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8 episodes
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Ottoman Lives Parthenon
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- History
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4.6 • 88 Ratings
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The Ottoman Empire lasted for six hundred years and dominated the Middle East and Europe, from Budapest to Baghdad and everything in between. The sultans ruled three continents. But they didn't do it on their own. This podcast looks at the cast of characters who made the empire run: the sultan, the queen mother, the peasant, the janissary, the harem eunuch, the holy man, and the outlaw.
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Prologue to Ottoman Lives
A few announcements about the series before we begin.
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The Janissary
In this first episode we look at the person of the Janissary, who was part of the most elite fighting force in late medieval Europe and personal bodyguard to the Ottoman Sultan. They were technically slaves to the sultan who born as Christians, taken...
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The Sultan
The office of the sultan changed dramatically over the six centuries of the Ottoman Empire. The first sultan, Osman, was a medieval nomadic chieftain whose domains existed on the edge of the Byzantine Empire. He and his party accumulated wealth...
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The Peasant
Peasants made up 90% of the population of the Ottoman Empire, but to the sultan and his court, they were little more than a flock of livestock. In fact, the exact same word was used to describe a subject of the sultan and a group of sheep or cattle....
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The Harem Eunuch
A eunuch who served in the Ottoman Imperial Harem in was typically born in Ethiopia, captured by a slave trader, castrated, and sold in Egyptian slave markets, then shipped to Istanbul's imperial palace. As such, eunuchs occupied positions of...
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The Concubine
To foreign observers the most exotic aspect of the Ottoman Empire was always the harem. Novelists let their imaginations run wild about what the Sultan did in the concealed parts of his palace with his four wives and dozens of concubines. But...
Customer Reviews
Simple
Simple to the point summary of what you want to know regarding the ottomans
Very Intresting
Never had much of an interest in the Ottomans out side of them bringing roman history to a final close. But these stories about their live makes me want to research more on this empire of six hundred years.
Enjoyable companion while hiking
I always found Ottoman Empire so interesting, and will keep learning thanks to this type of content 👍