The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an

alliance established in 1536 between Francis I, King of France and Suleiman I of

the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was one of the
longest-lasting and most important foreign alliances of France, and was
particularly influential during the Italian Wars. The Franco-Ottoman military
alliance reached its peak with the Invasion of Corsica of 1553 during the reign of
Henry II of France.[1][2]

As the first non-ideological alliance in effect between a Christian and Muslim

state, the alliance attracted heavy controversy for its time and caused a scandal
throughout Christendom.[3][4] Carl Jacob Burckhardt (1947) called it "the
sacrilegious union of the lily and the crescent".[5] It lasted intermittently for
more than two and a half centuries,[6] until the Napoleonic campaign in Ottoman
Egypt, in 1798–1801.

Background

Ottoman Prince Cem with Pierre d'Aubusson in Bourganeuf, 1483–1489.

Following the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II and the
unification of swaths of the Middle East under Selim I, Suleiman I, the son of
Selim, managed to expand Ottoman rule to Serbia in 1522. The Holy Roman Empire thus
entered in direct conflict with the Ottomans.

Some early contacts seem to have taken place between the Ottomans and the French.
Philippe de Commines reports that Bayezid II sent an embassy to Louis XI in 1483,
while Cem, his brother and rival pretender to the Ottoman throne was being detained
in France at Bourganeuf by Pierre d'Aubusson. Louis XI refused to see the envoys,
but a large amount of money and Christian relics were offered by the envoy so that
Cem could remain in custody in France.[7] Cem was transferred to the custody of
Pope Innocent VIII in 1489.

France had signed a first treaty or Capitulation with the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt
in 1500, during the reigns of Louis XII and Sultan Bayezid II,[8][9] in which the
Sultan of Egypt had made concessions to the French and the Catalans, and which
would be later extended by Suleiman.

France had already been looking for allies in Central Europe. The ambassador of
France Antonio Rincon was employed by Francis I on several missions to Poland and
Hungary between 1522 and 1525. At that time, following the 1522 Battle of Bicoque,
Francis I was attempting to ally with king Sigismund I the Old of Poland.[10]
Finally, in 1524, a Franco-Polish alliance was signed between Francis I and the
king of Poland Sigismund I.[11]

A momentous intensification of the search for allies in Central Europe occurred

when the French ruler Francis I was defeated at the Battle of Pavia on February 24,
1525, by the troops of Emperor Charles V. After several months in prison, Francis I
was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Madrid, through which he had to
relinquish the Duchy of Burgundy and the Charolais to the Empire, renounce his
Italian ambitions, and return his belongings and honours to the traitor Constable
de Bourbon. This situation forced Francis I to find an ally against the powerful
Habsburg Emperor, in the person of Suleiman the Magnificent.[12]

Alliance of Francis I and Suleiman

First letter from Suleiman to Francis I in February 1526.

The alliance was an opportunity for both rulers to fight against the hegemony of
the House of Habsburg. The objective for Francis I was to find an ally against the
Habsburgs,[4] although the policy of courting a Muslim power was in reversal of
that of his predecessors.[13] The pretext used by Francis I was the protection of
the Christians in Ottoman lands, through agreements called "Capitulations of the
Ottoman Empire".

King Francis was imprisoned in Madrid when the first efforts at establishing an
alliance were made. A first French mission to Suleiman seems to have been sent
right after the Battle of Pavia by the mother of Francis I, Louise de Savoie, but
the mission was lost on its way in Bosnia.[14] In December 1525 a second mission
was sent, led by John Frangipani, which managed to reach Constantinople, the
Ottoman capital, with secret letters asking for the deliverance of king Francis I
and an attack on the Habsburg. Frangipani returned with an answer from Suleiman, on
6 February 1526:[14]

I who am the Sultan of Sultans, the sovereign of sovereigns, the dispenser of

crowns to the monarchs on the face of the earth, the shadow of the God on Earth,
the Sultan and sovereign lord of the Mediterranean Sea and of the Black Sea, of
Rumelia and of Anatolia, of Karamania, of the land of Romans, of Dhulkadria, of
Diyarbakir, of Kurdistan, of Azerbaijan, of Persia, of Damascus, of Aleppo, of
Cairo, of Mecca, of Medina, of Jerusalem, of all Arabia, of Yemen and of many other
lands which my noble fore-fathers and my glorious ancestors (may God light up their
tombs!) conquered by the force of their arms and which my August Majesty has made
subject to my flamboyant sword and my victorious blade, I, Sultan Suleiman Khan,
son of Sultan Selim Khan, son of Sultan Bayezid Khan: To thee who art Francesco,
king of the province of France ... You have sent to my Porte, refuge of sovereigns,
a letter by the hand of your faithful servant Frangipani, and you have furthermore
entrusted to him miscellaneous verbal communications. You have informed me that the
enemy has overrun your country and that you are at present in prison and a captive,
and you have asked aid and succors for your deliverance. All this your saying
having been set forth at the foot of my throne, which controls the world. Your
situation has gained my imperial understanding in every detail, and I have
considered all of it. There is nothing astonishing in emperors being defeated and
made captive. Take courage then, and be not dismayed. Our glorious predecessors and
our illustrious ancestors (may God light up their tombs!) have never ceased to make
war to repel the foe and conquer his lands. We ourselves have followed in their
footsteps, and have at all times conquered provinces and citadels of great strength
and difficult of approach. Night and day our horse is saddled and our saber is
girt. May the God on High promote righteousness! May whatsoever he will be
accomplished! For the rest, question your ambassador and be informed. Know that it
will be as said.

— Answer from Suleiman the Magnificent to Francis I of France, February 1526.[15]

The plea of the French king nicely corresponded to the ambitions of Suleiman in
Europe, and gave him an incentive to attack Hungary in 1526, leading to the Battle
of Mohács.[6] The Ottomans were also greatly attracted by the prestige of being in
alliance with such a country as France, which would give them better legitimacy in
their European dominions.[6]

Meanwhile, Charles V was manoeuvring to form a Habsburg-Persian alliance with

Persia, so that the Ottoman Empire would be attacked on its rear. Envoys were sent
to Shah Tahmasp I in 1525, and again in 1529, pleading for an attack on the Ottoman
Empire.[16]

Letter of Suleiman the Magnificent to Francis I of France regarding the protection

of Christians in his states. September 1528. Archives Nationales, Paris, France
With the War of the League of Cognac (1526–1530) going on, Francis I continued to
look for allies in Central Europe and formed a Franco-Hungarian alliance in 1528
with the Hungarian king Zapolya, who himself had just become a vassal of the
Ottoman Empire that same year.[17] In 1528 also, Francis used the pretext of the
protection of Christians in the Ottoman Empire to again enter into contact with
Suleiman, asking for the return of a mosque to a Christian Church. In his 1528
letter to Francis I Suleiman politely refused, but guaranteed the protection of
Christians in his states. He also renewed the privileges of French merchants which
had been obtained in 1517 in Egypt.

Francis I lost in his European campaigns, and had to sign the Paix des Dames in
August 1529. He was even forced to supply some galleys to Charles V in his fight
against the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans would continue their campaigns in
Central Europe, and besiege the Habsburg capital in the 1529 siege of Vienna, and
again in 1532.

Exchange of embassies

In 1532, the French ambassador Antonio Rincon presented Suleiman with this
magnificent tiara or helmet, made in Venice for 115,000 ducats.[18]
Further information: Ottoman embassy to France (1533) and Ottoman embassy to France
(1534)
In early July 1532, Suleiman was joined by the French ambassador Antonio Rincon in
Belgrade.[19] Antonio Rincon presented Suleiman with a magnificent four-tiered
tiara, made in Venice for 115,000 ducats.[18] Rincon also described the Ottoman
camp:

Astonishing order, no violence. Merchants, women even, coming and going in perfect
safety, as in a European town. Life as safe, as large and easy as in Venice.
Justice so fairly administered that one is tempted to believe that the Turks are
turned Christians now, and that the Christians are turned Turks.

— Antonio Rincon, 1532.[20]

The French ambassador to England Jean de Dinteville in "The Ambassadors", by Hans

Holbein the Younger, 1533, including an example of Ottoman carpets in Renaissance
painting
Francis I explained to the Venetian ambassador Giorgio Gritti in March 1531 his
strategy regarding the Turks:[21]

I cannot deny that I wish to see the Turk all-powerful and ready for war, not for
himself – for he is an infidel and we are all Christians – but to weaken the power
of the emperor, to compel him to make major expenses, and to reassure all the other
governments who are opposed to such a formidable enemy.

— Francis I to the Venetian ambassador.[22]

Ottoman admiral Barbarossa fought in alliance with France.

Ottoman embassies were sent to France, with the Ottoman embassy to France (1533)
led by Hayreddin Barbarossa, and the Ottoman embassy to France (1534) led by
representatives of Suleiman.

Combined operations (1534–35)

Suleiman ordered Barbarossa to put his fleet at the disposition of Francis I to
attack Genoa and the Milanese.[23] In July 1533 Francis received Ottoman
representatives at Le Puy, and he would dispatch in return Antonio Rincon to
Barbarossa in North Africa and then to the Asia Minor.[24] Suleiman explained that
"he could not possibly abandon the King of France, who was his brother".[24] The
Franco-Ottoman alliance was by then effectively made.[24]

In 1534 a Turkish fleet sailed against the Habsburg Empire at the request of
Francis I, raiding the Italian coast and finally meeting with representatives of
Francis in southern France.[25] The fleet went on to capture Tunis in the Conquest
of Tunis (1534) on 16 August 1534 and continued raiding the Italian coast with the
support of Francis I.[26] In a counter-attack however, Charles V dislodged them in
the Conquest of Tunis (1535).

Permanent embassy of Jean de La Forêt (1535–1537)

Letter of Suleiman to Francis I in 1536, informing Francis I of the successful

campaign of Iraq, and acknowledging the permanent French embassy of Jean de La
Forest at the Ottoman court.
Trade and religious agreements
"Echelles du Levant" redirects here. For the Maalouf novel, see Ports of Call
(Maalouf novel).

Draft of the 1536 Treaty negotiated between Jean de La Forêt and Ibrahim Pasha, a
few days before his assassination, expanding to the whole Ottoman Empire the
privileges received in Egypt from the Mamluks before 1518.
Treaties, or capitulations, were passed between the two countries starting in 1528
and 1536. The defeat in the Conquest of Tunis (1535) at the hands of Andrea Doria
motivated the Ottoman Empire to enter into a formal alliance with France.[27]
Ambassador Jean de La Forêt was sent to Istanbul, and for the first time was able
to become permanent ambassador at the Ottoman court and to negotiate treaties.[27]

Jean de La Forêt negotiated the capitulations on 18 February 1536, on the model of

previous Ottoman commercial treaties with Venice and Genoa,[27] although they only
seem to have been ratified by the Ottomans later, in 1569, with ambassador Claude
Du Bourg. These capitulations allowed the French to obtain important privileges,
such as the security of the people and goods, extraterritoriality, freedom to
transport and sell goods in exchange for the payment of the selamlik and customs
fees. These capitulations would in effect give the French a near trade monopoly in
seaport-towns that would be known as les Échelles du Levant.[28] Foreign vessels
had to trade with Turkey under the French banner, after the payment of a percentage
of their trade.

A French embassy and a Christian chapel were established in the town of Galata
across the Golden horn from Constantinople, and commercial privileges were also
given to French merchants in the Turkish Empire. Through the capitulations of 1535,
the French received the privilege to trade freely in all Ottoman ports.[4] A formal
alliance was signed in 1536.[29] The French were free to practice their religion in
the Ottoman Empire, and French Catholics were given custody of holy places.[4] The
capitulations were again renewed in 1604,[4] and lasted up until the establishment
of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.[30]

Military and financial agreements

Jean de la Forêt also had secret military instructions to organize a combined
offensive on Italy in 1535:[31] Through the negotiations of de La Forêt with the
Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha it was agreed that combined military operations against
Italy would take place, in which France would attack Lombardy while the Ottoman
Empire would attack from Naples.[27][32] The Ottoman Empire also provided
considerable financial support to Francis I. In 1533, Suleiman sent Francis I
100,000 gold pieces, so that he could form a coalition with England and German
states against Charles V. In 1535, Francis asked for another 1 million ducats.[33]
The military instructions of Jean de la Forêt were highly specific:

Military instructions to Jean de La Forêt, by Chancellor Antoine Duprat (copy), 11

February 1535.
Jean de la Forest, whom the King sends to meet with the Grand Signor [Suleiman the
Magnificent], will first go from Marseille to Tunis, in Barbary, to meet sir
Haradin, king of Algiers, who will direct him to the Grand Signor. To this
objective, next summer, he [the King of France] with send the military force he is
preparing to recover what it unjustly occupied by the Duke of Savoy, and from
there, to attack the Genoese. This king Francis I strongly prays sir Haradin, who
has a powerful naval force as well as a convenient location [Tunisia], to attack
the island of Corsica and other lands, locations, cities, ships and subjects of
Genoa, and not to stop until they have accepted and recognized the king of France.
The King, besides the above land force, will additionally help with his naval
force, which will comprise at least 50 vessels, of which 30 galleys, and the rest
galeasses and other vessels, accompanied by one of the largest and most beautiful
carracks that ever was on the sea. This fleet will accompany and escort the army of
sir Haradin, which will also be refreshed and supplied with food and ammunition by
the King, who, by these actions, will be able to achieve his aims, for which he
will be highly grateful to sir Haradin. ...
To the Grand Signor, Monsieur de La Forest must ask for 1 million in gold, and for
his army to enter first in Sicily and Sardinia and establish there a king whom La
Forest will nominate, a person who has credit and knows well these islands which he
will retain in the devotion of, and under the shade and support of the King [of
France]. Furthermore, he will recognize this blessing, and send tribute and pension
to the Grand Signor to reward him for the financial support he will have provided
to the King, as well as the support of his navy which will be fully assisted by the
King [of France].

— Military instruction from Francis I to Jean de la Forest, 1535.[34]

Finally, Suleiman intervened diplomatically in favour of Francis on the European
scene. He is known to have sent at least one letter to the Protestant princes of
Germany to encourage them to ally with Francis I against Charles V.[35] Francis I
effectively allied with the Schmalkaldic League against Charles V in 1535.

Italian War of 1536–1538

Main article: Italian War of 1536–38
Franco-Ottoman military collaboration took place during the Italian War of 1536–
1538 following the 1536 Treaty negotiated by Jean de La Forêt.

Campaign of 1536

The Harbour of Marseilles by Ottoman Admiral Piri Reis 1526.

Francis I invaded Savoy in 1536,[36] starting the war. A Franco-Turkish fleet was
stationed in Marseille by the end of 1536, threatening Genoa.[37] While Francis I
was attacking Milan and Genoa in April 1536, Barbarossa was raiding the Habsburg
possessions in the Mediterranean.[27]

In 1536 the French Admiral Baron de Saint-Blancard combined his twelve French
galleys with a small Ottoman fleet belonging to Barbarossa in Algiers (an Ottoman
galley and 6 galiotes), to attack the island of Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.
After failing to capture the tower of Salé, the fleet raided the Spanish coast from
Tortosa to Collioure, finally wintering in Marseilles with 30 galleys from 15
October 1536 (the first time a Turkish fleet laid up for the winter in Marseilles).

Joint campaign of 1537

The French and Ottoman fleets joined at the siege of Corfu (1537) in early
September.
For 1537 important combined operations were agreed upon, in which the Ottomans
would attack southern Italy and Naples under Barbarossa, and Francis I would attack
northern Italy with 50,000 men. Suleiman led an army of 300,000 from Constantinople
to Albania, with the objective of transporting them to Italy with the fleet.[27]
The Ottoman fleet gathered in Avlona with 100 galleys, accompanied by the French
ambassador Jean de La Forêt.[38] They landed in Castro, Apulia by the end of July
1537, and departed two weeks later with many prisoners.[38] Barbarossa had laid
waste to the region around Otranto, carrying about 10,000 people into slavery.
Francis however failed to meet his commitment, and instead attacked the
Netherlands.

Le Voyage du Baron de Saint Blancard en Turquie, by Jean de la Vega, after 1538.

The Ottomans departed from Southern Italy, and instead mounted the siege of Corfu
in August 1537.[39] where they were met by the French Admiral Baron de Saint-
Blancard with 12 galleys in early September 1537.[38] Saint-Blancard in vain
attempted to convince the Ottomans to again raid the coasts of Apulia, Sicily and
the March of Ancona, and Suleiman returned with his fleet to Constantinople by mid-
September without having captured Corfu.[38] French ambassador Jean de La Forêt
became seriously ill and died around that time.[38] Francis I finally penetrated
into Italy, and reached Rivoli on 31 October 1537.[40]

For two years, until 1538, Saint-Blancard would accompany the fleet of Barbarossa,
and between 1537 and 1538, Saint-Blancard would winter with his galleys in
Constantinople and meet with Suleiman. During that time, Saint-Blancard was funded
by Barbarossa.[41] The campaign of Saint-Blancard with the Ottomans was written
down in Le Voyage du Baron de Saint Blancard en Turquie, by Jean de la Vega, who
had accompanied Saint-Blancard in his mission.[42] Although the French accompanied
most of the campaigns of Barbarossa, they sometimes refrained from participating in
Turkish assaults, and their accounts express horror at the violence of these
encounters, in which Christians were slaughtered or taken as captives.[43]

Habsburg-Valois Truce of Nice (1538)

Francis I and Charles V made peace at the Truce of Nice in 1538. Francis actually
refused to meet Charles V in person, and the treaty was signed in separate rooms.
With Charles V unsuccessful in battle and squeezed between the French invasion and
the Ottomans, he and Francis I ultimately made peace with the Truce of Nice on 18
June 1538.[37] In the truce, Charles and Francis made an agreement to ally against
the Ottomans to expel them from Hungary.[44] Charles V turned his attention to
fighting the Ottomans, but could not launch large forces in Hungary due to a raging
conflict with the German princes of the Schmalkaldic League.[44] On 28 September
1538 Barbarosa won the major Battle of Preveza against the Imperial fleet.[45] At
the end of the conflict, Suleiman set as a condition for peace with Charles V that
the latter returns to Francis I the lands that were his by right.[39]

The Franco-Ottoman alliance was crippled for a while however, due to Francis'
official change of alliance at Nice in 1538. Open conflict between Charles and
Francis would resume in 1542, as well as Franco-Ottoman collaboration, with the 4
July 1541 assassination by Imperial troops of the French Ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire Antonio Rincon, as he was travelling through Italy near Pavia.

Italian War of 1542–1546 and Hungary Campaign of 1543

Main article: Italian War of 1542–46
During the Italian War of 1542–46 Francis I and Suleiman I were again pitted
against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII of England. The course of
the war saw extensive fighting in Italy, France, and the Low Countries, as well as
attempted invasions of Spain and England; but, although the conflict was ruinously
expensive for the major participants, its outcome was inconclusive. In the
Mediterranean, active naval collaboration took place between the two powers to
fight against Spanish forces, following a request by Francis I, conveyed by Antoine
Escalin des Aimars, also known as Captain Polin.

Failed coordination in the campaign of 1542

Grand culverin of Francis I, caliber: 140mm, length: 307cm, recovered at the time
of the Invasion of Algiers in 1830. Musée de l'Armée, Paris.
In early 1542, Polin successfully negotiated the details of the alliance, with the
Ottoman Empire promising to send 60,000 troops against the territories of the
German king Ferdinand, as well as 150 galleys against Charles, while France
promised to attack Flanders, harass the coasts of Spain with a naval force, and
send 40 galleys to assist the Turks for operations in the Levant.[46]

A landing harbour in the north of the Adriatic was prepared for Barberousse, at
Marano. The port was seized in the name of France by Piero Strozzi on 2 January
1542.[47]

Polin left Constantinople on 15 February 1542 with a contract from Suleiman

outlining the details of the Ottoman commitment for 1542. He arrived in Blois on 8
March 1542 to obtain a ratification of the agreement by Francis I.[48] Accordingly,
Francis I designated the city of Perpignan as the objective for the Ottoman
expedition, in order to obtain a seaway to Genoa.[49] Polin, after some delays in
Venice, finally managed to take a galley to Constantinople on 9 May 1542, but he
arrived too late for the Ottomans to launch a sea campaign.[50]

Meanwhile, Francis I initiated the hostilities with Charles V on 20 July 1542, and
kept with his part of the agreement by laying siege at Perpignan and attacking
Flanders.[48] André de Montalembert was sent to Constantinople to ascertain the
Ottoman offensive, but it turned out that Suleiman, partly under the anti-alliance
influence of Suleyman Pasha, was unwilling to send an army that year, and promised
to send an army twice as strong the following year, in 1543.[51]

When Francis I learnt from André de Montalembert that the Ottomans were not coming,
he raised the siege of Perpignan.[52]

Joint siege of Nice (1543)

Main article: Siege of Nice

In the siege of Nice in 1543, a combined Franco-Turkish force managed to capture

the city.

A cannonball fired by the Franco-Turkish fleet, now in a street of Nice

Most notably, the French forces, led by François de Bourbon and the Ottoman forces,
led by Barbarossa, joined at Marseille in August 1543,[53] and collaborated to
bombard the city of Nice in the siege of Nice.[4] In this action 110 Ottoman
galleys, amounting to 30,000 men,[54] combined with 50 French galleys.[55] The
Franco-Ottomans laid waste to the city of Nice, but were confronted by a stiff
resistance which gave rise to the story of Catherine Ségurane. They had to raise
the siege of the citadel upon the arrival of enemy troops.

Barbarossa wintering in Toulon (1543–1544)

Main article: Ottoman wintering in Toulon
After the siege of Nice, the Ottomans were offered by Francis to winter at Toulon,
so that they could continue to harass the Holy Roman Empire, and especially the
coast of Spain and Italy, as well the communications between the two countries:

Lodge the Lord Barbarossa sent to the king by the Great Turk, with his Turkish Army
and grands seigneurs to the number of 30,000 combatants during the winter in his
town and port of Toulon... for the accommodation of the said army as well as the
well-being of all his coast, it will not be suitable for the inhabitants of Toulon
to remain and mingle with the Turkish nation, because of difficulties which might
arise

— Instruction of Francis I to his Lord Lieutenant of Provence.[56]

Barbarossa's fleet wintering in the French harbour of Toulon, 1543. (by: Matrakçı
Nasuh)
During the wintering of Barbarossa, the Toulon Cathedral was transformed into a
mosque, the call to prayer occurred five times a day, and Ottoman coinage was the
currency of choice. According to an observer: "To see Toulon, one might imagine
oneself at Constantinople".[57]

Throughout the winter, the Ottomans were able to use Toulon as a base to attack the
Spanish and Italian coasts, raiding Sanremo, Borghetto Santo Spirito, Ceriale and
defeating Italo-Spanish naval attacks. Sailing with his whole fleet to Genoa,
Barbarossa negotiated with Andrea Doria the release of Turgut Reis.[58] The
Ottomans departed from their Toulon base in May 1544 after Francis I had paid
800,000 ecus to Barbarossa.[59]

Captain Polin in Constantinople (1544)

The French galleys of Captain Polin in front of Pera at Constantinople in August

1544, drawn by Jerôme Maurand, a priest who accompanied the fleet.
Five French galleys under Captain Polin, including the superb Réale, accompanied
Barbarossa's fleet,[60] on a diplomatic mission to Suleiman.[59] The French fleet
accompanied Barbarossa during his attacks on the west coast of Italy on the way to
Constantinople, as he laid waste to the cities of Porto Ercole, Giglio, Talamona,
Lipari and took about 6,000 captives, but separated in Sicily from Barbarossa's
fleet to continue alone to the Ottoman capital.[61] Jerôme Maurand, a priest of
Antibes who accompanied Polin and the Ottoman fleet in 1544, wrote a detailed
account in Itinéraire d'Antibes à Constantinonple.[62] They arrived in
Constantinople on 10 August 1544 to meet with Suleiman and give him an account of
the campaign.[63] Polin was back to Toulon on 2 October 1544.[63]

Joint campaign in Hungary (1543–1544)

French artillery troops were supplied to Suleiman for his Hungarian campaign –
here, the siege of Esztergom (1543).
On land Suleiman was concomitantly fighting for the conquest of Hungary in 1543, as
a part of the Little War. French troops were supplied to the Ottomans on the
Central European front: in Hungary, a French artillery unit was dispatched in 1543–
1544 and attached to the Ottoman Army.[35][55][64] Following major sieges such as
the siege of Esztergom (1543), Suleiman took a commanding position in Hungary,
obtaining the signature of the Truce of Adrianople with the Habsburg in 1547.

Letter of Francis I to the Drogman Janus Bey, 28 December 1546, delivered by

D'Aramon. The letter is countersigned by the State Secretary Claude de L'Aubespine
(bottom right corner).
Besides the powerful effect of a strategic alliance encircling the Habsburg Empire,
combined tactical operations were significantly hampered by the distances involved,
the difficulties in communication, and the unpredictable changes of plans on one
side or the other. From a financial standpoint, fiscal revenues were also generated
for both powers through the ransoming of enemy ships in the Mediterranean. The
French Royal House also borrowed large amounts of gold from the Ottoman banker
Joseph Nasi and the Ottoman Empire, amounting to around 150,000 écus as of 1565,
the repayment of which became contentious in the following years.[65]

French support in the Ottoman-Safavid war (1547)

Main article: Ottoman-Safavid War (1532–1555)
In 1547, when Sultan Suleiman I attacked Persia in his second campaign of the
Ottoman-Safavid War (1532–1555), France sent him the ambassador Gabriel de Luetz to
accompany him in his campaign.[66] Gabriel de Luetz was able to give decisive
military advice to Suleiman, as when he advised on artillery placement during the
Siege of Van.[66]

Consequences
The alliance provided strategic support to, and effectively protected, the kingdom
of France from the ambitions of Charles V. It also gave the opportunity for the
Ottoman Empire to become involved in European diplomacy and gain prestige in its
European dominions. According to historian Arthur Hassall the consequences of the
Franco-Ottoman alliance were far-reaching: "The Ottoman alliance had powerfully
contributed to save France from the grasp of Charles V, it had certainly aided
Protestantism in Germany, and from a French point of view, it had rescued the North
German allies of Francis I."'[67]

Political debate

Apologye en défense pour le Roy, fondée sur texte d'évangile, contre ses enemis et
calomniateurs by François de Sagon, 1544.

Caricature showing the Emperor conducting the king of France and the Sultan walking
as captives bound together. Early 17th century.

Allegory showing Charles Quint (center) enthroned over his defeated enemies (from
left to right): Suleiman, Pope Clement VII, Francis I, the Duke of Cleves, the Duke
of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse.
Side effects included a lot of negative propaganda against the actions of France
and its "unholy" alliance with a Muslim power. Charles V strongly appealed to the
rest of Europe against the alliance of Francis I, and caricatures were made showing
the collusion between France and the Ottoman Empire.[68] In the late sixteenth
century, Italian political philosopher Giovanni Botero referred to the alliance as
"a vile, infamous, diabolical treaty" and blamed it for the extinction of the
Valois dynasty.[69] Even the French Huguenot Francois de La Noue denounced the
alliance in a 1587 work, claiming that "this confederation has been the occasion to
diminish the glory and power of such a flourishing kingdom as France."[70]

Numerous authors intervened to take the defense of the French king for his
alliance. Authors wrote about the Ottoman civilization, such as Guillaume Postel or
Christophe Richer, in sometimes extremely positive ways. In the 1543 work Les
Gestes de Francoys de Valois, Etienne Dolet justified the alliance by comparing it
to Charles V's relations with Persia and Tunis. Dolet also claimed that it should
not be "forbidden for a prince to make alliance and seek intelligence of another,
whatever creed or law he may be."[71] The author François de Sagon wrote in 1544
Apologye en défense pour le Roy, a text defending the actions of Francis I by
drawing parallels with the parable of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, in which
Francis is compared to the wounded man, the Emperor to the thieves, and Suleiman to
the Good Samaritan providing help to Francis.[68] Guillaume du Bellay and his
brother Jean du Bellay wrote in defense of the alliance, at the same time
minimizing it and legitimizing on the ground that Francis I was defending himself
against an aggression.[72] Jean de Montluc used examples from Christian history to
justify the endeavour to obtain Ottoman support.[73] Jean de Montluc's brother
Blaise de Montluc argued in 1540 that the alliance was permissible because "against
one's enemies one can make arrows of any kind of wood."[74] In 1551, Pierre Danes
[fr] wrote Apologie, faicte par un serviteur du Roy, contre les calomnies des
Impériaulx: sur la descente du Turc.[68]

Cultural and scientific exchanges

Further information: Orientalism in early modern France and Islamic Civilization
during the European Renaissance

Arabic astronomical manuscript of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, annotated by Guillaume

Postel.
Cultural and scientific exchanges between France and the Ottoman Empire flourished.
French scholars such as Guillaume Postel or Pierre Belon were able to travel to
Asia Minor and the Middle East to collect information.[68]

Ottoman Empire Quran, copied circa 1536, bound according to regulations set under
Francis I circa 1549, with arms of Henri II. Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Scientific exchange is thought to have occurred, as numerous works in Arabic,
especially pertaining to astronomy were brought back, annotated and studied by
scholars such as Guillaume Postel. Transmission of scientific knowledge, such as
the Tusi-couple, may have occurred on such occasions, at the time when Copernicus
was establishing his own astronomical theories.[75]

Books, such as the Muslim holy text, the Quran, were brought back to be integrated
in Royal libraries, such as the Bibliothèque Royale de Fontainebleau, to create a
foundation for the Collège des lecteurs royaux, future Collège de France.[68]
French novels and tragedies were written with the Ottoman Empire as a theme or
background.[68] In 1561, Gabriel Bounin published La Soltane, a tragedy
highlighting the role of Roxelane in the 1553 execution of Mustapha, the elder son
of Suleiman.[68][76] This tragedy marks the first time the Ottomans were introduced
on stage in France.[77]

International trade
Strategically, the alliance with the Ottoman Empire also allowed France to offset
to some extent the Habsburg Empire's advantage in the New World trade, and French
trade with the eastern Mediterranean through Marseille indeed increased
considerably after 1535. After the Capitulations of 1569, France also gained
precedence over all other Christian states, and her authorization was required for
when another state wished to trade with the Ottoman Empire.[78]

Military alliance under Henry II

Henry II, here standing on an oriental carpet, an example of Oriental carpets in

Renaissance painting, continued the policy of alliance of his father Francis I.
Painting by François Clouet.

Territory of the Ottoman Empire upon the death of Suleiman the Magnificent.

French ambassador to the Ottoman Porte Gabriel de Luetz d'Aramont, was present at
the 1551 siege of Tripoli as well as later Ottoman campaigns. Painting by Titian.
The son of Francis I, Henry II, also sealed a treaty with Suleyman in order to
cooperate against the Austrian Navy.[4] This was triggered by the 8 September 1550
conquest of Mahdiya by the Genoese Admiral Andrea Doria on behalf of Charles V. The
alliance allowed Henry II to push for French conquests towards the Rhine, while a
Franco-Ottoman fleet defended southern France.[39]

Cooperation during the Italian War of 1551–1559

Various military actions were coordinated during the Italian War of 1551–1559. In
1551, the Ottomans, accompanied by the French ambassador Gabriel de Luez d'Aramon,
succeeded in the siege of Tripoli.[79]

Joint attacks on the Kingdom of Naples (1552)

In 1552, when Henry II attacked Charles V, the Ottomans sent 100 galleys to the
Western Mediterranean.[80] The Ottoman fleet was accompanied by three French
galleys under Gabriel de Luez d'Aramon, who accompanied the Ottoman fleet from
Istanbul in its raids along the coast of Calabria in Southern Italy, capturing the
city of Reggio.[81] The plan was to join with the French fleet of Baron de la Garde
and the troops of the Prince of Salerno, but both were delayed and could not join
the Ottomans in time. In the Battle of Ponza in front of the island of Ponza with
40 galleys of Andrea Doria, the Franco-Ottoman fleet managed to vanquish them and
capture 7 galleys on 5 August 1552. The Franco-Ottoman fleet left Naples to go back
to the east on 10 August, missing the Baron de la Garde who reached Naples a week
later with 25 galleys and troops. The Ottoman fleet then wintered in Chios, where
it was joined by the fleet of Baron de la Garde, ready for naval operations the
following year.

Joint invasion of Corsica (1553)

Main article: Invasion of Corsica (1553)

Franco-Ottoman forces invaded Corsica in 1553.

Letter from Henry II of France to Suleiman the Magnificent and ambassador Jean
Cavenac de la Vigne, dated 22 February 1557.
On 1 February 1553, a new treaty of alliance, involving naval collaboration against
the Habsburg was signed between France and the Ottoman Empire.[82] In 1553, the
Ottoman admirals Dragut and Koca Sinan together with the French squadron raided the
coasts of Naples, Sicily, Elba and Corsica.[82][1] A Franco-Ottoman fleet
accomplished an Invasion of Corsica for the benefit of France.[55] The military
alliance is said to have reached its peak in 1553.[1]

In 1555, the French ambassador Michel de Codignac, successor to Gabriel de Luetz

d'Aramon, is known to have participated to Suleiman's Persian campaign, and to have
sailed with the Ottoman fleet in its campaign against Piombino, Elba and Corsica.
[83] The Ottoman admiral Turgut Reis was one of the key Ottoman protagonists in
these actions.

On 30 December 1557, Henry II wrote a letter to Suleiman, asking him for money,
saltpeter, and 150 galleys to be stationed in the West. Through the services of his
ambassador Jean Cavenac de la Vigne, Henry II obtained the dispatch of an Ottoman
fleet to Italy in 1558, with little effect however apart from the sack of Sorrento.
[84] The Ottomans also contributed by the Ottoman invasion of the Balearic islands
in 1558. The conflict would finally come to an end with the Peace of Cateau-
Cambrésis (1559) and the accidental death of Henry II that same year. The newfound
peace between the European powers however created long-lasting disillusionment on
the Ottoman side.[85]

Support of Protestantism under Charles IX

Main article: Protestantism and Islam
Ottoman power was also used by the French in the religious conflicts on the
European scene. In 1566, under Charles IX, the French ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire intervened in favour of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Empire, after a
request for Ottoman help by William I of Orange, so that a Dutch-Ottoman alliance
was considered and a letter was sent from Suleiman the Magnificent to the
"Lutherans" in Flanders, offering troops at the time they would request,[86] and
claiming that he felt close to them, "since they did not worship idols, believed in
one God and fought against the Pope and Emperor".[87][88] The Ottoman Empire was
indeed known at that time for its religious tolerance. Various religious refugees,
such as the Huguenots, some Anglicans, Quakers, Anabaptists or even Jesuits or
Capuchins and Jews (Marranos) were able to find refuge at Constantinople and in the
Ottoman Empire,[35] where they were given right of residence and worship.[89]
Further, the Ottomans supported the Calvinists in Transylvania and Hungary but also
in France.[90] The contemporary French thinker Jean Bodin wrote:[91]

16th century copy of the 1569 Capitulations between Charles IX and Selim II.
The great emperor of the Turks does with as great devotion as any prince in the
world honour and observe the religion by him received from his ancestors, and yet
detests he not the strange religions of others; but on the contrary permits every
man to live according to his conscience: yes, and that more is, near unto his
palace at Pera, suffers four diverse religions viz. that of the Jews, that of the
Christians, that of the Grecians, and that of the Mahometans.

— Jean Bodin.[90]

The French Prince Henri de Valois was elected king of Poland in 1572, partly due to
the desire of Polish nobles to be agreeable to the Ottoman Empire.[92]
The Ottoman Empire was at the height of its power, but for the forty years after
these events, France would become embroiled in the bitter French Wars of Religion,
and Ottoman power would start to slowly weaken after the 1571 Battle of Lepanto.

In 1572, after the death of the Polish king Sigismund Augustus, who had been under
a Polish-Ottoman alliance of his own, Poland elected the French Henri de Valois,
rather than Habsburg candidates, partly in order to be more agreeable to the
Ottoman Empire.[92] The choice of Henri de Valois had apparently been proposed by
the Ottoman Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmet Pasha.[93] When Henri left to return to
France in 1575, he was succeeded by Stephen Báthory of Poland, who also had been
supported by the Ottomans in obtaining the Transylvanian throne in 1571.[92]

In 1574, William of Orange and Charles IX of France, through his pro-Huguenot

ambassador François de Noailles, Bishop of Dax, tried to obtain the support of the
Ottoman Sultan Selim II in order to open a new front against the Spanish King
Philip II.[94] Selim II sent his support through a messenger, who endeavoured to
put the Dutch in contact with the rebellious Moriscos of Spain and the pirates of
Algiers.[95] Selim also sent a great fleet in the Capture of Tunis in October 1574,
thus succeeding in reducing Spanish pressure on the Dutch.[95]

French Huguenots were in contact with the Moriscos in plans against Spain in the
1570s.[96] Around 1575, plans were made for a combined attack of Aragonese Moriscos
and Huguenots from Béarn under Henri de Navarre against Spanish Aragon, in
agreement with the king of Algiers and the Ottoman Empire, but these projects
foundered with the arrival of John of Austria in Aragon and the disarmament of the
Moriscos.[97][98] In 1576, a three-pronged fleet from Constantinople was planned to
disembark between Murcia and Valencia while the French Huguenots would invade from
the north and the Moriscos accomplish their uprising, but the Ottoman fleet failed
to arrive.[97]

Ottoman support for