| The first favourite of Sultan Mehmed IV and the mother of his successors Mustapha II and Ahmed III was the Sultana Gülnûs (c. 1643-1715), originally from Rethymnon. Copperplates by the French engravers Larmessin and Jollain and the Flemish van Merlen preserve her baptismal name of Eumenia and certain of her personal features which are confirmed by other sources. A report by the Venetian Bailo (emissary) at Constantinople Giovanni Battista Donato also mentions her surname: Vergitsi. The family is indeed found in Rethymnon in sources of the late Venetian period. The unexpected fate of the Christian slave who converted to Islam and managed to distinguish herself through her beauty and cleverness, gave rise to at least two folksongs with several variations. |