Editing Francis I of France (section)

====Ottoman Empire====
{{further|Franco-Ottoman alliance|Orientalism in early modern France}}

Under the reign of Francis I, France became the first country in Europe to establish formal relations with the [[Ottoman Empire]] and to set up instruction in the [[Arabic language]] under the guidance of [[Guillaume Postel]] at the {{lang|fr|[[Collège de France]]|italic=no}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sl8fniRER4kC&pg=PA26 |title=Eastern wisdom and learning: the study of Arabic in seventeenth-century... |first=G. J. |last=Toomer |year=1996 |author-link=G. J. Toomer |pages=26–27 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-820291-2 }}</ref>

[[File:Francois I Suleiman.jpg|thumb|left|Francis I (left) and [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] (right) initiated a [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]]. Both were separately painted by [[Titian]] {{circa|1530}}.]]

In a watershed moment in European diplomacy, Francis came to an understanding with the Ottoman Empire that developed into a [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]]. The objective for Francis was to find an ally against the [[House of Habsburg]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/ottomanempireitsmill |title=The Ottoman Empire and its successors, 1801–1922. Being a rev. and enl. ed. of The Ottoman Empire, 1801–1913 |first1=William |last1=Miller |date=4 January 1923 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |via=Internet Archive }}</ref> The pretext used by Francis was the protection of the [[Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|Christians in Ottoman lands]]. The alliance has been called "the first nonideological diplomatic alliance of its kind between a Christian and non-Christian empire".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5iJ1tfLnnoC&q=%22Franco-Turkish+alliance%22&pg=PA62 |title=Kann |page=62 |year=1980 |access-date=23 August 2012 |isbn=978-0-520-04206-3 |last1=Kann |first1=Robert A. |publisher=University of California Press }}</ref> It did, however, cause quite a scandal in the Christian world<ref name="Miller, p.2">Miller, p. 2</ref> and was designated "the impious alliance", or "the sacrilegious union of the [French]&nbsp;[[Fleur-de-lis|Lily]] and the [Ottoman]&nbsp;[[Star and crescent|Crescent]]." Nevertheless, it endured for many years, since it served the objective interests of both parties.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AkMHta3C7LUC&q=%22Franco-Turkish+alliance%22&pg=PA219 |title=Merriman|page= 133 |year=2007 |access-date=23 August 2012|isbn=978-1-4067-7272-2 |last1=Merriman |first1=Roger Bigelow |publisher=Read Books |author1-link=R. B. Merriman}}</ref> The two powers colluded against [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], and in 1543 they even combined for a joint naval assault in the [[siege of Nice]].

In 1533, Francis I sent colonel [[Pierre de Piton]] as ambassador to [[Morocco]], initiating official [[France-Morocco relations]].<ref>"Francois I, hoping that Morocco would open up to France as easily as Mexico had to Spain, sent a commission, half commercial and half diplomatic, which he confided to one Pierre de Piton. The story of his mission is not without interest" in ''The conquest of Morocco'' by Cecil Vivian Usborne, S. Paul & co. ltd., 1936, p. 33.</ref> In a letter to Francis&nbsp;I dated 13 August 1533, the [[Wattassid]] ruler of [[Fes|Fez]], [[Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad|Ahmed ben Mohammed]], welcomed French overtures and granted freedom of shipping and protection of French traders.