Guillaume Bérard was a French Consul established in Fez,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, in 1577 by

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

. He was the first European to be named Consul in Morocco.''The International City of Tangier'', Stuart, p.38
/ref>''Studies in Elizabethan Foreign Trade'' p.149
/ref> His nomination followed the mission of Louis Cabrette, a French captain who had been used as an envoy to France by Sultan Al-Malek in 1576. Guillaume Bérard was born in

Saorge Saorge (; ; ; standard ; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Highway E74 which runs north from Me ...

near

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. In 1574, he saved the life of Moroccan prince

Abd al-Malik Abdul Malik () is an Arabic (Muslim or Christian) male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and ''Malik''. The name means "servant of the King", in the Christian instance 'King' meaning 'King ...

during an epidemic in Constantinople, where he was then in exile since the death of Moulay Abdallah in January 1574. They later became friends due to this event. When Abd al-Malik became Sultan, he asked

that Guillaume Bérard be appointed Consul of France.''Cervantes in Algiers: a captive's tale'' by María Antonia Garcés, p.277 note 39
/ref> Berard, who was a subject of the

Duke of Savoy The titles of the count of Savoy, and then duke of Savoy, are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the House of Savoy held the county. Several of these rulers ruled as kings at ...

, was then naturalized French, and on 10 June 1577 he was elevated to the position of Consul of France "to the King of Fez and Morocco". After the

Battle of Ksar el Kebir A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1578, Guillaume Bérard returned to France to announce the enthronement of Abd al-Malik's successor, Moulay

Ahmad al-Mansur Ahmad al-Mansur (; 1549 – 25 August 1603), also known by the nickname al-Dhahabī () was the Saadi Sultanate, Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth and most famous of all rulers of the Saadis. Ahmad al-Mansur was an ...

. Guillaume Bérard was succeeded by Arnoult de Lisle as physician to the Sultan in 1588. The first Moroccan mission to France would be that of

Al-Hajari Ahmad ibn Qāsim Al-Hajarī () also known as Al-Hajari, Afoukay, Chihab, Afokai () or Afoqai () (c.1570, Andalusia–c.1640, Tunis), was a Muslim Morisco who worked as a translator in Morocco during the reigns of the Saadi sultans, Ahmad al-Mansu ...

in 1610-11, followed by

Ahmed el-Guezouli Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

in 1612-1613.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berard, Guillaume 16th-century French diplomats 16th-century French physicians French expatriates in Morocco

See also

Notes