In the wonderful television series "The Magnificent Century" one figure cannot be ignored, which played an important role in the fate of the Shah dynasty, as well as the entire Ottoman Empire. This is Rustem Pasha.
On the screen he was embodied by the brilliant Turkish actor Ozan Gyuven, who had already starred before in several sensational films: “Balalaika”, “Brave Ottomans”, “Second Spring” and others. Viewers who, with bated breath, watched Rustem Pasha's fast-paced career, repeatedly raised questions about which of the shown in the series is true, and which is the creative fiction of the scriptwriter?
Childhood and youth
Regarding this period of the life of the future son-in-law of Sultan Suleiman I, historical reality converges with the cinematic fruit of fantasy in only one way. Damat Opukovic was a Croat. He was born in 1500 in the city of Skradin. The rest is true Rustem Pasha’s biography is very different from that shown on the screen. Documents say nothing about his swineherd father. Moreover, little Opukovich arrives in Istanbul with his brother. Both of them are educated in the court madrasah.
Carier start
The film presents Rustem as a modest stabler. The screenwriter admits a psychological inconsistency: the noble spirit son-in-law Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska initially acts as a bandit not choosing means. So, in order to move up the career ladder, he cuts off a cinch of a horse that was run around by the head of the Sultan’s stables.
When he falls, a subordinate, instead of helping his boss, breaks his neck, passing off his death as an accident. The real biography of Rustem Pasha paints us with a completely different picture. Documents indicate that in the year of the battle of Mohach, the 26-year-old soldier became a squire, and after that he was appointed stables manager.
Service at Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska-Haseki-Sultan
That really was the case. For devotion in particularly difficult times, Roksolana tried in every way to reward Rustem. His appointments: first by the governor of Diyarbakir, in 1538 by the Beylerbey of Anatolia, and a year later by the Third Vizier - were initiated exclusively by the sultan's beloved wife. Rustem Pasha’s biography does not lie about his involvement in the execution of Shahzade Mustafa. For this, the sultan's son-in-law paid with disgrace, but was soon again called to court, since Suleiman I appreciated his advice in finance.
Marriage on the Mihrims-Sultan
According to Turkish legends Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska passed off her only daughter as her protege, she had barely turned 12 years old. And the bridegroom was supposedly over fifty at that time. But a detailed documented wedding date indicates otherwise: the newlyweds turned 17 and 39 years old. In this sense, the biography of Rustem Pasha is fully truthful. But historical feelings are silent about the feelings that they had for each other. Therefore, we can imagine that the young princess "dried up" by the handsome Balibey. By the way, the “louse story” is by no means fiction. The doctor who found the insect told the historian Ali Efendi about this (he received a decent reward for the find). After the marriage, Rustem Vizier got the nickname "Happy Lousy."
Conflicting data
Turkish historians of that era wrote that when Mustafa was executed, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was no longer needed in Rustem. Allegedly, she "shoved" an attempt on the Sultan against him, because of which the vizier was executed. What a mysterious man is this Rustem Pasha: the biography, the cause of death, and even its year in folk rumor and sources do not match. In fact, spouse Mikhrimakh died in 1561, July 10, from dropsy. His ashes rest in the Shehzade Mosque.