![Jerome Maurand Itineraire d Antibes a Constantinonple 1544](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Jerome_Maurand_Itineraire_d_Antibes_a_Constantinonple_1544.jpg)
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, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
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 (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
during the
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
in the
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
.
Ottoman alliance
Polin succeeded ambassador
Antoine de Rincon (1538–1541) in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. 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 the King of France Francis I and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman I. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was o ...
for the
Italian War of 1542–1546
The Italian War of 1542–1546 was a conflict late in the Italian Wars, pitting Francis I of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII of England. The course of the war saw extensive ...
, 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 (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-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 cultu ...
, 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 ( ; 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 ...
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 Un ...
to the
Île Saint-Honorat
The Île Saint-Honorat is the second largest of the Lérins Islands, about off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes. The island is approximately in length (East to West) and wide.
Since the fifth century, the island has been home to ...
in the
Lérins Islands
The Lérins Islands (in french: les Îles de Lérins, ) are a group of four Mediterranean islands off the French Riviera, in Cannes. The two largest islands in this group are the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat. The smaller ...
off
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
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 (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 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 on ...
to obtain troops, which led to the Siege of Nice in August 1543. Polin supervised the wintering of the Ottomans at
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 ...
.
![French galleys of Captain Polin in front of Pera at Constantinople in August 1544](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/French_galleys_of_Captain_Polin_in_front_of_Pera_at_Constantinople_in_August_1544.jpg)
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".
Ge ...
,
Giglio,
Talamona
Talamona ( Lombard: ''Talamuna'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about west of Sondrio. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,623 and an a ...
,
Lipari
Lipari (; scn, Lìpari) is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy; it is also the name of the island's main town and ''comune'', which is administratively part of the Metropo ...
and took about 6,000 captives, but separated in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
from Barbarossa's fleet to continue alone to the Ottoman capital.
Jerôme Maurand, a priest of
Antibes 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
![Massacre of the Vaudois of Merindol](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Massacre_of_the_Vaudois_of_Merindol.jpg)
In 1545, Polin was on his way to fight against the English in the area of
Boulogne. 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 Men of Lyon" in ...
(Vaudois).
[''Francis I'' R. J. Knecht p.405](_blank)
/ref>
Outside the Piedmont the Waldenses joined the local Protestant churches in Bohemia, France and Germany. After they came out of clandestinity and reports were made of sedition on their part, the French king, Francis I issued on 1 January 1545 the "Arrêt de Mérindol", and armed a crusade against the Waldensians of Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
. The leaders in the 1545 massacres were Jean Maynier d'Oppède, First President of the parlement of Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, and Antoine Escalin des Aimars who was returning from the Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
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 to the French invasion of the Isle of Wight
The French invasion of the Isle of Wight occurred during the Italian Wars in July 1545. The invasion was repulsed.
France had a long history of attacking the Isle of Wight, and the 1545 campaign proved to be the last time to date that the F ...
that same year.
He was succeeded as ambassador to the Porte by Gabriel de Luetz
Gabriel de Luetz, Baron et Seigneur d'Aramon et de Vallabregues (died 1553), often also abbreviated to Gabriel d'Aramon, was the French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1546 to 1553, in the service first of Francis I, who dispatched him to ...
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, being ...
.
In 1571, Polin was involved in the conflict against the Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
in La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) 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 department. Wi ...
as a commander in the French Navy fleet which was making a blockade of the city, together with Filippo di Piero Strozzi
Filippo di Piero Strozzi (French: ''Philippe Strozzi''; 1541 – 27 July 1582) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the Florentine family of the Strozzi. He fought mainly for France.
Biography
He was born in Florence to Piero Strozzi and La ...
.''Memoirs of Maximilian de Bethune, duke of Sully'' p. 20
/ref>
See also
* French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
France had a permanent embassy to the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1535, during the time of King Francis I and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It is considered to have been the direct predecessor of the modern-day embassy to the Republic of Tu ...
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
16th-century French people
French military personnel
French people of the French Wars of Religion
People of the Italian Wars