Teresa Sampsonia

Teresa Sampsonia
Lady Shirley as painted by Anthony van Dyck in Rome, 1622
Born	Sampsonia 1589 Safavid Empire
Died	1668 (aged 79) Rome, Papal States
Resting place	Santa Maria della Scala 41°53′27.81″N 12°28′3.31″E / 41.8910583°N 12.4675861°E / 41.8910583; 12.4675861
Spouse(s)	Robert Shirley

Teresa Sampsonia^{[lower-alpha 1]} (born Sampsonia; after marriage Lady Teresa Sampsonia Shirley, 1589–1668) was a Safavid noblewoman. She was the wife of Elizabethan English adventurer Robert Shirley, whom she accompanied on his travels and embassies across Europe in the name of the Safavid emperor Abbas the Great (r. 1588–1629).

After her husband died of dysentery, and due to impediments from grandees at the court and the authorities during the reign of Abbas' successor and grandson Safi (r. 1629–1642), she decided to leave Iran. She lived in a convent in Rome for the rest of her life, devoting her time to charity and religion. As a pious Christian and because of her love for her husband, Teresa had Shirley's remains transported to Rome from Isfahan and reburied; on the headstone of their mutual grave, she mentions their travels, and refers to her noble Circassian origins.

Teresa was received by many of the royal houses of Europe during the voyages, such as English crown prince Henry Frederick and Queen Anne (her child's godparents) and contemporary writers and artists such as Thomas Herbert and Anthony van Dyck. According to Herbert, Robert Shirley "was the greatest Traveller of his time"; however, he admired the "undaunted Lady Teresa" even more. An emancipated figure of the seventeenth century, due to her exploits Teresa has been described as someone who subverted patriarchal gender roles common to the Muslim and Christian cultures of her time. Due to their hybrid identities and adventures, Teresa and her husband became the subject of numerous contemporary literary and visual works.

Early life and marriage

Portraits of Robert Shirley and Teresa Sampsonia, c. 1624–1627. Shirley is wearing Persian clothing; Teresa, in the European (English) fashion of the day, holds a jewelled flintlock pistol in her right hand and a watch in her left.^{[3][lower-alpha 2]} Teresa's veil and jewelled crown are a variation on the headdresses worn by Iranian women from Isfahan in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.^[6]

Teresa was born in 1589 into a noble Orthodox Christian (Greek or Georgian Orthodoxy) Circassian family in the Safavid Empire,^[7] ruled at the time by King (Shah) Abbas the Great. She was named Sampsonia by birth. The daughter of Ismail Khan, a brother-in-law of the King,^[8] she grew up in Isfahan in the Iranian royal court as a reportedly beautiful, accomplished horsewoman who enjoyed embroidery and painting.^{[9][lower-alpha 3]}

On 2 February 1608, with the approval of her aunt and Abbas,^[11] Teresa married Robert Shirley in Iran.^{[12][lower-alpha 4]} Shirley was an English adventurer who was sent to the Safavids after a Persian embassy was sent to Europe to forge an alliance against the neighbouring Ottoman Empire, rivals of the Safavids.^[14] During Shirley's attendance at court, Teresa met him and fell in love.^[15] At about the time of their February 1608 marriage, she was baptised as a Roman Catholic by the Carmelites in Isfahan with the name Teresa.^{[16][lower-alpha 5]} Her baptismal name derives from the founder of the Discalced Carmelites, Teresa of Ávila.^[18]

Travels

Lady Teresa Shirley, painted c. 1611–1613 in England, and dressed in then contemporary attire. The embroidery on her dress includes honeysuckles, which are to signify love, as well as strawberries, as a symbol for fruitfulness. Additionally, these emblems may have a special meaning, as the Shirley's child, Henry, was born during this short stay in England.

Teresa accompanied Shirley on his diplomatic missions to England and other royal houses in Europe for King Abbas. On their first embassy trip together, Teresa and Shirley visited the Grand Duke of Muscovy, Pope Paul V in Rome and the King of Poland. In Poland, Teresa remained in a convent in Kraków for some time, while her husband visited Prague, where Emperor Rudolph II (r. 1576–1612) bestowed the title of Count Palatine on him.^[19] He arrived in Rome on 27 September 1609 and met Ali Qoli Beg (the King's ambassador, with whom they had an audience with the Pope) before leaving for Savoy, France, Flanders and Spain.^[20] Teresa then rejoined him in Lisbon via Hamburg; thereafter they went to Madrid.^[21] There, Teresa came to know the Carmelite nuns, particularly Mother Beatrix de Jesus (the niece of Saint Teresa, from whom she received a relic of Teresa.^[22]

Teresa and Shirley then left for Holland and England.^[23] Their only child, a son named Henry, "probably the first child born in England of Iranian descent", was born in November 1611 at the Shirley home in Sussex.^{[24][lower-alpha 6]} His godparents were the Prince of Wales, for whom he was named, and Queen Anne.^[27] On their way back to Safavid Iran in 1613, they decided to turn young Henry over either to the care of the queen^[28] or Robert's own family in Sussex.^[29]

During Shirley's diplomatic missions, Robert and Teresa's portraits were painted several times. Although he cultivated a Near Eastern air, she posed in the European fashion of the day but retained a symbolic item familiar to Perso-Georgian painting (a pistol in one portrait, said to refer to her saving Shirley from bandits or to indicate her noble family).^[30]

On Teresa's last mission with her husband they visited Rome briefly between 22 July and 29 August 1622, where Anthony van Dyck (then 23 years old) painted both their portraits.^[31] The couple then went to Poland, and visited England in 1623 for the last time. They sailed for the Safavid Empire in 1627 with Dodmore Cotton, an envoy from the King of England to Persia and other courts.^[32] On the way back, Teresa reportedly saved her husband's life on two occasions; for this, the Carmelite records praised her as "a true Amazon".^[33]

Returning to Qazvin (the former capital) from the last mission with Shirley, he and Teresa were rewarded by the King with valuable gifts. Shirley and Cotton, however, became seriously ill with fever (probably dysentery),^[34] shortly after their arrival.^[35]

Departure from Safavid kingdom and later life

Shirley and Teresa were troubled by the jealousy of several nobles and grandees at court, who spread a rumour that Teresa was a Muslim before she became a Christian.^[36] They disgraced her to the King, and it was published in the court that the King intended to execute her by burning.^[37] Fifteen days after hearing the report, Robert died of fever on 13 July 1628 in Qazvin at the royal court. According to his wishes, he was buried in the Barefoot Carmelite church in Isfahan.^[38] The King summoned Teresa, asking her why the grandees were so opposed to her. She remained silent to protect them; the King advised her not to be afraid, because it would be harder for him to put one woman to death than a hundred men.^[39] Some of his corrupt officials plundered her wealth; Teresa became severely ill, and was moved to Isfahan to receive the sacraments from the priests. She recovered and decided to move to a Christian land.^[40]

In the Safavid Empire women were prohibited from traveling abroad without permission,^[41] and the Carmelites in Isfahan asked the governor of Shiraz, Emamqoli Khan, son of the celebrated Allahverdi Khan (one of Abbas' closest associates), for consent on her behalf.^[42] However, a favourite of his wanted to marry Teresa and reminded Emamqoli Khan of the report that she was a Muslim before she was a Christian. She was ordered to appear before a mullah in a mosque, who would question her about her past and her religion.^[43] This was unacceptable to the Carmelites, who asked the governor to have Teresa questioned in the church of the Carmelite fathers.^[44] The mullah rejected this however; an agreement was reached that the happening would take place in the home of a steward of the governor of Shiraz, who was a friend of the Carmelite Fathers.^[45] She was questioned for an hour before she was allowed to go home.^[46]

Etching of Teresa, Lady Shirley, possibly late 18th century. Made after an illustration by van Dyck.

Safavid Iran was disturbed by the death of King Abbas a few months after Shirley's death. Abbas' grandson, Safi, succeeded him; compared to his grandfather, Safi was less consistent in his religious toleration. The favourite of Emamqoli Khan, who still wanted to marry Teresa, sent his servants to the Carmelites in Isfahan to capture her. The priests denied knowing where she was, and they advised her to take refuge in the Church of Saint Augustine in New Julfa (the Armenian quarter in Isfahan).^[47] The priests were brought to the favourite's house and threatened with torture before they were released.^[48]

The mullah asked Emamqoli Khan for permission to question Teresa again. Since he favoured the Carmelite Fathers, and didn't want to insult the mullah at the same time, he said that the matter concerned Isfahan prefect (darugha) Khosrow Mirza.^[49] The prefect, also a Georgian, had Teresa arrested and brought before him; a judge questioned her about her religion. She professed her Christianity, saying that she would die "a thousand times" for it.^[50] The judge accused her of lying and threatened to burn her alive if she did not convert to Islam. When Teresa refused, the judge threatened to have her thrown from a tower; she said that would suit her better, because she would die (and go to heaven) more quickly.^[51] According to the Carmelites, the judge was shamed by her reminder of Shirley's service; he thus ended the questioning and reported to the prefect of Isfahan (who allowed Teresa to return to her house and had the mullah dismissed).^[52] The Carmelite Fathers received the necessary permission from the governor of Shiraz in September 1629.^[53] Teresa's departure was documented in a letter from Father Dimas in the Carmelite archives in Rome:

18.9.1629 ... The lady Countess Donna Teresa, who was the consort of the late Count Palatine Don Robert Sherley, leaves here for Rome; she is a lady of great spirit and valour ... In these parts, she has been an apostle and a martyr confessed and professed ...

— Father Dimas^[54]

Santa Maria della Scala in the Trastevere rione of Rome, where Teresa remained for the rest of her life

The headstone of Teresa and Robert Shirley in the Santa Maria della Scala

After three years in Safavid Iran since returning from her last trip with her husband, Teresa left her country of birth forever. She lived in Constantinople for three years, receiving a certificate from the commissary general of the Dominicans in the East on 21 June 1634 attesting to her pious conduct.^[55] Around that time, she decided to retire to a convent in Rome which was attached to the Carmelite Santa Maria della Scala church. On 27 December 1634 she arrived in Rome and was received kindly by Pope Urban VIII, who entrusted her to the Carmelites.^[56] Teresa bought a house next to the church;^[57] in 1658 she had Robert's remains transported from Isfahan to Rome, where he was reburied in the convent.^[58] In the Carmelite convent, she devoted herself to charity and religion until her death at age 79 in 1688.^[59] Teresa was buried at the convent, where she had lived for forty years.^[60] She had the headstone inscribed, "Deo Optimo Maximo Roberto Sherleyo Anglo Nobilissimo Comiti Cesareo Equiti Aurato Rodulfi II Imperatori Legato Ad Scia Abbam Regem Persarum et Eiusdeum Regis Secundo Ad Romanos Pontifices Imperatores Reges Hispaniae Angliae Poloniae Moscoviae Mogorri Aliosque Europae Principes Inclito Oratori. Theresia Sampsonia Amazonites Samphuffi Circassiae Principes Filia Viro Amatissimo et Sibi Posuit Illius Ossibus Suisque Laribus In Urbem E Perside Pietatis Ergo Translatis Annos Nata LXXIX MDCLXVIII" (translated by David W. Davies as "To God, the Best and Greatest. For Robert Sherley, most noble Englishman, Count Palatine, Knight of the Golden Spur, Emperor Rudolph II's envoy to Shah Abbas, the King of Persia, (and) the representative of the same King to the Popes of Rome, to Emperors, to the Kings of Spain, England, Poland, Muscovy, and the Mogul Empire, distinguished ambassador to other European princes. Theresia Sampsonia, native of the region of the Amazons, daughter of Samphuffus, prince of Circassia, set up [this monument] for her most beloved husband and for herself, as a resting place for his bones—brought to Rome from Persia for dutiful devotion’s sake — and for her own, aged seventy-nine. 1668.").^{[61][lower-alpha 7]} This text shows that Teresa subverted the patriarchal gender roles common to the Muslim and Christian cultures of her time.^[64]

On culture

The "hybrid identities" and adventures of Teresa and her husband inspired a wide variety of literary and visual works.^[65] As his "exotic wife with an even more exotic life story", Teresa, together with her husband, who dressed in the "Persian garb" as "ambassador" of the "Great Sophy", sparked a great deal of curiosity and interest "in the popular psyche" of their contemporaries in the West.^[66] During her journeys between Persia and Europe, Teresa was noted by contemporary writers, artists and European royal houses. According to travel writer Thomas Herbert, Robert Shirley "was the greatest Traveller of his time", but Herbert admired the "undaunted Lady Teresa" even more, whose "faith was ever Christian, her parents so" and her country of ultimate origin Circassia.^[67] In the small circles in hich they went, they were sights to see for their rich, exotic attires.^[68] In every high-level meeting, Robert appeared in his high-status Persian attire "made of silk and silk velvet".^[69] Robert was Persianized to such a degree, that contemporary playwright and pamphleteer Thomas Middleton referred to him as the "famous English Persian".^[70]

Works inspired by the couple include two portraits by the well known Anthony van Dyck, "a series of pamphlets" in numerous languages as well as Jacobean stage plays including The Travels of the Three English Brothers.^[71] Lady Mary Wroth's Urania, "the first published work of fiction by an Englishwoman",^[72] was partially influenced by Teresia Sampsonia's travels to England with her husband Robert.^[73] Tuson (2013) argues that Teresa's story has been overshadowed by "the partly selfcreated myth of the Shirley's", who became the main subject of many of the contemporary "biographies as well as subsequent historical studies".^[74] In 2009, in London, there were two simultaneous exhibitions which featured Teresa and her husband: Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran (British Museum, February to June 2009) and Van Dyck and Britain (Tate Britain, February to May 2009).^[75]

See also

• Circassians in Iran
• Peoples of the Caucasus in Iran

Notes

References

Sources

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• Andrea, Bernadette (2017a). The Lives of Girls and Women from the Islamic World in Early Modern British Literature and Culture (1500–1630). University of Toronto Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-4875-0125-9.
• Andrea, Bernadette (2017b). "Islamic Communities". In Hiscock, Andrew; Wilcox, Helen. The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern English Literature and Religion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0191653421.
• Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85771-676-7.
• Brown, Christopher (1999). Van Dyck, 1599–1641. Rizzoli International Publications. pp. 1–359. ISBN 978-0-8478-2196-9.
• Canby, Sheila R. (2009). Shah ʻAbbas: The Remaking of Iran. British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-7141-2452-0.
• Cave, Edward, ed. (1844). The Gentleman's Magazine. 22. John Bowyer Nichols and sons.
• Chick, H.; Matthee, Rudi, eds. (2012). Chronicle of the Carmelites in Persia: The Safavids and the Papal Mission of the 17th and 18th Centuries. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 0-85772-206-9.
• Christensen, Thomas (2012). 1616: The World in Motion. Counterpoint Press. ISBN 978-1-58243-774-3.
• Eskandari-Qajar, Manoutchehr (2011). Katouzian, Homa, ed. "Persian Ambassadors, their Circassians, and the Politics of Elizabethan and Regency England". Iranian Studies. Routledge. 44 (2): 251–271. doi:10.1080/00210862.2011.541694.
• Floor, Willem M. (2008). Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers. ISBN 978-1933823232.
• Hannay, Margaret P. (2013). Mary Sidney, Lady Wroth. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-4094-7590-3.
• Globe, Alexander V. (1985). Peter Stent, London Printseller (circa 1642–1665). University of British Columbia Press. pp. 1–268. ISBN 978-0-7748-4141-2.
• Hearn, Karen (2009). Van Dyck and Britain. Tate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85437-858-3.
• Herbert, Thomas (1638). Some yeares travels into Africa and Asia. R. Bip.
• Johnson, Samuel; Stevens, George, eds. (1813). The Plays of William Shakespeare (6 ed.). London, UK: J. Nichols and Son.
• Lockhart, Laurence (1986). "European Contacts with Persia: 1350–1736". In Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence. The Cambridge History of Iran. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 373–412. ISBN 978-0521200943.
• Loosley, Emma (2012). "Ladies who Lounge: Class, Religion, and Social Interaction in Seventeenth-Century Isfahan". In Foxhall, Lin; Neher, Gabriele. Gender and the City before Modernity. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–272. ISBN 978-1-118-23445-7.
• Maclean, John, ed. (1860). Works of the Camden Society. Westminster, UK: J. B. Nichols and Sons.
• Miller, Naomi J. (1996). Changing The Subject: Mary Wroth and Figurations of Gender in Early Modern England. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813158846.
• Schwartz, Gary (2013). "The Sherleys and the Shah: Persia as the Stakes in a Rogue's Gambit". In Langer, Axel. The fascination of Persia: The Persian-European dialogue in seventeenth-century art & contemporary art of Teheran (PDF). Scheidegger and Spiess. pp. 78–99. ISBN 978-3858817396.
• Tuson, Penelope (2013). El Reyes, Abdulla, ed. "Liwa" (PDF). 5 (9). National Center for Documentation & Research. ISSN 1729-9039. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2014.
• Wheelock, Arthur K.; Barnes, Susan J.; Held, Julius Samuel, eds. (1990). Anthony van Dyck. National Gallery of Art. ISBN 978-0-89468-155-4.

Further reading

• Davis, Dick (2002). Belonging: Poems. Ohio University Press. pp. 18–20. ISBN 978-0-8040-4005-1.
• Maclean, Gerald (2011). Britain and the Islamic World: 1558–1713. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-161990-6.