Antonio Rincon

[2]: 271  An influential envoy from the King of France to Sultan Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire, he made various missions to Constantinople between 1530 and 1541.

[3] While an effective diplomat, Rincon's enemies considered him a renegade and some later observers would criticize him for promoting Machiavellian policies.

Antonio Rincon was sent by King Francis I of France to the Ottoman court in July 1530 seemingly to negotiate a military agreement against Emperor Charles V.[6] He also attempted to negotiate an Ottoman loan to the French crown, but was denied it on the ground that a Muslim could not lend money to Christians.

He told one of his friends (count Guido Rangone, a Modenese soldier whose expertise as a military engineer had been demonstrated in the remodelling of the defenses at Pinerolo) that the king of France had given him various secret commissions, none of which he could reveal, as he had been expressly commanded by the king not to say a word about them "either to the Grand Master or to the Admiral of France, both of whom were opposed to his warlike plans... " [7] In fact, he was to try to obtain an Ottoman offensive against Italy, rather than the offensive against Hungary that the Ottomans were planning.

[9] Imperial forces were apparently responsible for the assassination, which violated established standards of diplomatic immunity.