77
of the Ottoman Empire during the last nine years of her
life (1574-1583). According to one story, at the age of twel-
ve she was abducted and taken to the Ottoman court by
the famed Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, du-
ring which time her true identity was lost. It would appear
that the Venetian senators arbitrarily decided to create a
new identity for her as Cecilie Venier-Baffo, whose father
was allegedly the Venetian noble Nicolò Venier. Other
sources identify Nūr Bānū with Kale Kartanou, the dau-
ghter of the Greek Nicholas Kártanos, abducted on Corfu
in 1537. Shrouded in a veil of mystery to this day, the dual
identity of the famed sultana, the first in a long line of wo-
men who actually administered the Empire’s affairs over
the next century, certainly had its political and probably
also private reasons. Regardless of her actual origin, the
fact was that the sultan’s mother demonstrated a great affi-
nity for the Venetian Republic in her policies, establishing
firm ties with it.
Why the Senate selected the
Gagliana grossa
to carry the
window panes is a matter of conjecture, but it is likely
that the loading was completed by the end of September,
and the ship was prepared to depart for Constantinople.
Additionally, the Venetian doge Niccolò da Ponte had re-
ceived two brocade suits, sent to Venice by Sultana Nūr
Bānū on the same ship two months earlier.
We do not know why the ship’s departure was delayed
karijeri obnašao u tri navrata.
Odobrenje Senata stiglo je tek tri mjeseca kasnije, a za ukr-
caj naručenih prozorskih stakala, o kojem je
bailo
izvije-
šten dana 24. rujna 1583., odabran je brod
Gagliana grossa
koji je već krajem kolovoza započeo s ukrcajem raznovr-
sne robe namijenjene carigradskom tržištu. Sudeći po osi-
guravajućim policama, u kolovozu su svoju robu ukrcali
portugalski Židov Zorzi Lopes Vas i Grci Nicolò Studo-
gnoti i Dimitri Colauro, a u rujnu trgovci kožomGiovanni
di Battista, Giovanni i Stefano di Silvestri.
Mletačko je gospodstvo odlučilo istim brodom oda-
slati i tri bale najfinije svile za poklon sultanovoj majci
(tur.
Wālide Sultān
) Nūr Bānū, ravnopravnoj suvladarici
Osmanskog Carstva tijekom posljednjih devet godina ži-
vota (1574-1583). Pričalo se kako ju je u dobi od dvanaest
godina oteo i priveo na osmanski dvor slavni turski admi-
ral Khair ad-Dîn zvan Barbarossa, pri čemu joj se zagubio
pravi identitet. Čini se da mletački senatori svojevoljno
pristali na stvaranje njezinog novog identiteta u liku Ceci-
lie Venier-Baffo, čiji je otac, navodno, bio mletački plemić
Nicolò Venier. Drugi izvori identificiraju Nūr Bānū s Kar-
tánou Kalí, kćerkom Grka Nicholasa Kártanosa, otetom
1537. na Krfu. Obavijen i danas velom tajne, dvostruki
identitet slavne sultanije, prve u nizu žena koje su tijekom
narednog stoljeća vodile ustvari politiku Carstva, imao je
zasigurno svoje političke, a vjerojatno i privatne razloge.
10. Sultan Murat III. (
11. Okrugla prozorska stakla u površinskom sloju nalazišta (mlet.
rui
) (foto: R. Mosković)
10. Sultan Murad III (
)
11. Round window pane at the surface layer of the site (Venet.
rui
),
(photograph by R. Mosković)
