Could Hurrem Sultan have saved a disgraced Anne Boelyn?
This is a slightly insane what if nobody's really brought up, so hear me out:
Hürrem Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was the legal wife of Sultan Süleiman the Magnificent. She held enormous influence at Süleiman's court and completely changed the conventions of the Ottoman imperial harem.
By the time Anne Boleyn's rapid decline in power began around 1536, Hürrem was already Haseki Sultan and one of the most influential women at the Ottoman court.
Meanwhile, geopolitically, the Franco-Ottoman relationship was already developing. Francis I was in conflict with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and increasingly needed Süleiman as a counterweight to Habsburg power. Anne also already had extensive connections to France and had spent part of her youth at the French court. It's therefore not entirely implausible to imagine her fleeing there if she realized what was happening quickly enough and somehow managed to escape England.
So here is my actual what-if: what if Hürrem learned that Anne's position was rapidly becoming dangerous and quietly encouraged the French court to receive Anne and Elizabeth if they fled England? I don't mean Süleiman threatening Henry VIII or Ottoman ships showing up to rescue Anne. I'm imagining something much subtler: Hürrem, who historically did engage in diplomatic correspondence with foreign monarchs, could quietly make it known to Francis's court that the Haseki Sultan had taken an interest in Anne's situation and would look favorably upon France receiving her and her daughter. Considering how important Ottoman friendship was becoming to Francis, I strongly think the French court would at least take that message seriously.
You might ask why the wife of Suleyman would bother? I can think of several reasons:
1.) There are some genuinely fascinating similarities between these women. Both became the legal wives of enormously powerful monarchs under highly unusual and controversial circumstances, both disrupted existing conventions surrounding royal marriage, and both had enormous stakes in the futures of their children. Obviously, I'm not suggesting Hürrem would suddenly develop sixteenth-century feminist solidarity with a woman she'd never met, but I don't think some degree of personal sympathy or fascination is impossible either. More importantly, though, Anne Boleyn being alive is geopolitically useful.
2.) Catherine of Aragon was Charles V's aunt. Charles was Sultan Süleiman's great Habsburg rival, while Anne's marriage to Henry was at the center of England's rupture with Rome. If Hürrem has an opportunity to keep this incredibly inconvenient woman alive at essentially zero cost to the Ottoman Empire, why wouldn't she consider it?
3.) Anne doesn't even have to become an Ottoman ally or actively do anything for them. Her continued existence is the problem. Hürrem's calculation could honestly be very simple: all she has to do is quietly make sure France knows that if Anne Boleyn shows up at their door, Constantinople would very much prefer that they don't send her back.
Instead of Henry executing Anne, there is now a former crowned Queen of England living under French protection, maintaining that she was Henry's lawful wife and that the charges against her were false. More importantly, Elizabeth is living beside her. Anne's mere existence becomes a permanent diplomatic nuisance for Henry.
So let's say Anne realizes what's happening slightly earlier than she did historically, somehow manages to flee England with Elizabeth, and reaches France. Francis receives her and refuses Henry's demands to return her. Henry eventually discovers that the French court had actually been prepared to receive Anne because Hürrem Sultan had quietly encouraged them to do so.
Thoughts?