Hémon de Molon was a French trader from Bresse, who went to Morocco in 1531.[1]
In 1532, he returned to France with enticing stories about the country of Morocco, and a letter from the Wattasid Sultan of Fes Ahmad ibn Muhammad to Francis I of France.[1]
In response, in 1533 Francis I decided to send an official mission to Morocco, led by Pierre de Piton, to which Hémon de Molon also participated, and accompanied by 5 other gentlemen.[1][2]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c "THE EMBASSY OF PIERRE DE PITON: In the year 1533, the year of Montaigne's birth, a French merchant, from Bresse, Hemon de Molon, returned from Morocco, filled with such enthusiasm that Francis I decided to find out more" in Ecrits de Paris: revue de questions actuelles Centre d'études des questions actuelles, politiques, économiques et sociales (Paris, France) - 1953 (in English)
- ^ "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