Charles Marie François Olier, marquis de Nointel
Encyclopedia
Charles-Marie-François Olier, marquis de Nointel (1635—1685), a councillor to the Parlement de Paris, was the French ambassador to the Ottoman court, 1670 to 1679, charged from the first with renegotiating the Capitulations
under which French merchants and others did business within the Ottoman Empire
.
Nointel, born and bred in Paris, came of a family of the noblesse de robe that was originally from Picardy
. His father Édouard Olier, secretary to the King and councillor of the Parlement, had obtained a marquisate for his lands at Nointel
near Clermont in the Beauvaisis. His wife, whom he had married in 1634, was Catherine Mallon, a relative of the seigneurs of Bercy. Charles-François, the future ambassador was the eldest of four sons. At a young age he accompanied P.-E. de Coulanges on a memorable grand tour
in 1658 through the courts of Germany and Turin and to Venice and Rome, assembling a cabinet of drawings and antiquities on his limited resources.
Returned to France, he was made a councillor to the Parlement of Paris. His charming manners and agreeable personality won the interest of Arnould de Pomponne
, through whom he reached the circle of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
and the Paris salons
, where he developed the gallant, unattached reputation of an honnête homme, a sympathetic audience, a splendid host, a patron to the depletion of his limited fortune.
His appointment as ambassador, after a successful campaign by his friends, combined political and commercial expectations. The embassy was to reopen strained relations with the Porte, which hung by a thread, without compromising in the least detail the grandeur of Louis XIV of France
. For the Christians living under the Sultan's rule, and above all the Latin institutions, hospices, chapels, and the like, France wished to be declared official protector in an explicit article in renewed Capitulations. For the commerce of France he was urged to get the customs duties lowered from 5 to 3%, in line with those paid by the English and the Dutch, and to open the commerce of the Red Sea
to France, for which enterprise he was accompanied by a director of the newly-founded Compagnie du Levant, a prominent merchant of Marseille, Augustin Magy.
The embassy was fitted out with unusual grandeur and accompanied by four ships of the line
with a detachment of marines and a troop of twenty-seven noble gentlemen, well representing France. The interests of Port-Royal
required that Nointel try to collect some signed declarations of faith from Eastern Catholics over the point of transubstantiation
, contested with the Protestants; to aid him in these pursuits, somewhat beyond his usual competence, he had the assistance of the young orientalist Antoine Galland
, the future translator of The Thousand and One Nights, as translator and theological attaché. Galland's anecdotal and picturesque journal of the embassy formed a counterpart to Nointel's official correspondence and dispatches. He shared Nointel's passion for Classical Antiquity
.
The embassy fleet left from Toulon
, 21 August 1670.
By June 1673 he had achieved a reduction in customs charges, putting France on an equal footing with England and Holland and giving new life to French commerce in the Levant
. The project of placing Christians and Christian institutions under French patronage was less successful, resulting in numerous actions at law. In September 1673 he made a tour to enregister these new prerogatives; it took him to Chios
, the Cyclades
, Palestine
and Egypt
ending at Athenes; it lasted seventeen months.
From his tour in the East he made precious acquisitions of coins and medals, marbles and other Antiquities, occurring such debts in the process that Louis XIV, unwilling to pay them, recalled him in 1680.
Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire
Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire were contracts between the Ottoman Empire and European powers, particularly France. Turkish capitulations, or ahdnames, were generally bilateral acts whereby definite arrangements were entered into by each contracting party towards the other, not mere...
under which French merchants and others did business within the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Nointel, born and bred in Paris, came of a family of the noblesse de robe that was originally from Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
. His father Édouard Olier, secretary to the King and councillor of the Parlement, had obtained a marquisate for his lands at Nointel
Nointel
Nointel may refer to the following places in France:* Nointel, Oise, a commune in the Oise department* Nointel, Val-d'Oise, a commune in the Val-d'Oise departmentor to:...
near Clermont in the Beauvaisis. His wife, whom he had married in 1634, was Catherine Mallon, a relative of the seigneurs of Bercy. Charles-François, the future ambassador was the eldest of four sons. At a young age he accompanied P.-E. de Coulanges on a memorable grand tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
in 1658 through the courts of Germany and Turin and to Venice and Rome, assembling a cabinet of drawings and antiquities on his limited resources.
Returned to France, he was made a councillor to the Parlement of Paris. His charming manners and agreeable personality won the interest of Arnould de Pomponne
Simon Arnauld, marquis de Pomponne
Simon Arnauld de Pomponne, Seigneur and then Marquis of Pomponne was a French diplomat and minister.-Early life:...
, through whom he reached the circle of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
and the Paris salons
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
, where he developed the gallant, unattached reputation of an honnête homme, a sympathetic audience, a splendid host, a patron to the depletion of his limited fortune.
His appointment as ambassador, after a successful campaign by his friends, combined political and commercial expectations. The embassy was to reopen strained relations with the Porte, which hung by a thread, without compromising in the least detail the grandeur of Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. For the Christians living under the Sultan's rule, and above all the Latin institutions, hospices, chapels, and the like, France wished to be declared official protector in an explicit article in renewed Capitulations. For the commerce of France he was urged to get the customs duties lowered from 5 to 3%, in line with those paid by the English and the Dutch, and to open the commerce of the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
to France, for which enterprise he was accompanied by a director of the newly-founded Compagnie du Levant, a prominent merchant of Marseille, Augustin Magy.
The embassy was fitted out with unusual grandeur and accompanied by four ships of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
with a detachment of marines and a troop of twenty-seven noble gentlemen, well representing France. The interests of Port-Royal
Port-Royal
Port-Royal-des-Champs was an abbey of Cistercian nuns in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vallée de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions.-History:...
required that Nointel try to collect some signed declarations of faith from Eastern Catholics over the point of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
, contested with the Protestants; to aid him in these pursuits, somewhat beyond his usual competence, he had the assistance of the young orientalist Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights...
, the future translator of The Thousand and One Nights, as translator and theological attaché. Galland's anecdotal and picturesque journal of the embassy formed a counterpart to Nointel's official correspondence and dispatches. He shared Nointel's passion for Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
.
The embassy fleet left from Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, 21 August 1670.
By June 1673 he had achieved a reduction in customs charges, putting France on an equal footing with England and Holland and giving new life to French commerce in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
. The project of placing Christians and Christian institutions under French patronage was less successful, resulting in numerous actions at law. In September 1673 he made a tour to enregister these new prerogatives; it took him to Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
, the Cyclades
Cyclades
The Cyclades is a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ending at Athenes; it lasted seventeen months.
From his tour in the East he made precious acquisitions of coins and medals, marbles and other Antiquities, occurring such debts in the process that Louis XIV, unwilling to pay them, recalled him in 1680.