The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States,

Canada, and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.

Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling,

wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders,

environment, and geography.

I invite you to come along for the ride!

Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, the unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes,

Mythbust's historical lies, and rediscover the forgotten stories that changed our world.

I'm your host, Scott Rank.

And everyone today is one of those in-between episodes where I answer any question that you have.

Today's question comes from Eric Crawford, and he asks this,

how did the Herum system work?

Okay, the Herum.

Well, this is a question that I can answer with at least some level of authority.

My doctoral research was in Ottoman studies, the Ottoman Empire was an empire in the Middle East,

and the Herum is fascinating.

Now, it comes to mind when you say Herum, the idea that's existed in Western imagination for centuries,

in paintings and literature, is a place where beautiful women are secluded, and a Sultan

comes in after a hard day of ruling, and he has ten or fifteen or however many women around him,

whom he can have endless orgies with.

Well, if that is your idea of a Herum, then you, my friend, are not ready to be a polygamist.

Let's back up a little bit and talk about polygamy.

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