Ottoman embassy to France (1533)

A safe-conduct is thought to have been obtained in 1532 for the embassy by the Ottoman interpreter and agent Janus Bey from the French ambassador Antonio Rincon.

[2] The embassy was received in Marseilles by a delegation of merchants, while Francis I was travelling southward to the same city, where he was supposed to attend the wedding of his son Henri d'Orléans to Catherine de Médicis.

[3] As diplomatic gift, the Ottoman embassy disembarked wild animals, including the famous "Lion of Barbarossa", as well as Christian prisoners,[4] to the number of 100.

The Ottoman group was welcomed by the French Admiral Baron de Saint-Blancard and then accompanied only to the region of Auvergne to meet with Francis I.

The Ottoman ambassador read a "Declaration of mutual friendship between the Kingdoms of France and Algiers" and a three-year trade agreement was sealed.

The embassy was sent by Hayreddin Barbarossa .
The Ottoman embassy travelled to Puy-en-Velay to meet with the French king Francis I .
The Lion of Barbarossa by Antoine Caron , circa 1562, thought to depict the lion given to Francis I during the 1533 embassy.