page_title: France–Asia relations
section_title: François Pyrard and François Martin (1601-1611)
hierarchical_section_title: France–Asia relations / Commercial, religious and military expansion (16th-18th century) / Early-modern contacts with East-Asia (1527-) / François Pyrard and François Martin (1601-1611)
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Carte de l'itinéraire de Pyrard de Laval (reproduction d'une carte de 1679). English: Map showing the travel of Pyrard de Laval (reproduction of a 1679 map).
context_page_description: France–Asia relations span a period of more than two millennia, starting in the 6th century BCE with the establishment of Marseille by Greeks from Asia Minor, and continuing in the 3rd century BCE with Gaulish invasions of Asia Minor to form the kingdom of Galatia and Frankish Crusaders forming the Crusader States. Since these early interactions, France has had a rich history of contacts with the Asian continent.
context_section_description: In December 1600 a company was formed through the association of Saint-Malo, Laval and Vitré, to trade with the Moluccas and Japan. Two ships, the Croissant and the Corbin, were sent around the Cape in May 1601. One was wrecked in the Maldives, leading to the adventure of François Pyrard de Laval who managed to return to France in 1611. The second ship, carrying François Martin de Vitré, reached Ceylon and traded with Acheh in Sumatra, but was captured by the Dutch on the return leg at Cape Finisterre. François Martin de Vitré was the first Frenchman to write an account of travels to the Far East in 1604, at the request of Henry IV, and from that time numerous accounts on Asia were published.
  From 1604 to 1609, following the return of François Martin de Vitré, Henry IV developed a strong enthusiasm for commerce with Asia, and attempted to set up a French East India Company on the model of England and the Netherlands. On 1 June 1604, he issued letter patents to Dieppe merchants to form the Dieppe Company, giving them exclusive rights to Asian trade for 15 years, but no ships were actually sent. In 1606, Henri de Feynes left for China, which he became the first Frenchman to visit. On 1609, another adventurer, Pierre-Olivier Malherbe returned from a circumnavigation, and informed Henry IV of his adventures. He visited China, and in India had an encounter with Akbar.
  On the missionary front, Nicolas Trigault resumed France-China relations when he left Europe to do missionary work in Asia around 1610, eventually arriving at Nanjing, China in 1611.
caption: Itinerary of François Pyrard de Laval (1601—1611)
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