Ottoman Sultans kept a harem of hundreds of enslaved concubines to bear their children. But from 1533 to 1656 a handful of remarkable women bent the harem system to their wills and exercised extraordinary political influence and power. This period is known as the The Sultanate of Women.
Hürrem Sultan
Mihrimah Sultan
Nurbanu Sultan
Safiye Sultan
Handan S ... Show More
Nov 3
Empress Matilda - England’s First Queen Regnant?
I have profiled all of England’s remarkable Queens who ruled in their own right. Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. But there’s one more fascinating woman I simply must profile to complete the set; Empress Matilda. She was sent to Germany as a child t ... Show More
32m 48s
Mar 2022
International, part 5: Hürrem Sultan: From Slavery To Queen (pt 1/2)
Hürrem Sultan, aka Haseki Sultan, aka Roxelana, was born around 1502 and was captured and sold into slavery as a young girl. She caught the attention of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and wound up shattering all kinds of glass ceilings for women, the enslaved, and concubines a ... Show More
1h 8m
Aug 2018
The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages, Part 3: Elizabeth of Tudor and Ottoman Queen Mother Kösem Sultan
This is the third in our three-part series on the most powerful women in the Middle Ages. To wrap things up we will explore the lives of two female rulers — one very famous, the other almost unknown. They are Elizabeth I of Tudor and Ottoman Queen Mother Kösem Sultan.<br><br>Eliz ... Show More
58m 28s
Apr 2022
International, part 6: Hürrem Sultan, Sultana Era (pt 2/2)
This is the second part of a two-part episode about Hürrem Sultan. It will make most sense if you listen to part one first! Hürrem Sultan, aka Haseki Sultan, aka Roxelana, was born around 1502 and was captured and sold into slavery as a young girl. She caught the attention of the ... Show More
58m 58s
Apr 2024
Kosem Sultan part 2
When we last left Kosem Sultan, she was already super powerful, but with the death of her eldest son, Murad IV, she's now about to start a life of a new kind of power under her unwell son, Ibrahim. Ibrahim, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has gone down in history as Ibrahim the Mad, ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2021
Rebels, hostages and diplomats: royal women of the crusader states
Katherine Pangonis chronicles the formidable line of female rulers that shaped the crusader states of the Holy Land in the 12th century
Katherine Pangonis, author of Queens of Jerusalem, chronicles the formidable line of female rulers that shaped the crusader states of the Holy ... Show More
53m 16s