The delegation was not composed of pirates, but of janissaries, clad in uniforms with immaculate turbans.[2] They travelled overland with Antonio Rincon, and reached Francis I at his court in Châtellerault.[2]
At that time, Francis I was confronted with the Affair of the Placards, in which Protestants issued pamphlets criticizing the Mass in view of stopping efforts at a Catholic–Protestant rapprochement.[2] Francis I was severely criticized for his tolerance towards Protestants, and had to pursue them.[3] The Ottoman ambassadors accompanied Francis I to Paris, and attended the burning of those responsible for the Affair, on 21 January 1535 in front of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.[3]
The embassy departed Paris on 13 February 1535 with the new French ambassador to the Porte, Jean de la Forest, accompanied by Charles de Marillac and the scholar Guillaume de Postel.[3] Jean de la Forest would successfully negotiate the Capitulations giving advantages and pre-eminence to France in relations with the Ottoman Empire.[4] De la Forest also had secret instructions describing how he was to coordinate the military efforts between France and the Ottoman Empire:[4]
"Jean de la Forest, whom the King sends to meet with the Grand Signor [Suleiman the Magnificent], will first go from Marseilles to Tunis, in Barbary, to meet sir Haradin, king of Algiers, who will direct him to the Grand Signor. To this objective, next summer, he [the King of France] will send the military force he is preparing to recover what it unjustly occupied by the Duke of Savoy, and from there, to attack the Genoese. This king Francis I strongly prays sir Haradin, who has a powerful naval force as well as a convenient location [Tunisia], to attack the island of Corsica and other lands, locations, cities, ships and subjects of Genoa, and not to stop until they have accepted and recognized the king of France. The King, besides the above land force, will additionally help with his naval force, which will comprise at least 50 vessels, of which 30 galleys, and the rest galeasses and other vessels, accompanied by one of the largest and most beautiful carracks that ever was on the sea. This fleet will accompany and escort the army of sir Haradin, which will also be refreshed and supplied with food and ammunition by the King, who, by these actions, will be able to achieve his aims, for which he will be highly grateful to sir Haradin.[...] To the Grand Signor, Monsieur de La Forest must ask for a million in gold, and for his army to enter first in Sicily and Sardinia and establish there a king whom La Forest will nominate, a person who has credit and knows well these islands which he will retain in the devotion of, and under the shade and support of the King [of France]. Furthermore, he will recognize this blessing, and send tribute and pension to the Grand Signor to reward him for the financial support he will have provided to the King, as well as the support of his navy which will be fully assisted by the King [of France]."
The embassy arrived in Marseille on 3 April 1535 and departed on 11 April 1535 on the Ottoman galleys that had been waiting there. De la Forest departed together on a French galley, La Dauphine.[4] They first stopped at Tunis, where Barbarossa armed a special galley to transport De la Forest to Constantinople.[4]
Charles V managed to wreck the plans of Francis I by launching a major attack on the Ottomans with the Conquest of Tunis in June 1535, immediately after the departure of the embassy.[6] Concomitantly, Pope Paul III issued an interdiction for Christians to fight between themselves during the time Charles V was fighting the Ottomans, effectively precluding Francis I from launching his offensive.[6] At the same time, Suleiman himself was caught up in a bitter campaign of the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555), which prevented him from participating to offensives in Europe during 1535.
Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis, was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.
Salah Rais was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer and admiral. He is alternatively referred to as Sala Reis, Salih Rais, Salek Rais and Cale Arraez in several European sources, particularly in Spain, France and Italy.
The conquest of Tunis occurred in 1535 when the Habsburg Emperor Charles V and his allies wrestled the city away from the control of the Ottoman Empire.
The siege of Nice occurred in 1543 and was part of the Italian War of 1542–46 in which Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent collaborated as part of the Franco-Ottoman alliance against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII of England. At that time, Nice was under the control of Charles III, Duke of Savoy, an ally of Charles V. This is part of the 1543–1544 Mediterranean campaign of Barbarossa.
The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I, King of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was one of the longest-lasting and most important foreign alliances of France, and was particularly influential during the Italian Wars. The Franco-Ottoman military alliance reached its peak with the Invasion of Corsica of 1553 during the reign of Henry II of France.
Antoine Escalin des Aimars, also known as Captain Polin or Captain Paulin, later Baron de La Garde, was French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1547, and "Général des Galères" from 1544.
The conquest of Tunis in 1574 marked the conquest of Tunis by the Ottoman Empire over the Spanish Empire, which had seized the place a year earlier. The event virtually determined the supremacy in North Africa vied between both empires in favour of the former, sealing the Ottoman domination over eastern and central Maghreb, with the Ottoman dependencies in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli ensuingly coming to experience a golden age as corsair states.
Bertrand d'Ornesan, also Bertrand d'Ornezan, Baron de Saint-Blancard, was a French admiral in the service of King Francis I of France. He was general of the galleys of the Mediterranean.
Jean de La Forêt, also Jean de La Forest or Jehan de la Forest, was the first official French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, serving from 1534 to 1537. Antonio Rincon had preceded him as an envoy to the Ottoman Empire from 1530 to 1533. When Jean de La Forêt died in Constantinople in 1537, he was succeeded by Antonio Rincon as official Ambassador.
The 1541 Algiers expedition occurred when Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and king of Spain attempted to lead an amphibious attack against regency of Algiers, in modern Algeria. Inadequate planning, particularly against unfavourable weather, led to the failure of the expedition.
A Habsburg–Persian alliance, Habsburg-Safavid alliance or Habsburg-Iran alliance was attempted and to a certain extent achieved in the 16th century between the Habsburg Empire and Safavid Iran in their common conflict against the Ottoman Empire.
An Ottoman embassy to France was sent in 1533 by Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Ottoman Governor of Algiers, vassal of the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent.
The conquest of Tunis occurred on 16 August 1534 when Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the city from the Hafsid ruler Muley Hasan.
The siege of Corfu in 1537 was led by the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent, against the Republic of Venice-held island of Corfu. It is part of the Ottoman–Venetian War (1537–1540), one of the numerous Ottoman–Venetian Wars of the period.
Jérôme Maurand was a 16th-century French priest of Antibes, who accompanied the French officer Captain Polin in conjunction with the Ottoman fleet of Barbarossa in 1544, as a part of the Franco-Ottoman alliance.
La Réale was a French Royal galley of the 16th century.
The Ottoman wintering in Toulon occurred during the winter of 1543–44, following the Franco-Ottoman Siege of Nice, as part of the combined operations under the Franco-Ottoman alliance.
Aydın Reis was an Ottoman admiral, known to the Spanish as "Cachidiablo" and to the Italians as "Cacciadiavolo."
Jean-Baptiste de Valbelle was a French naval officer, descended from a prominent naval family of Marseille. He is known for his role as commander of a squadron of French ships during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672–78.
The Holy League of 1535 was as ad hoc coalition of catholic states arranged by Pope Paul III at the urging of Charles V.
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