Appendix 2 Names

On the Names

Galina Yermolenko

Traditionally, Western historians have used the Turkish spellings of the names and terms related to the Ottoman Empire, often omitting the umlaut and other diacritical marks of the Turkish alphabet: e.g., Hurrem (in place of Hürrem), Suleyman, Sulayman, or Suleiman (in place of Süleyman), Ibrahim Pasha (in place of Ibrahim Pa$a), Rustem Pasha (in place of Rüstem Pa$a), Istanbul (in place of Istanbul).

In European dramatic and literary texts, the names of these characters often followed established Western spellings. The name Hurrem was practically unknown in Europe probably until the nineteenth century, when it appeared in several multi­volume histories of the Ottoman Empire (e.g., Khurrem or Churrem in Joseph von Hammer’s Geschichte des Osmanishen Reiches and Histoire de l’Empire ottoman, respectively). Early modern western texts used the names Rossa, Roxolana, or their variants, which often reflected geographical and ethnic differences: e.g., Rossa (Italian); Rose (French), Rosa (English); Rosa Solimana, Roxa (Spanish); Reussin (German); Roxelane, Roxolane (French); Roxelana, Roxalana (English, German); Rosselane, Rosselana (Italian); Roksolana (Polish, Ukrainian), and Roksoliana (western Ukrainian). Occasionally she was called Roxana (by association with the wife of Alexander the Great) or Roxane (French), or simply Regina [Ital. ‘Queen’], laReyne [Fr. ‘the Queen’], and the (Grand) Sultana. Modern historical and literary texts use either Hurrem or one of the variations of Roxolana listed above. Such diversity of variations testifies to the legendary, transcultural, and transnational status of the Roxolana figure.

The name Soliman and its variants (Solyman, Solimann, Solymann, Soleiman) were used predominantly throughout the early modern Western Europe.^[607] It should also be noted that in the early modern period, Soliman I was sometimes referred to as Soliman II, because the biblical King Solomon was considered to be Soliman I. In Turkish history Kanuni Sultan Süleyman [‘Sultan Suleiman the Lawgiver’] was the first (I); another Ottoman sultan by that name was Sultan Süleyman II (r. 1687-1691).

There is a considerable variation in the name of Hurrem’s hunchback son. In Turkish texts, he is Cihangir. In modern western texts, the name is often Jihangir, reflecting the pronunciation of the Turkish c as the English j. However, in early modern European sources, his name was spelled variously as Cingir, Giangir, Gianger, Zanger, Zeangir, or Jangir.

Roxolana’s daughter Mihrimah is seldom, if at all, mentioned by that name in early modern western historical and literary texts. In some early modern plays and chronicles, she is called Camena or Cameria (Chameria, Chamerie).

Rustem Pasha’s name also appeared in various spellings throughout the ages: Rostan, Rosten, Rvstan/Rustan, Rvsten/Rusten, Rvstam/Rustam, Rvstem/Rustem, and Roostem. The title Pasha was often spelt as Bassa in the early modern period.

On the Origins of the Name Roxolana

Oleksander Halenko

It was the Habsburg’s ambassador to the Porte, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, who invented the name Roxolana and introduced it to the European audience in his Turcicae epistolae [Turkish Letters}.^{[608] [609] His invention was dictated by the epistolary style chosen for his report. Unlike Venetian and French diplomats, who wrote their reports in Italian and French, Busbecq wrote his letters in Latin, the only suitable medium for a memorandum addressing the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The medium dictated a choice of ethnic names as well. They were to be mentioned by ancient authors with regard to a given territory and to resemble phonetically the name of contemporary people living on the territory.}

Ruthenian was another option for Busbecq, but, as can be seen from the passage above, it was rather colloquial, so he chose a more “scholarly” term. Having no reliable information about the ethnic origin of Roxolana’s rival in the Sultan’s harem, Busbecq also invented the name for her, Bosporana,^[612] which was derived from Bosporos Cimmerius (the ancient name for the Strait of Kerch in the Crimea, Ukraine).

Thus, the adoption of the name Roxolana for a Turkish sultana of a Ukrainian (then Ruthenian) origin was rooted in the diplomatic practices of the sixteenth century and the contemporary literary tastes of Western and Central Europe. This invented name was accepted throughout Europe very rapidly, owing to the great popularity of Busbecq’s Turkish Letters, which were reprinted many times by the end of the sixteenth century and were later translated into several European languages.^[613]

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