#gulbaharsultan

[ottomanladies]

Diplomatic contacts between foreign embassies and the valide sultan were accomplished principally through the intermediacy of the latter’s Jewish agent, known as the “Kira”. Like the valide sultan’s steward, her kira could acquire considerable wealth and influence.“ – Leslie P. Peirce. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire

Kiras of Ottoman Sultanas -- for @gulbaharsultan 

[deussalveoreisubs-blog]

a massive thank you for this and your hard work! <3

Aww, thank you, dear! <3 We hope you enjoy it and please, let us know what you think!

[leroichevalier]

Challenge: Post an aesthetic moodboard with photos taken by you/on your phone and tag 5 people → Aesthetic:The Hiker.

Tagging: @gulbaharsultan, @delphes, @lareinedefer, @joannalannister, @jmesflint

(Feel free to do if you want)

[moxyphinx]

Lina <333

Love is a Battlefield - Maria Doyle KennedyIt’s Happening Again - Agnes Obel No Time To Sleep - Tina DicoAll The Way Down (Live) - The Swell Seasonsend me your name and I’ll make you a mini playlist that start with those letters

[carterhaughs]

PASS THE HAPPY ALONG! :) When you get this, answer with five things that make you happy and pass the happy along to ten nice people!

awwwww THANK YOU LINA

1. A CUTE BOY JUST ASKED ME TO GO SEE DUNKIRK WITH HIM AND I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS AT ALL!!! HELP!!! HE IS HANDSOME AND SMART AND LOVES MOVIES LIKE ME 

2. macaroni and cheese!!!

3. the smell of grass after it rains

4. long runs on grey autumn days

5. when I do someone a small favor bc I remember something they didn’t expect me to and it makes them happy

[jacnaylor]

call the midwife? :)

shelagh turner

patsy mount

jenny lee

trixie franklin

barbara gilbert

WAIT I SAW YOURS I FORGOT NURSE CRANE!!

[moviestorian]

YES I SO WANT AN ELIZABETH WEEK!

Thanks for showing your interest! :) I can tell you that we’ll be DEFINITELY having it early in August! Tomorrow I will write a more detailed post with all the info and stuff. :)

[ottomanladies]

Hi! I wanted to ask you - did ottoman women from the lower classes have more freedoms not only socially but also with marriages? Did this change over time/in regions of the empire and why if it did? thank you :)

Sorry for the long wait, yesterday was such a hectic day.

In theory, the Ottoman woman was not a passive subject at all. Contrary to popular - and Orientalist - belief, both elite and non-elite Ottoman women bought and sold property, owned and transferred wealth through inheritance, dower and charitable endowments, and invested in and managed shops, workshops, agricultural land and commerce. Court registers in Anatolia are full of court cases in which women were actively involved as litigants and witnesses in property matters, inheritance, divorce and marriage.

They also had specific rights concerning their marriage: they could refuse a marriage arranged without their consent, they could - potentially - chose their husband and they could negotiate their marital rights in court: the amount of their dower or of marital support (which husbands were legally bound to give), the conditions under which the marriage would be declared invalid (some inserted clauses that said that if the man took another wife, they were automatically freed from the marriage).

They could also seek an annulment, or a divorce with the consent of her husband. This type of divorce is called a “woman’s divorce” and basically the woman would forfeit all or a portion of her dowry, of the maintenance stipend that a husband had to pay after the termination of a marriage, and sometimes of childcare money for proof of her freedom from the marriage. After that, she could remarry.

The Ottoman woman could also inherit properties though in reality she could only inherit half the share given to a male relative. Distant male relatives could also inherit shares of properties which should have gone to closer female relatives. Ottoman society wasn’t perfect, it was full of gender bias, and it was clearly a patriarchal society so women witnesses were not considered equal to men, unfortunately.

All of this was possible not only to muslim women but also to christians or jewish. Anyone that lived in the Ottoman Empire could go to a shari’a court. Court registers of the Ankara court are full of non-muslim women asking for permission to remarry because their husbands had been disappeared for years/believed dead. A notarised piece of paper declaring the termination of their marriage was very useful to them because with it nobody could challenge their second marriages.