Claude Céberet du Boullay (1647–1702) was a 17th-century French diplomat who participated in the La Loubère-Céberet embassy as "envoy extraordinary" to the kingdom of

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

(modern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

) in 1687. He was co-representative of the mission with the diplomat

Simon de la Loubère Simon de la Loubère (; 21 April 1642 – 26 March 1729) was a French diplomat to Siam (Thailand), writer, mathematician and poet. He is credited with bringing back a document which introduced Europe to Indian astronomy, the "Siamese method" ...

Mission to Siam

In 1685, Céberet became one of the 12 Directors of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

. During the 1687 embassy to Siam, Céberet was put in charge of the commercial interests of France, and particularly those of the French East India Company. Céberet left from Brest with the embassy for Siam on 1 March 1687. The embassy sailed on board the warships ''L'oiseau'' (46 guns), ''Le Gaillard'' (52 guns), ''La Loire'' (24 guns), ''La Normande'' and ''Le Dromadaire''. The embassy arrived in Thailand in September and October 1687. An interview with the Siamese king

Narai King Narai the Great ( th, สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( th, รามาธิบดีที่ ๓ ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the P ...

occurred on 2 November 1687. The mission achieved little more than the confirmation of the 1685 commercial treaty obtained by the

Chevalier de Chaumont Alexandre, Chevalier de Chaumont (1640 – 28 January 1710 in Paris) was the first French ambassador for King Louis XIV in Siam in 1685.Chakrabongse, C., 1960, Lords of Life, London: Alvin Redman Limited He was accompanied on his mission by Ab ...

. It also seems that Père Tachard considerably interfered with the mission so as to render it useless. There were some important results on the military plane however, as the troops which had arrived with the mission occupied the cities of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

and

Mergui Myeik (, or ; mnw, ဗိက်, ; th, มะริด, , ; formerly Mergui, ) is a rural city in Tanintharyi Region in Myanmar (Burma), located in the extreme south of the country on the coast off an island on the Andaman Sea. , the estimat ...

Return to France

In December 1687, Céberet left again for France first by going overland from Ayutthaya to the harbour of

. He left on 4 January 1688 on the ship ''President'' for

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

, which he reached on 25 January.The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk Road By Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h, Victoria Hobson, Page 5

/ref> While in Pondicherry, Céberet ordered the Governor of Pondicherry François Martin (Pondicherry), François Martin to send his son-in-law André Deslandes to found Company trade counters in the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

region. Deslandes left Pondicherry on 30 August 1688 and would found the counters of

Balassor Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...

and

Cassimbazar Cossimbazar is a sub-urban area of Berhampore City in the Berhampore CD block in the Berhampore subdivision in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal."Cossimbazar" in ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, ...

in 1689. Back in France, after being intendant in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

, Céberet became

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

. Claude Céberet died on 18 September 1702 and was buried in Dunkirk.

Notes

Works

*Céberet, Claude ''Journal du Voyage de Siam''

References

*Smithies, Michael ''Three military accounts of the 1688 revolution in Siam'', Orchid Press, Bangkok, 2002, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceberet du Boullay, Claude 1647 births 1702 deaths 17th-century French diplomats Ambassadors of France to the Ayutthaya Kingdom

Mission to Siam

Return to France

See also

Notes

Works

References