DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND WELSH HISTORY THE LIVES OF WOMEN IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE FAAEZA ADAMJI JASDANWALLA THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF PhD ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY 2007 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Date.. L]... : J) .<?(. 'f.r:0\:\(;.�'. ...�:��J. 61 STATEMENTl This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where othe1wise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Date .. .J] ... _:\)'.¢'.(!:¢'.Xt.\'1,½r. .:;?JJ:f5]. .. STATEMENT2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. SUMMARY The focus of this doctoral thesis is a study of the lives, roles and status of women in early modern England and the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period. In an attempt at investigating the position that women enjoyed in the early modern period, the study focuses on women's status in the religious, political, social, artistic and literary spheres. The thesis concludes with an analysis of all of the above information, resulting in the parallels that can be drawn between the two cultures as regards women and gender issues. An attempt is made at investigating possible causes for the similarities as well as the differences; the extent to which these can be attributed to biased or inaccurate accounts, as well as the extent to which these similarities and distinctions are based on religious doctrines and/or cultural influences. The study also aims to assess women's participation in the male-dominated public sphere essentially .from within their relegated private sphere. My contribution to the study of women's history in both historical regions therefore is to provide a comparative element. Instead of exploring a certain aspect of English or Ottoman women's history separately, I endeavour to study the existing information cross-culturally with the intention of picking out not only the dissimilarities between English and Ottoman women's lives but also try to determine common ground between the two cultures, in an attempt at presenting a more holistic understanding of women's experiences. Although Anglo-Ottoman relations have hitherto been researched in political, commercial, economic and cultural terms, it has largely been male-focused. This study therefore, attempts to examine Anglo-Ottoman relations and perceptions with women as their focus, looking at both English male perceptions and opinions of Ottoman women, and English women's first-hand accounts and interactions with Ottoman women. These perceptions and interactions will then further be discussed along with the independent studies of Ottoman women based on Ottoman archives so as to try and determine the reliability of some of these perceptions and accounts. This results in the question of whether the actual practise of women's roles coincided with their normative position and status in the Bible and the Qur'an. This issue therefore forms an important part of the investigation and analysis of English and Ottoman women's social roles. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is dedicated to my parents without whose determination, consistent support and sacrifice I would not have had the confidence to undertake such an endeavour. Equally, I acknowledge the encouragement and help I received unstintingly from my brother and sister-in-law, and take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt appreciation and thanks. Similarly, I recognise the encouragement I have received constantly from all my family members. I am particularly thankful for the immense cheer brought by my niece to days which seemed cloudy. My special thanks go to all my friends in Bombay as well as all those treasured friends I made during my research years in Aberystwyth, who spurred me onwards and upwards and ensured that my motivation never flagged - it would have been difficult to reach this stage without the injections of strength they administered as and when needed - a big 'shukriya' to one and all. My heartfelt thanks, gratitude and appreciation go to Professor Richard Rathbone whose supervision and assistance has not only been crucial to this thesis, but whose encouragement and true friendship has renewed my confidence. My special thanks are extended to my second supervisor and friend, Dr. Karen Stober for her guidance, and to Professor Phillipp Schofield for his support and advice, as well as to the administrative staff of the Department of History and Welsh History, particularly Delyth Flecher and Awen Dafydd. INTRODUCTION This study has been inspired by Nabil Matar's book Islam in Britain and the intercultural influences that affected England and the Islamic world in the early modern period.1 While Matar's study, based on literary sources, focuses on broadly Anglo-Ottoman relations in general, this study will look at a comparison of women's lives in both historical regions from roughly the early sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries. Because of the limits of such an investigation and personal interests, this broad examination will be contained within women's religious and social obligations and their visibility and involvement in the public sphere of politics, the arts and literature. As one can appreciate, discussing every facet of women's lives and participation within it is neither conducive to the scope of a doctoral thesis nor a realistic aspiration. On account of the vastness and variety and complexity of the ethnic population that incorporated the Ottoman Empire, this study will focus primarily on Istanbul and its neighbouring regions. Personal constraints together with the extensiveness of available material on women's history particularly on the English side have restricted the examination of sources to secondary, and abundant printed primary material. The eminent Ottoman historian Suraiya Faroqhi in Approaching Ottoman History suggests that a comparative study of the Ottoman Empire is often undertaken with the aim of highlighting the distinctive features of Ottoman history.2 While that will undoubtedly be a part of my aim, I also propose to bring to light the differences as well as the many similarities that existed in the two cultures which were often imagined as entirely distinctive from each other. 1) Brief Historical Background:- The time span chosen for this study is roughly from the 1520's to the 1720's. The primary reason for this choice is that the 1520's mark the initial years of Suleyman I's reign, which was also the period when the Imperial Harem under 1 Nabil Matar, Islam in Britain, I 558-1685 (Cambridge, 1998). 2 Suraiya Faroqhi, Approaching Ottoman Hist01)': an introduction to the sources (Cambridge, 1999), p. 4. 2 Suleyman I's favourite concubine (later wife) Hurrem Sultan came to the fore. Thereafter, the Imperial Harem remained in prominence until the death of the valide sultan (mother of the reigning sultan) Turhan in 1687. In the English context, the 1520's also marked the beginnings of the Reformation in England and witnessed the political and religious circumstances that affected the lives and later succession of the two sixteenth-century queens of England, Mary I and Elizabeth I, while the seventeenth century not only heralded the turmoil of the Civil War, which resulted in women's greater visibility in the public sphere, but also saw the reigns of two more queens, Mary II and Anne. The 1720's therefore is chosen as broadly the end of the time span of this investigation as 1714 marks the end of Queen Anne's reign, while 1718 brings to an end Lady Wortley Montagu's visit to Istanbul as the wife of the then English ambassador, Edward Montagu. Although a broad time frame, I believe that this span is necessary for an effective investigation and better understanding of women's lives, particularly keeping in mind the comparative approach. A brief account of events that shaped the history of the two regions under study will be useful at the outset as it will help to frame the background for not only the separate discussion of women in each culture within the specified time frame, but also aid in the understanding of Anglo-Ottoman relations, both commercially and culturally. The Reformation was one of the most momentous historical events in the first half of the sixteenth century in England. It not only resulted in the introduction and spread of Protestantism but also led to the dissolution of the monasteries and nunneries by Henry VIII (1509-1547). The split from Rome and the shift from reliance on priests to individual responsibility meant that both men and women were individually answerable to God for their actions because of the de-emphasis on confession and on priests as intermediaries between the laity and God. On the political front, the first half of the sixteenth century was wrought with problems of succession after Henry Vlll's death and the shifting religious affinities of the three succeeding monarchs, Edward VI (1547-53), Mary Tudor (1553-58) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603). In relation to the current study, the most significant development of the sixteenth century in England 3 was that two of the three monarchs that consecutively succeeded Henry VIII were women. In addition to trying to prove themselves as capable female monarchs, Mary I and Elizabeth I also asserted their respective religious faiths on a nascent though ever-increasing Protestant population at logger-heads with their Catholic neighbours. In the East, the Islamic empire of the Ottomans had gained prominence, particularly since their conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It thereafter went on to dominate not only the Middle Eastern region, but also Eastern Europe as far as former Yugoslavia, Hungary and North Africa, under Emperors such as Mehmed II (1451-81), Bayezid II (1481-1512), Selim I (1512-20), SOleyman I (1520-66), Selim II (1566-74).