because one should not forget about the high infant mortality that took place in those days. Also, since the Ottoman dynasty and its possible heirs were in the zone of close attention not only of the Muslim East, but also of Christian Europe, their ambassadors informed the European kings about the birth of a child from one or another shah, on the occasion of which it was supposed to send congratulations and a gift. These letters have been preserved in the archives, thanks to which it is possible to restore the number of heirs from the same Suleiman. Therefore, each descendant, and even more so shehzade, was known, the name of each was preserved in history.
So, Suleiman had 8 sons shehzade, which is recorded in the family tree of the Ottoman family:

1) Mahmud (1512 - October 29, 1521 in Istanbul) Proclaimed the heir of Vali Ahad on September 22, 1520. Son of Fülane.

2) Mustafa (1515 - November 6, 1553 at Eregli in Karaman Iran) Proclaimed heir of Vali Ahad on October 29, 1521. Viceroy of Karaman province 1529-1533, Manisa 1533-1541, and Amasya 1541-1553. Son of Mahidevran.

4) Mehmet (1521 - November 6, 1543 in Manisa) Proclaimed the heir of Vali Ahad on October 29, 1521. Viceroy of Kutahya 1541-1543. Son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska.

6) Selim II (1524-1574) the eleventh sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska.

7) Bayezid (1525 - July 23, 1562) in Iran, the city of Qazvin. Proclaimed the 3rd successor of Vali Ahad on November 6, 1553. Governor of Karaman 1546, governor of the provinces of Kutahya and Amasya 1558-1559. Son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska.

8) Dzhihangir (1531 - November 27, 1553 in Aleppo (in Arabic Aleppo) Syria) Governor in Aleppo 1553. Son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska.

It is also worth remembering that it was Suleiman, and not Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, who executed his two sons, namely Mustafa and Bayazid. Mustafa was executed along with his son (the remaining of the two, since one of them died a year before the death of Mustafa himself), and five of his little sons were killed along with Bayezid, but this happened already in 1562, 4 years after the death of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska .

If we talk about the chronology and causes of death of all the descendants of Kanuni, then it looked like this:

Şehzade Mahmud died of smallpox on 11/29/1521,
Şehzade Murad died of smallpox before his brother on 11/10/1521.
Şehzade Mustafa ruler of the province of Manisa since 1533. and the heir to the throne was executed along with his children on the orders of his father on suspicion of conspiring against his father in alliance with the Serbs.
Şehzade Bayezid "Şahi" was executed along with his five sons by order of his father for mutiny against him

Accordingly, about what mythical forty descendants from Sultan Suleiman, killed by Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, in question remains a mystery not only to skeptics, but to history itself. Or rather, a tale. One of 1001 tales Ottoman Empire.

The second legend. “About the marriage of twelve-year-old Mihrimah Sultan and fifty-year-old Rustem Pasha”

The legend says: “As soon as the daughter was twelve years old, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska offered Mihrimah as a wife to Rustem Pasha, who took the place of Ibrahim, who at that time was already fifty. The difference between the bride and groom of almost forty years did not bother Roksolana.

Historical facts: Rustem Pasha also Rustem Pasha Mekri (Ottoman. رستم پاشا, Croatian Rustem-paša Opuković; 1500 - 1561) - Grand Vizier of Sultan Suleiman I, Croatian by nationality.
Rustem Pasha married one of the daughters of Sultan Suleiman I - Princess Mihrimah Sultan
In 1539, at the age of seventeen, Mihrimah Sultan (March 21, 1522-1578) married the Beylerbey of the province of Diyarbakir - Rustem Pasha. At that time, Rustem was 39 years old.
To whom simple arithmetic operations for adding and subtracting dates seem unconvincing, we can only advise you to use a calculator to instill more confidence.

The third legend. "About castration and silver tubes"

The legend says: “Instead of a cute and cheerful laughing enchantress, our eyes appear to be a ferocious, cunning and ruthless survival machine. With the execution of the heir and his friend, a wave of repressions, unprecedented in Istanbul, began. For an extra word about the bloody affairs of the palace, one could easily pay with his head. They chopped off their heads, not even bothering to bury the body ...
An effective and frightening method of Roksolana was castration, performed in the most cruel way. Everything suspected of sedition was cut to the root. And after the "operation" the unfortunate were not supposed to bandage the wound - it was believed that the "bad blood" should come out. Those who still survived could experience the mercy of the sultana: she gave the unfortunate silver tubes that were inserted into the opening of the bladder.
Fear settled in the capital, people began to fear their own shadow, not feeling safe even near hearth. The name of the sultana was pronounced with trepidation, which was mixed with reverence.

Historical facts: The history of mass repressions organized by Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan has not been preserved in any way, either in historical records or in the description of contemporaries. But on the other hand, it should be noted that historical information has been preserved that a number of contemporaries (in particular, Sehname-i Al-i Osman (1593) and Sehname-i Humayun (1596), Taliki-zade el-Fenari presented a very flattering portrait of Hürrem, as a woman revered "for her numerous charitable donations, for her patronage of students and respect for pundits, connoisseurs of religion, as well as for her acquisition of rare and beautiful things." If we talk about the historical facts that took place in the life of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, then she entered not as a repressive politician, but as a person involved in charity, she became known for her large-scale projects.Thus, with the donations of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (Külliye Hasseki Hurrem) in Istanbul, the Aksaray district, the so-called Avret Pazari (or women's bazaar, later named after Haseki) was built containing a mosque, a madrasah, an imaret, a primary school, hospitals and a fountain, it was the first complex built in Istanbul by the architect Sinan in his new position as head of Nogo architect of the ruling family. And the fact that it was the third largest building in the capital, after the complexes of Mehmet II (Fatih) and Suleymaniye (Süleymanie), testifies to the high status of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. She also built complexes in Adrianople and Ankara. Other charitable projects include the construction of a project in Jerusalem (later named after Haseki Sultan), hospices and a canteen for pilgrims and the homeless; a canteen in Mecca (under the Haseki Hürrem imaret), a public canteen in Istanbul (at Avret Pazari), and two large public baths in Istanbul (in the Jewish and Aya Sôfya quarters, respectively). With the filing of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan, slave markets were closed and a number of social projects were implemented.

Legend four. "About the origin of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska."

The legend says: “Deceived by the consonance of names - proper and common noun, some historians see Russian in Roksolana, others, mostly French, based on Favard's comedy "Three Sultans", claim that Roksolana was a Frenchwoman. Both are completely unfair: Roksolana, a natural Turkish woman, was bought for a harem as a girl at a slave market for servants to odalists, under whom she held the position of a simple slave.
There is also a legend that the pirates of the Ottoman Empire in the suburbs of Siena attacked the castle belonging to the noble and wealthy family of Marsigli. The castle was plundered and burned to the ground, and the daughter of the owner of the castle - beautiful girl with hair the color of red gold and green eyes brought to the Sultan's palace. The Marsigli Family Tree lists: Mother Hannah Marsigli. Hannah Marsigli - Margarita Marsigli (La Rosa), nicknamed so for the fiery red hair color. From her marriage to Sultan Suleiman, she had sons - Selim, Ibrahim, Mehmed.

Historical Facts: European observers and historians referred to Sultana as "Roksolana", "Roksa", or "Ross", as it was assumed that she was of Russian origin. Mikhail Litvin (Mikhalon Lituan), the Lithuanian ambassador to the Crimea in the middle of the sixteenth century, wrote in his chronicle of 1550 "... the beloved wife of the Turkish emperor, the mother of his eldest son and heir, was once abducted from our lands." Navaguerro wrote of her as "[Donna]... di Rossa" and Trevisano called her "Sultana di Russia". Samuel Tvardovsky, a member of the Polish embassy to the Court of the Ottoman Empire in 1621-1622, also indicated in his notes that the Turks told him that Roksolana was the daughter of an Orthodox priest from Rohatyn, a small town in Podolia near Lvov. The belief that Roksolana was of Russian rather than Ukrainian origin likely arose from a possible misinterpretation of the words "Roksolana" and "Rossa". At the beginning of the 16th century in Europe, the word "Roksolania" was used to refer to the province of Ruthenia in Western Ukraine, which was in different times known as Krasnaya Rus, Galicia or Podolia (that is, located in Eastern Podolia, which was under Polish control at the time), in turn, modern Russia at that time it was called the Moscow State, Moscow Russia or Muscovy. In ancient times, the word Roxolani denoted nomadic Sarmatian tribes and settlements on the Dniester River (now in the Odessa region in Ukraine).

Fifth legend. "About the Witch at Court"

The legend says: “Hyurrem Sultan was an unremarkable outwardly and very quarrelsome woman by nature. She became famous for her cruelty and cunning for centuries. And, naturally, the only way in which she kept the Sultan for more than forty years by her side was the use of conspiracies and love spells. It’s not for nothing that she was called a witch among the common people. ”

Historical Facts: Venice reports state that Roksolana was not so much beautiful as sweet, graceful, and elegant. But at the same time, her radiant smile and playful temperament made her irresistibly charming, for which she was named "Hürrem" ("giving joy" or "laughing"). Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was known for her singing and musical abilities, the ability to make elegant embroidery, she knew five European languages, as well as Farsi and was an extremely erudite person. But the most important thing was that Roksolana was a woman of great intelligence and willpower, which gave her advantage over other women in the harem. Like everyone else, European observers testify that the Sultan was completely smitten with his new concubine. He was in love with his Haseki for many years life together. Hence, evil tongues accused her of witchcraft (and if in medieval Europe and in the East the existence of such a legend in those days can be understood and explained, in our time belief in such conjectures is difficult to explain).

And logically, you can go to the next, directly related legend

Legend six. "About the infidelity of Sultan Suleiman."

The legend says: “Despite the fact that the Sultan was attached to the intriguing Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, nothing human was alien to him. So, as you know, a harem was kept at the Sultan's court, which could not help but interest Suleiman. It is also known that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska ordered to find in the harem and throughout the country the other sons of Suleiman, who were born by wives and concubines. As it turned out, the Sultan had about forty sons, which confirms the fact that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was not the only love of his life.

Historical facts: When the ambassadors, Navaguerro and Trevisano wrote their reports to Venice in 1553 and 1554, indicating that "she is very beloved by her master" ("tanto amata da sua maestà"), Roksolana was already about fifty and she was next to Suleiman for a long time. After her death in April 1558, Suleiman remained inconsolable for a long time. She was the biggest love of his life, his kindred spirit and legal wife. This great love of Suleiman for Roksolana was confirmed by a number of decisions and actions on the part of the Sultan for his Haseka. For her sake, the Sultan violated a number of very important traditions of the imperial harem. In 1533 or 1534 (the exact date is unknown), Suleiman married Hürrem in an official marriage ceremony, thus violating a century and a half custom of the Ottoman house, according to which sultans were not allowed to marry their concubines. Never before had a former slave been elevated to the rank of the legitimate wife of the Sultan. In addition, the marriage of Haseka Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and the Sultan became almost monogamous, which was simply unheard of in the history of the Ottoman Empire. Trevisano wrote in 1554 that once meeting Roxolana, Suleiman "not only wants to have her as a lawful wife, always keep her close to him and see her as a ruler in a harem, but he also does not want to know any other women: he did what was not done by any of his predecessors, because the Turks are accustomed to accept several women in order to have as many children as possible and satisfy their carnal pleasures. For the sake of love for this woman, Suleiman violated a number of traditions and prohibitions. In particular, it was after his marriage to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska that Sultan dissolved the harem, leaving only attendants at court. The marriage of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and Suleiman was monogamous, which surprised contemporaries a lot. Also, the real love between the Sultan and his Haseki is confirmed by love letters sent by them to each other and preserved to this day. Thus, one of the many farewell dedications of Kanuni to his wife after her death can be considered one of the indicative messages:

“The heavens are covered with black clouds, for there is no rest for me, no air, no thought and no hope. My love, the trembling feeling of this, strong, so compresses my heart, destroys my flesh. To live, what to believe in, my love... how to meet a new day. I am killed, my mind is killed, my heart has ceased to believe, there is no more your warmth in it, there is no more your hands, your light on my body. I am defeated, I am erased from this world, erased by spiritual sadness for you, my love. Strength, there is no more that strength that you betrayed me, there is only faith, the faith of your feelings, not in the flesh, but in my heart, I cry, cry for you my love, there is no ocean greater than the ocean of my tears for you, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska ..."

Seventh legend. "About the conspiracy against Shehzade Mustafa and the whole Universe"

The legend says: “But the day came when Roxalana “opened her eyes” to the Sultan on the allegedly treacherous behavior of Mustafa and his friend. She said that the prince had developed close relations with the Serbs and was plotting against his father. The intriguer knew well where and how to strike - the mythical "conspiracy" was quite plausible: in the East during the time of the sultans, bloody palace coups were the most common thing. In addition, Roksolana cited, as an irrefutable argument, the true words of Rustem Pasha, Mustafa and other “conspirators” that her daughter allegedly heard ... A painful silence hung in the palace. What will the Sultan decide? Roxalana's melodious voice, similar to the chime of a crystal bell, murmured carefully: "Think, O Lord of my heart, about your state, about its tranquility and prosperity, and not about vain feelings ..." Mustafa, whom Roxalana knew from the age of 4, having become adult, had to die at the request of his stepmother.
The Prophet forbade shedding the blood of the padishahs and their heirs, therefore, by order of Suleiman, but by the will of Roxalana, Mustafa, his brothers and children, the grandsons of the Sultan, were strangled with a silk cord.

Historical facts: In 1553, the eldest son of Suleiman, Prince Mustafa, was executed, at that time he was already under forty years old. The first sultan to execute his adult son was Murad I, who ruled at the end of the 14th century, who ensured that the recalcitrant Savji was put to death. The reason for Mustafa's execution was that he planned to usurp the throne, but, as in the case of the execution of the Sultan's favorite, Ibrahim Pasha, the blame was placed on Hurrem Sultan, who was a foreigner who was near the Sultan. In the history of the Ottoman Empire, there was already a case when a son tried to help his father leave the throne - this was done by Suleiman's father, Selim I, with Suleiman's grandfather, Bayezid II. After the death of Prince Mehmed a few years earlier, the regular army really considered it necessary to remove Suleiman from business and isolate him in the residence of Di-dimothikhon, located south of Edirne, in direct analogy with how it happened with Bayezid II. Moreover, the letters of shehzadeh have been preserved, on which the personal seal of shehzade Mustafa, addressed to the Safavid Shah, was clearly visible, which Sultan Suleiman later learned about (this seal is also preserved and Mustafa's signature is inscribed on it: Sultan Mustafa see photo). The last straw for Suleiman was the visit of the Austrian ambassador, who, instead of visiting the Sultan, first of all went to Mustafa. After the visit, the ambassador informed everyone that Shehzade Mustafa would be a wonderful Padishah. After Suleiman found out about this, he immediately summoned Mustafa to him and ordered him to be strangled. Shehzade Mustafa was strangled by order of his father in 1553 during a Persian military campaign.

Legend eight. "About the Origin of Valide"

The legend says: “Valide Sultan was the daughter of the captain of an English ship that was wrecked in the Adriatic Sea. Then this unfortunate ship was captured by Turkish pirates. The part of the manuscript that has been preserved ends with the message that the girl was sent to the Sultan's harem. This is an Englishwoman who ruled Turkey for 10 years and only later, not finding common language with the wife of her son, the notorious Roksolana, returned to England.

Historical facts: Aishe Sultan Hafsa or Hafsa Sultan (from Ottoman Turkish: عایشه حفصه سلطان) was born around 1479. - 1534) and became the first Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) in the Ottoman Empire, being the wife of Selim I and the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent. Although the year of birth of Ayşe Sultan is known, historians still cannot determine the date of birth definitively. She was the daughter of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray.
She lived in Manisa with her son from 1513 to 1520, in the province, which was the traditional residence of the Ottoman shehzade, future rulers, who studied there the basics of government.
Aishe Hafsa Sultan died in March 1534 and was buried next to her husband in the mausoleum.

Legend nine. "About soldering Shekhzade Selim"

The legend says: “Selim acquired the nickname “Drunkard” due to excessive consumption of wine. Initially, this love for alcohol was due to the fact that at one time Selim's mother herself, Roksolana, periodically gave him wine, the rack of the son was much more manageable.

Historical facts: Sultan Selim was nicknamed the Drunkard, he was so cheerful and did not shy away from human weaknesses - wine and a harem. Well, the prophet Muhammad himself admitted: "More than anything on earth, I loved women and fragrances, but I always found complete pleasure only in prayer." Do not forget that alcohol was in honor at the Ottoman court, and the life of some sultans turned out to be shorter precisely because of the passion for alcohol. Selim II, being drunk, fell in the bath and then died from the consequences of the fall. Mahmud II died of delirium tremens. Murad II, who defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Varna, died of apoplexy caused by drinking. Mahmud II loved French wines and left behind a huge collection of them. Murad IV from morning till night frolicked with his courtiers, eunuchs and jesters, and sometimes forced the main muftis and judges to drink with him. Falling into binges, he committed such cruel acts that those around him seriously thought that he had lost his mind. For example, he liked to shoot arrows at people who sailed on boats past the Topkapı Palace or run at night in underwear through the streets of Istanbul, killing anyone who got in their way. It was Murad IV who issued a seditious decree from the point of view of Islam, according to which alcohol was allowed to be sold even to Muslims. In many ways, Sultan Selim's addiction to alcohol was influenced by a person close to him, in whose hands were the main threads of control, namely the vizier Sokolu.
But it should be noted that Selim was not the first and not the last sultan who worshiped alcohol, and this did not prevent him from participating in a number of military campaigns, as well as in the political life of the Ottoman Empire. So from Suleiman he inherited 14.892.000 km2, and after him this territory was already 15.162.000 km2. Selim, reigned prosperously and left his son a state that not only did not decrease territorially, but even increased; this, in many respects, he owed to the mind and energy of the vizier Mehmed Sokollu. Sokollu completed the conquest of Arabia, which was previously only weakly dependent on the Porte.

Legend ten. "About thirty trips to Ukraine"

The legend says: “Hyurrem, of course, had influence on the Sultan, but not enough to save fellow countrymen from suffering. During his reign, Suleiman undertook more than 30 trips to Ukraine.

Historical facts: Restoring the chronology of the conquests of Sultan Suleiman
1521 - a campaign in Hungary, the siege of Belgrade.
1522 - siege of the fortress of Rhodes
1526 - a campaign in Hungary, the siege of the Petervaradin fortress.
1526 - battle near the city of Mohacs.
1526 - the suppression of the uprising in Cilicia
1529 - capture of Buda
1529 Storming of Vienna
1532-1533 - fourth trip to Hungary
1533 - the capture of Tabriz.
1534 - Seizure of Baghdad.
1538 - the ruin of Moldova.
1538 - capture of Aden, naval expedition to the shores of India.
1537-1539 - The Turkish fleet under the command of Hayreddin Barbarossa ruined and imposed tribute on more than 20 islands in the Adriatic Sea that belonged to the Venetians. Capture of cities and villages in Dalmatia.
1540-1547 - fighting in Hungary.
1541 - the capture of Buda.
1541 - capture of Algiers
1543 - the capture of the fortress by Esztergom. A Janissary garrison was stationed in Buda, and the Turkish administration began to function throughout Hungary, occupied by the Turks.
1548 - passage through the lands of South Azerbaijan and the capture of Tabriz.
1548 - the siege of the fortress of Van and the capture of the basin of Lake Van in southern Armenia. The Turks also invaded Eastern Armenia and Southern Georgia. In Iran, the Turkish units reached Kashan and Qom, captured Isfahan.
1552 - the capture of Temeswar
1552 - Turkish squadron headed from Suez to the shores of Oman.
1552 - In 1552, the Turks took the city of Te-meshvar and the fortress of Veszprem
1553 - capture of Eger.
1547-1554 - the capture of Muscat (a large Portuguese fortress).
1551 - 1562 another Austro-Turkish war took place
1554 - naval battles with Portugal.
In 1560, the Sultan's fleet won another great naval victory. Off the coast of North Africa, near the island of Djerba, the Turkish armada entered the battle with the combined squadrons of Malta, Venice, Genoa and Florence
1566-1568 - Austro-Turkish war for the possession of the Principality of Transylvania
1566 - the capture of Szigetvar.

During his long, almost half-century reign (1520-1566), Suleiman the Magnificent never sent his conquerors to Ukraine.
It was at that time that the construction of notches, castles, fortresses of the Zaporizhzhya Sich arose, organizational and political activity Prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky. In Suleiman's letters to the Polish King Artykul August II, there are not only threats to punish "Demetrash" (Prince Vyshnevetsky), but also a demand for a quiet life for the inhabitants of Ukraine. At the same time, in many ways, it was Roksolana who contributed to the establishment of friendly relations with Poland, which at that time controlled the lands of Western Ukraine, the native lands of the Sultana. The signing of the Polish-Ottoman truce in 1525 and 1528, as well as treaties " eternal peace» 1533 and 1553 are often attributed to her influence. So Piotr Opalinsky, the Polish ambassador to Suleiman's court in 1533, confirmed that "Roksolana begged the Sultan to forbid the Crimean Khan to disturb the Polish lands." As a result, close diplomatic and friendly contacts established by Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan with King Sigismund II, which is confirmed by the surviving correspondence, allowed not only to prevent new raids on the territory of Ukraine, but also contributed to interrupting the flow of the slave trade from those lands