Çiçek Hatun

Çiçek Hatun
Bornc. 1442
Died3 May 1498(1498-05-03) (aged 55–56)
Cairo, Mamluk Sultanate
(present day Egypt)
Burial
Cairo
Consort ofMehmed II
IssueŞehzade Cem
ReligionSunni Islam (converted)

Çiçek Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: چیچک خاتون; died 3 May 1498) was a concubine of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman Empire. She was the mother of Şehzade Cem,a claimant to the Ottoman throne.

Early years

The origins of Çiçek are controversial.[1][2][3] Serbian[1][2], Greek[1][2], Venetian[1][2], Turkish[3], French[1][2], or Hungarian[4] origins are attributed to her.[5][6][7][8]

According to one account, she was a Serbian noblewoman; according to another, she was a Greek captured during the fall of Constantinople. It has also been claimed that she was the niece of Hunyadi János, or that she was a Turk born in Bursa. However, none of these claims have been proven.[9]

The earliest and most reliable account is provided by the historian İbn İyas (d. 1523) in his chronicle Badā’iʿ al-Zuhūr fī Waqā’iʿ al-Duhūr. He describes Çiçek Hatun as “one of the female captives of the Imperial Palace.”[10]

According to Uluçay she became Mehmed II's concubine in 1457 or 1458.[1]

She gave birth to her only son, Şehzade Cem, on 22 December 1459.[3] According to Turkish tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors as a part of their training. In 1469, Cem was appointed governor of Kastamonu, and Çiçek Hatun accompanied him. In 1470 or 1471, they went to Istanbul for Cem’s circumcision ceremony. After the death of Cem's older brother, Şehzade Mustafa, in 1474, Cem was assigned as governor of Konya, and his mother Çiçek accompanied him once again.[11][12]

Exile

At Egypt

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.[1][13] 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.[14] Although Cem was deserted by his tutor, he was well served by his mother Çiçek Hatun.[15]

Cem's imprisonment

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.[16] 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.[17]

In Egypt, Çiçek Hatun, was urging the Sultan through his wife to free and bring her son to Egypt.[18][19] The letters carried by a certain Nicolas de Nicosie revealed that Cem had been communicating with his mother.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

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.[15]

Death

She died on 3 May 1498[23] of plague and was buried in Cairo.[1] Cem's corpse, however, was returned from Naples, where he died, and was buried in the tomb of his elder brother, Mustafa.[24]

Issue

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.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Uluçay 1985, p. 41.
  2. ^ a b c d e Süreyya Bey 1969, p. 140.
  3. ^ a b c Babinger 1992, p. 173.
  4. ^ Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler (in Turkish). Alfa Yayınları. p. 158. ISBN 9786051710792.
  5. ^ Cem 2004, p. 88.
  6. ^ Yılmaz 1996, p. 14.
  7. ^ Baysun 1946, p. 11.
  8. ^ Sakaoğlu 2007, p. 57.
  9. ^ Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler (in Turkish). Alfa Yayınları. p. 157. ISBN 9786051710792.
  10. ^ Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler (in Turkish). Alfa Yayınları. p. 159. ISBN 9786051710792.
  11. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 47.
  12. ^ İnalcık, Halil (2019). Fatih Sultan Mehemmed Han: İki Karanın Sultanı, İki Denizin Hakanı, Kayser-i Rum (in Turkish). TÜRKİYE İŞ BANKASI KÜLTÜR YAYINLARI. p. 763. ISBN 9786257999120.
  13. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 105.
  14. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 47-8.
  15. ^ a b Peirce 1993, p. 48.
  16. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 112.
  17. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 117.
  18. ^ Yurdusev 2016, p. 83.
  19. ^ Journal of Turkish Studies 1979, p. 219.
  20. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 120.
  21. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 121.
  22. ^ Har-El 1995, p. 129.
  23. ^ Sakaoğlu 2007, p. 157.
  24. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 50.
  25. ^ Fatih (TV Mini-Series 2013), retrieved 2019-04-17
  26. ^ "Mehmed Fetihler Sultanı'nın Kadrosuna Yeni Bir Oyuncu Daha Katıldı". 4 January 2026.
  27. ^ "Mehmed Fetihler Sultanı dizisinde Çiçek Hatun karakterini canlandıran Merve Üçer kimdir?". 4 January 2026.

Bibliography

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