Inside the Royal Harems of the Ottoman Empire

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

History, Education, Scandal, Sex, Society

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You can't move for people talking about the Roman Empire or the British Empire, but what about the Ottoman Empire?

It spanned a huge period of time and at the heart of it was the Royal harem: enslaved women who lived in closed-off servitude to the Sultan.

Peaking in the 17th century, who were these women? What were their lives like inside the palace? And why have westerners been particularly fascinated by this part of history?

Joining Kate today is Dr Michael Talbot, Professor in the History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Middle East at University of Greenwich, to help us find out.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, my lovely betwixters. It's me, Kate Lister. You are listening to Bertwix the Sheeds. Hello. Welcome back. It's lovely to see you again. But before we can continue together, I do have to give you the fair do's warning. Kate, what's the fair do's warning? Well, it's the warning that we have to give you to let you know that. This is an adult podcast, broken by adults to other adults
0:20.9	about adulty things and an adulty way you're coming arranged. Adults subjects to be an adult too.
0:24.2	And once you've heard that little lot and you keep listening, if you get upset, well,
0:27.7	fair do's, that one's on you. We did tell you. Right on with the show.
0:34.5	Well, hello again, betwixters. You join me in 16th century Istanbul, deep in Topkapi Palace,
0:41.4	at the heart of the Ottoman Empire. And we've got everything here. This is a self-contained city
0:46.9	with its own kitchens, baths, schools, gardens, and its own harem. Of course it does. Within this hidden world are hundreds and hundreds of
0:58.3	women, most of whom are enslaved and they are here to service one man, the Sultan. But who are
1:06.5	these women? Where did they come from? What goes on inside these walls when they're not seeing the Sultan? Well, let's do some sneaking around to find out more. I'm Hello and welcome back to Betwixt the Sheets, The history of sex scandal in society with me, Kate Lister.
1:46.6	Many of you have asked and we are only too happy to respond. In today's episode, we are finally
1:53.0	taking you inside the Royal Harim's of the Ottoman Empire. And wow, the Ottoman Empire really is
2:00.8	something of a blind spot in Western understanding.
2:03.9	And it was around for a hell of a long time, you know, from the 13th century until the 20th century.
2:09.3	And yet, it barely gets a look in when we're talking about historical fiction or dramas,
2:15.6	at least in the West. Why would that be, I wonder?
2:19.2	Hmm.
2:20.2	Well, today we are bringing it front and centre with a fantastic Dr. Michael Talbot,
2:24.7	professor in the history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East at the University
2:29.2	of Greenwich.
2:30.4	This was a fantastic episode, if I do say so myself, and so rest assured we will be coming back to the Ottomans in the future.
2:37.3	But without further ado, let's crack on.
2:46.0	Hello and welcome to Betwixt the Sheets. It's only Michael Talbot. How are you doing? I'm fine. Thank you. How
	...

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