Jerome Maurand Itineraire d Antibes a Constantinonple 1544

Antoine Escalin des Aimars (1516–1578), also known as Captain Polin or Captain Paulin, later Baron de La Garde, was French ambassador to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from 1541 to 1547, and ''"Général des Galères"'' ("General of the galleys") from 1544.

Italian Wars

Polin was noticed by Guillaume du Bellay as a valuable officer of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

during the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

in the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Ottoman alliance

Polin succeeded ambassador Antoine de Rincon (1538–1541) in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. In early 1542, Polin successfully negotiated the details of a

Franco-Ottoman alliance The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...

for the

Italian War of 1542–1546 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, with the Ottoman Empire promising to send 27,500 troops against the territories of the Spanish king Ferdinand, as well as 110 galleys against Charles, while France promised to attack

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, harass the coasts of Spain with a naval force, and send 40 galleys to assist the Turks for operations in the Levant. Polin tried to convince

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

to join the alliance, but in vain. The execution of the alliance would most notably lead to the Franco-Ottoman Siege of Nice in 1543. In July 1543, Polin sailed on board the Ottoman fleet of

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Uni ...

to the Île Saint-Honorat in the Lérins Islands off

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

on 5 July 1543, only to find very little ready for the offensive on the French side. Polin went to see king

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

to obtain troops, which led to the Siege of Nice in August 1543. Polin supervised the wintering of the Ottomans at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

French galleys of Captain Polin in front of Pera at Constantinople in August 1544

Then, in 1544, five French galleys under Polin, including the superb '' Réale'', accompanied Barbarossa's fleet, on a diplomatic mission to Suleiman. The French fleet accompanied Barbarossa during his attacks on the west coast of Italy on the way to Constantinople, as he laid waste to the cities of

Porto Ercole Porto Ercole () is an Italian town located in the municipality of Monte Argentario, in the Province of Grosseto, Tuscany. It is one of the two major towns that form the township, along with Porto Santo Stefano. Its name means "Port Hercules". It i ...

, Giglio, Talamona,

Lipari Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...

and took about 6,000 captives, but separated in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

from Barbarossa's fleet to continue alone to the Ottoman capital. Jerôme Maurand, a priest of

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

who accompanied Polin and the Ottoman fleet in 1544, wrote a detailed account in ''Itinéraire d'Antibes à Constantinople''. They arrived in Constantinople on 10 August 1544 to meet with Suleiman and give him an account of the campaign.Garnier, p.240 Polin was back to Toulon on 2 October 1544.

Massacre of the Waldensians

In 1545, Polin was on his way to fight against the English in the area of

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. While in Marseilles in 1545, Polin was involved as a leader in the massacre of the Protestant

Waldensians The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the l ...

(Vaudois). Outside the Piedmont the Waldenses joined the local Protestant churches in Bohemia, France and Germany. After they came out of hiding and were reported for sedition, on 1 January 1545 the French king Francis I issued the "Arrêt de Mérindol" and armed a crusade against the Waldensians of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. The leaders in the 1545 massacres were Jean Maynier d'Oppède, First President of the parlement of

, and Antoine Escalin des Aimars who was returning from the

with 2,000 veterans, the ''Bandes de Piémont''. Deaths ranged from hundreds to thousands, depending on the estimates, and several villages were devastated.

England campaign

After these deeds, Polin participated in the French invasion of the Isle of Wight that same year. He was succeeded as ambassador to the Porte by Gabriel de Luetz in 1547. In 1553, Polin again cooperated with the Ottoman fleet in the Mediterranean, in the events surrounding the

Invasion of Corsica (1553) The Invasion of Corsica of 1553 occurred when French, Ottoman, and Corsican exile forces combined to capture the island of Corsica from the Republic of Genoa. The island had considerable strategic importance in the western Mediterranean, bein ...

. In 1571, Polin was involved in the conflict against the

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

as a commander in the French Navy fleet which was making a blockade of the city, together with Filippo di Piero Strozzi.

Notes

References

* Yann BOUVIER
« Antoine Escalin des Aimars (1498?-1578) - De la Garde-Adhémar au siège de Nice, le parcours d'un Ambassadeur de François Ier »
''Recherches Régionales'', Nice, Conseil Général des Alpes-Maritimes, n°188, Octobre-décembre 2007, 28 pp. * Kenneth M. Setton ''The Papacy and the Levant (1204-1571)'' DIANE Publishing, 1984 * Roger Crowley, Empire of the sea, 2008 Faber & Faber {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoine Escalin Des Aimars Ambassadors of France to the Ottoman Empire 1578 deaths 1490s births 16th-century French diplomats French Navy personnel French people of the French Wars of Religion People of the Italian Wars

Italian Wars

Ottoman alliance

Massacre of the Waldensians

England campaign

See also

Notes

References