François de Noailles, (2 July 1519 – 19 September 1585) Papal

Prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

, made

Bishop of Dax The Diocese of Dax or Acqs was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Gascony in south-west France. According to tradition it was established in the 5th century. It was suppressed after the French Revolution, by the Concordat of 1801 betwee ...

in 1556, was French ambassador in

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

in the 1560s, and French ambassador of Charles IX 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 1571 to 1575. François was one of three brothers who served as French diplomats, three of the 19 children of Louis de Noailles and Catherine de Pierre-Buffière. He was born on 2 July 1519 at the Château de Noillac. Within the context 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 ...

, and the obtention of special trading and diplomatic privileges between France and the Ottoman Empire since 1535–1536, François de Noailles endeavoured to maintain the diplomatic monopoly of France with the Ottoman Empire, in order to have economic and political leverage in the Mediterranean, against Spain and Italian city-states. After the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

, he tried to mitigate the impact of the Christian victory over the Turk, claiming that overall not much ground had been gained over the Ottomans. François de Noailles, Bishop of Dax, was a pro-

Huguenot 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 1574, François de Noailles worked at obtaining the support of the Ottoman ruler

Selim II Selim II ( Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire ...

in favour of William of Orange and the Dutch rebellion. Selim II sent his support through a messenger, who endeavoured to put the Dutch in contact with the rebellious

Moriscos Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open ...

of Spain and the pirates of Algiers.Parker, p.61 Selim also sent a great fleet which conquered Tunis in October 1574, thus succeeding in reducing Spanish pressure on the Dutch, and leading to negotiations at the Conference of

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. François died at

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

on the 19 or 20 September 1585.De Larroque, Tamizey, 'Biographie Politique de François de Noailles', in ''Revue de gascogne: bulletin bimestrial de la société historique de Gascogne'', vol. 6, (January 1865)
pp.9-25.

Notes

External links and sources

Abbé de Vertot, ed., ''Ambassades de Messieurs de Noailles en Angleterre'', vol.1, Leyden (1763)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois De Noailles Ambassadors of France to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of France to the Republic of Venice 1519 births 1585 deaths House of Noailles 16th-century French diplomats 16th-century French Roman Catholic bishops

See also

Notes

External links and sources