Théodore Cornut, also Cornout, was a French

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and military

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of the 18th century, born in

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

, who worked for the King of Morocco. Cornut initially worked as an architect for military fortifications in

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. He then entered the service of the

English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...

, and participated to the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. Later, based in

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, he was invited by Sidi Mohamed ben Abdallah, an

Alaouite The Alawi dynasty ( ar, سلالة العلويين الفيلاليين, translit=sulālat al-ʿalawiyyīn al-fīlāliyyīn) – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning d ...

Sultan, to build the city of

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, Marakesh-Safi, on the ...

(modern

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

) in 1766. Cornut was to use the services of hundreds of French

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prisoners, who had been taken during a failed assault in 1765

Larache expedition The Expedition of Larache occurred in June 1765 when French Navy troops attempted to invade the Moroccan city of Larache following a bombardment of Salé and Rabat. It is an example of the sporadic failure of Western arms against local forces in co ...

. He designed the city of Essaouira, and built it with the help of the prisoners. He built the surrounding walls similar to those of

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, and organized the streets of the

Medina quarter A medina (from ar, مدينة, translit=madīnah, lit=city) is a historical district in a number of North African cities, often corresponding to an old walled city. The term comes from the Arabic word simply meaning "city" or "town". Histori ...

according to a grid system.''Footprint Marrakech & the High Atlas handbook: the travel guide'' by Justin McGuinness p.144
/ref> Walls of the Essaouira Kasbah

Cornut only designed and built the Royal quarters, or

kasbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

area, of the current city. The rest of the

medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

was built afterwards, as were the sqalas, such as the harbour fortifications and the northern sqala fortifications. Overwhelmed by the amount of work involved in the construction of Essaouira, Cornut left his position after a year. He returned to France, where he drew his map of Essaouira with the planned constructions envisioned for the Sultan.

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18th-century births 18th-century deaths French military engineers 18th century in Morocco 18th-century French mathematicians French people of the Seven Years' War People from Avignon {{France-mathematician-stub