États des Français au Levant et en Barbarie
Item
-
Country
-
FR
-
Name of institution (English)
-
The National Archives - Paris site
-
Language of name of institution
-
fra
-
Contact information: postal address
-
11 rue des Quatre-Fils, 75003 Paris
-
Contact information: phone number
-
0033 (0)140276420
-
Contact information: email
-
contact.archives-nationales@culture.gouv.fr
-
Reference number
-
AE/B/III/290
-
Type of reference number
-
Archival reference number
-
Title (English)
-
Statements of French people in the Levant and in Barbary
-
Title (official language of the state)
-
États des Français au Levant et en Barbarie
-
Language of title
-
fra
-
Creator / accumulator
-
Secrétariat d’État aux Affaires étrangères
-
Date(s)
-
1756/1832
-
Language(s)
-
fra
-
Extent
-
1 storage unit (244 documents)
-
Type of material
-
Textual Material
-
Scope and content
-
This box of the sub-series Affaires étrangères. Correspondance consulaire; consulats: mémoires et documents (Foreign Affairs. Consular letters; consulates: memoranda and documents) comprises 244 statements of French people living in the regions of the Levant and Barbary. For the most part, these lists were drawn up between 1756 and 1791. Among these lists, there is information regarding Sephardic Jews established in these territories. It is the case of Judas and Moïse Franco in Chania in 1776-81 (docs. 77-82); the Fernandes Diaz in Salonica (Thessaloniki) in 1757-62 (docs. 141-146) and İzmir in 1759 (docs. 185, 186 and 189), among others.
-
Archival history
-
Following an order issued on March 7, 1669, the archives of the consulates were included in the Archives de la Marine (Navy Archives). Later, a decree of February 14, 1793, attached the Bureau des consulats (Consulates Office) to the Ministère des Relations Extérieures (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), dividing the Bureau's archives between this ministry and the Ministère de la Marine (Ministry of the Navy). The registers of orders and dispatches were divided into two groups: those prior to 1756 were kept at the Ministry of the Navy, while those dating from 1756 to 1793 were transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and formed the beginning of the sub-series AE/B/I.
The incoming letters from consular agents before 1793 were almost all filed in sub-series AE/B/I and AE/B/III.
-
(source: Archives Nationales: Salle des inventaires virtuelles)
-
Administrative / Biographical history
-
The Secrétariat d’État aux Affaires étrangères (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) was created in 1589. Louis de Revol (1531-94) was the first Secretary of State.
In 1680, Charles Colbert de Croissy (1625-96), Secretary of State from 1680 to 1696, collected his papers, as well as those of his predecessors, Hugues de Lionne (1611-71) and Arnaud de Pomponne (1669-1756), and bound them. By royal order, the collection was enriched during the 18th century with the inclusion of the state papers of Richelieu, Mazarin, Saint-Simon, and numerous ambassadors' letters.
In 1761, Choiseul (1719-85) was responsible for the construction of an archive in Versailles, where the documentation from the Foreign Affairs Office was deposited. Even after the establishment of the National Archives in 1790, the Foreign Affairs archives continued to be managed independently. In 1830, they opened up to historical research. When the Palais des Affaires étrangères was built in 1845, the archives were transferred to this new building.
The Foreign Affairs archives were seriously damaged during World War II. The current political and economic archives and the files on foreigners in France were destroyed on May 16, 1940, as the Germans approached. Some documents were sent to Germany and were not recovered. During the liberation of Paris, the fire in the wing of the Ministry where the archives were placed led to significant losses.
After the war, the archives were reconstructed and refurbished according to the conservation standards of the time. Two other locations were built to accommodate the documentation, namely in Nante and Colmar. In 2009, the Archives Department transferred the Paris collections and those of Colmar to a new building in La Courneuve.
-
Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires Étrangères website
-
System of arrangement
-
The fonds is organised by city.
-
Author of the description
-
Kevin Soares, 2023
