7 avril 2021
imarchand, « Gifting the Harem: Gendered Gifts Between the Ottoman Sultana and the English Queen - Mathilde Alazraki », Marges, histoires et monde anglophone XVII-XXIe, ID : 10670/1.kebbrx
“If She will never cease from (sending) such letters which foster the increase of sincerity and love (…) I shall endeavor for Her aims.” This sentence concludes the letter that the Ottoman Sultana Safiye (c. 1550-1621) wrote to Elizabeth I in 1593, in response to the English Queen’s own letter and gift that were sent to the Ottoman harem earlier in the same year. When thinking about the exchange of diplomatic gifts in the early modern period, one rarely thinks of women as active senders a...