An Ottoman embassy to France was sent in 1533 by

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...

, the Ottoman Governor of Algiers, vassal of the Ottoman Emperor

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

. A

safe-conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

is thought to have been obtained in 1532 for the embassy by the Ottoman interpreter and agent Janus Bey from the French ambassador Antonio Rincon. Janus Bey was at that time in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

meeting with the Venetian government. The embassy arrived on galleys somewhere between

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered arou ...

and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in the beginning of the month of July 1533, and was led by Sherif Raïs. The embassy was received in Marseilles by a delegation of merchants, while Francis I was travelling southward to the same city, where he was supposed to attend the wedding of his son Henri d'Orléans to

Catherine de Médicis Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King H ...

The Lion of Barbarossa by Antoine Caron 1562

As diplomatic gift, the Ottoman embassy disembarked wild animals, including the famous "Lion of Barbarossa", as well as Christian prisoners, to the number of 100. The Ottoman group was welcomed by the French Admiral

Baron de Saint-Blancard Bertrand d'Ornesan, also Bertrand d'Ornezan, Baron de Saint-Blancard (d. 1540), was a French admiral in the service of King Francis I of France. He was general of the galleys of the Mediterranean (''Amiral de la Flotte du Levant''). Bertrand d' ...

and then accompanied only to the region of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

to meet with Francis I. On the way they were joined by the French ambassador to the Porte Antonio Rincon, and they finally arrived at Puy-en-Velay on 16 July 1533 to meet with the king. The embassy was received by king Francis I on 19 July.

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ambassadors also participated to the meeting. The Ottoman ambassador read a "Declaration of mutual friendship between the Kingdoms of France and Algiers" and a three-year trade agreement was sealed. The chains of the Christian prisoners were solemnly broken in front of the king. Francis I would in turn dispatch Antonio Rincon to Barbarossa in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and then to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

.''Suleiman the Magnificent 1520-1566'' Roger Bigelow Merriman p.14

/ref> Francis I's rival Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V was informed of these encounters, and expressed great worry at these beginnings of a

Franco-Ottoman alliance The Franco-Ottoman Alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish Alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between the King of France Francis I and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman I. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was o ...

. A Second Ottoman embassy to France would again visit Francis I the following year, in 1534.Garnier, p.89

Notes

References

* Garnier, Edith ''L'Alliance Impie'' Editions du Felin, 2008, Paris {{ISBN, 978-2-86645-678-8}
Interview
France (1533) Diplomatic missions in France Ancien Régime 1533 in France France–Ottoman Empire relations

See also

Notes

References