Çiçek Hatun

The origins of Çiçek are controversial. Serbian, Greek, Venetian or French origins are attributed to her.{{sfn|Babinger|1992|p=173}}{{sfn|Uluçay|1985|p=41}}{{sfn|Süreyya Bey|1969|p=140}}{{sfn|Cem|2004|p=88}}{{sfn|Tektaş|2004|p=63}}{{sfn|Yılmaz|1996|p=14}}{{sfn|Baysun|1946|p=11}}{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2007|p=57}}

She was captured in Constantinople on 29 May 1453, during the Ottoman capture of the city.Guerdan, Rene ́, Byzantium: its triumphs and tragedy, Allen & Unwin, 1956 p. 219-220

Many boys and girls were captured in to slavery in the Ottoman Empire during the fall of Constantinople, also by the Sultan himself,Guerdan, Rene ́, Byzantium: its triumphs and tragedy, Allen & Unwin, 1956 p. 219-220 and according to Nicolas de Nicolay, slaves were displayed naked at the city's slave market, and young girls could be purchased.{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=Alan |title=A Precarious Balance |date=2010 |publisher=Gorgias Press |location=Piscataway, NJ |page=151 |chapter=The Sale of Slaves in the Ottoman Empire: Markets and State Taxes on Slave Sales, Some Preliminary Considerations}}

After her enslavement, Çiçek Hatun was given as a concubine to Sultan Mehmed II.Guerdan, Rene ́, Byzantium: its triumphs and tragedy, Allen & Unwin, 1956 p. 219-220

She gave birth to her only son, Şehzade Cem, on 22 December 1459.{{sfn|Babinger|1992|p=173}} According to Turkish tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors as a part of their training. After the death of Cem's older brother in 1474, Şehzade Mustafa, he was assigned as the governor of Konya and Çiçek accompanied him.{{sfn|Peirce|1993|p=47}}

After Cem's first defeat in the succession war following his father's death in 1481, the prince, Çiçek Hatun, and the rest of his household took refuge with the Mamluk Sultan in Cairo.{{sfn|Uluçay|1985|p=41}}{{sfn| Har-El |1995|p=105}} Of all the members of Cem's household, Çiçek Hatun was his most devoted ally. Gedik Ahmed Pasha, who had been a tutor to Cem, failed to supply the prince with the support he confidently accepted his challenge to the enthronement of his older brother Bayezid.{{sfn|Peirce|1993|p=47-8}} Although Cem was deserted by his tutor, he was well served by his mother Çiçek Hatun.{{sfn|Peirce|1993|p=48}}

After a second defeat of Cem by Bayezid in 1482, Cem fled to Rhodes, where he was received by, Pierre d'Aubusson, Grand Master of the order of St. John of Jerusalem and a zealous opponent of the Ottoman Empire.{{sfn| Har-El |1995|p=112}} Later on, D'Aubusson concluded a peace treaty with Bayezid, and then reached a separate agreement on Cem's captivity. He promised Bayezid to detain Cem in return for an annual payment of 35,000 ducats for his maintenance. Therefore, the Knights took the money and betrayed Cem, who thereafter became a well-treated prisoner at Rhodes.{{sfn| Har-El |1995|p=117}}

In Egypt, Çiçek Hatun, was urging the Sultan through his wife to free and bring her son to Egypt.{{sfn|Yurdusev|2016|p=83}}{{sfn|Journal of Turkish Studies|1979|p=219}} The letters carried by a certain Nicolas de Nicosie revealed that Cem had been communicating with his mother.{{sfn| Har-El |1995|p=120}} Çiçek Hatun's efforts to bring her son to Egypt and use her influence in the Mamluk court by urging Qaitbay to help her in this attempt were brought to Bayezid's attention through intelligence reports from Cairo.{{sfn| Har-El |1995|p=121}} D'Aubusson used Cem to control Çiçek Hatun and Qaitbay and to wield from them twenty thousand gold pieces by pretending to bring Cem to Egypt.{{sfn| Har-El |1995|p=129}}

Çiçek struggled on Cem's behalf for years and served as his principal ally in his efforts to free himself from the European captivity he encountered after his defeat by his brother.{{sfn|Peirce|1993|p=48}}

She died on 3 May 1498{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2007|p=157}} of Plague and was buried in Cairo.{{sfn|Uluçay|1985|p=41}} Cem's corpse, however, was returned from Naples, where he died, and was buried in the tomb of his elder brother, Mustafa.{{sfn|Peirce|1993|p=50}}

By Mehmed II, she had a son:

• Şehzade Cem (22 December 1459 - 25 February 1495). He proclaimed himself Sultan and fought for the throne against his half-brother, Bayezid II. Defeated, he fled to Italy, where he died as a hostage in Capua, in the Kingdom of Naples. He had at least three sons and two daughters. His son Murad converted to Christianity and became Prince of Sayd.

Çiçek Hatun is played by Gamze Özçelik in the 2013 Turkish series Fatih.{{Citation|title=Fatih (TV Mini-Series 2013)|url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3150390/fullcredits/cast?ref_=m_tt_cl_sc|access-date=2019-04-17}}

{{reflist|3}}

{{Col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

• {{cite book|first=Franz |last=Babinger|title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-691-01078-6}}
• {{cite book|first=M. Çağatay |last=Uluçay|title=Padişahların kadınları ve kızları|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu|year=1985}}
• {{cite book|first=Leslie P. |last=Peirce|title=The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1993|isbn=978-0-195-08677-5}}
• {{cite book|first=Mehmet |last=Süreyya Bey|title=Osmanlı devletinde kim kimdi, Volume 1|publisher=Küğ Yayını|year=1969}}
• {{cite book|first=A. |last=Yurdusev|title=Ottoman Diplomacy: Conventional or Unconventional?|publisher=Springer|date=January 28, 2016|isbn=978-0-230-55443-6}}
• {{cite book|title=Journal of Turkish Studies|publisher=Harvard University Printing Office|year=1979|ref={{SfnRef|Journal of Turkish Studies|1979}}}}

{{col-break}}

• {{cite book|first=Hasan |last=Cem|title=Osmanlı tarihinde katledilen şehzadeler|publisher=Geçit Kitabevi|year=2004|isbn=978-9-757-69989-7}}
• {{cite book|first=Nazım |last=Tektaş|title=Harem'den taşanlar|publisher=Çatı|year=2004|isbn=978-9-758-84502-6}}
• {{cite book|first=Muammer |last=Yılmaz|title=Cem Sultan|publisher=Springer|year=1996}}
• {{cite book|first=Cavid |last=Baysun|title=Cem Sultan: hayati ve ṣiirleri|publisher=Ahmet Halit Kitabevi|year=1946}}
• {{cite book|first=Necdet |last=Sakaoğlu|title=Famous Ottoman Women|publisher=Avea|year=2007}}
• {{cite book|first=Shai |last=Har-El|title=Struggle for Domination in the Middle East: The Ottoman-Mamluk War, 1485-91|publisher=BRILL|year=1995|isbn=978-9-004-10180-7}}

{{Col-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cicek Hatun}}

Category:1498 deaths

Category:15th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans

Category:Concubines of Ottoman sultans

Category:15th-century slaves from the Ottoman Empire

Category:15th-century women from the Ottoman Empire

Category:Sexual slavery during wars