Busbecq was in Constantinople on a diplomatic mission, but he was also a scholar writing to another scholar. Thus, in addition to discussions of Turkish politics, he offered descriptions of Turkish society, customs, religion, plants, and animals. His letters often jump from one topic to another, moving swiftly from the details of diplomatic negotiations to observations on the usefulness of camels. In this excerpt, Busbecq offers an account of the “high standard of morality which obtains among the Turkish women.” The passage is remarkable because Busbecq refrains from passing judgment on Turkish morality, or even hinting that European customs were superior; his tone is that of a scholar offering an objective description of an interesting phenomenon. Nonetheless, it does include an implied criticism of Hürrem. As you read the passage, ask yourself what connections Busbecq might have made between Turkish morality and Turkish politics. Is his account really as neutral and objective as it appears to be?

I will now pass to another topic and tell you about the high standard of morality which obtains among the Turkish women. The Turks set greater store than any other nation on the chastity of their wives. Hence they keep them shut up at home, and so hide them that they hardly see the light of day. If they are obliged to go out, they send them forth so covered and wrapped up that they seem to passers-by to be mere ghosts and spectres. They themselves can look upon mankind through their linen or silken veils, but no part of their persons is exposed to man’s gaze. The Turks are convinced that no woman who possesses the slightest attractions of beauty or youth can be seen by a man without exciting his desires and consequently being contaminated by his thoughts. Hence all women are kept in seclusion. Their brothers, it is true, are allowed to see them, but not their husbands’ brothers. Men of the wealthier classes and higher ranks make it a condition, when they marry, that their wives shall never set foot outside their houses, and that no man or woman shall on any pretext whatever be admitted to visit them. This prohibition includes even their nearest relatives, except their fathers and mothers, who are allowed to visit their daughters at the Turkish Easter. If the wife is the daughter of a man of very high rank or has brought an unusually large dowry, the husband undertakes on his part not to keep any concubines but to be faithful to one wife. Otherwise, no law forbids a Turk to take as many concubines as he likes in addition to his lawful wife; and there is no distinction between the children of wives and those of concubines, but both are held to possess the same rights. Concubines may be either purchased or acquired in war, and when they are tired of them there is nothing to prevent them sending them to the slave-market and selling them. They obtain their freedom, however, if they bear children. Advantage was taken of this privilege by Roxolana, Suleiman’s wife, when she had borne him a son while she was still a slave. Having thus obtained her freedom and become her own mistress, she refused to have anything more to do with Suleiman, who was deeply in love with her, unless he made her his lawful wife, thus violating the custom of the Ottoman Sultans. The dowry is the only thing which distinguishes a lawful wife from a concubine; for no slave has a dowry. A marriage-portion confers upon a woman the right to be mistress of her husband’s household and gives her authority over all the other women. The husband, however, has the right to choose with whom he shall pass the night; he intimates his wishes to his wife, who sends him the slave whom he has selected. The latter perhaps obeys with more alacrity than the other gives the order. One night a week is reserved for the wife, namely, Friday, which is their feast day, and she has a right to complain if her husband defrauds her of it. Of the other nights he may dispose as he pleases.

Divorces are granted amongst the Turks on many pretexts, which husbands can easily contrive. A divorced wife has her dowry restored to her, unless the separation has been due to some reproach against her. Wives have more difficulty in divorcing their husbands. Amongst the reasons for which it is granted are the failure on the part of the husband to supply his wife with the necessities of life and unnatural behaviour on his part. The wife then appears before the judge and testifies that she can no longer live with her husband; when the judge inquires the reason, without giving any answer she takes off her shoe and turns it upside down. This indicates to the judge the treatment which she has received from her husband.

Men of position who possess large harems put them under the charge of eunuchs. . . . They also have baths in their houses for the use of themselves and their womenfolk; the poorer classes use the public baths. They hate uncleanliness of the body as though it were a crime, and regard it as worse than impurity of the soul; hence their frequent ablutions. Since the majority of the women make use of the women’s public baths, great numbers both of free women and of slaves congregate there, amongst whom are many girls of extraordinary beauty brought together by various chances from every quarter of the world.

Source: Edward Seymour Forster, The Turkish Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927), pp. 117–120.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER