États des Français au Levant et en Barbarie

Item

Country

FR

Name of institution (English)

The National Archives - Paris site

Name of institution (official language of the state)

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: web address

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.

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.

Access points: locations

Access points: persons, families

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

System of arrangement

The fonds is organised by city.

Links to finding aids

Author of the description

Kevin Soares, 2023

Item sets

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Title Alternate label Class
Archives nationales - site de Paris Collections (official language of the state)