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

Prothonotary A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin, L.L. ''prothonotarius'' (Wiktionary:circa, c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine E ...

, 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 betw ...

in 1556, was French ambassador in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in the 1560s, and French ambassador of Charles IX to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

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 Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...

, 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 warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

, he tried to belittle the impact of the Christian naval victory over the Turk, claiming that overall not much ground had been gained over the Ottomans. François de Noailles, Bishop of Dax (1556-1562), was a pro-

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

and as such was declared heretic by Pope

Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

at the recommendation of the head of the Roman Inquisition Michele Ghislieri (the future

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

). In 1574, François de Noailles worked at obtaining the support of the Ottoman ruler

Selim II Selim II (; ; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond () or Selim the Drunkard (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sul ...

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'' (, ; ; " Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable M ...

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 List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. François died at

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

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