page_title: France–Asia relations
section_title: Company of the Moluccas (1615)
hierarchical_section_title: France–Asia relations / Commercial, religious and military expansion (16th-18th century) / Early-modern contacts with East-Asia (1527-) / Company of the Moluccas (1615)
caption_attribution_description: English: Fleet_of_Montmorency_led_by_Augustin_de_Beaulieu_1619_1622.
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 1615, the regent Marie de Médicis incorporated the merchants of Dieppe and other harbours to found the Company of the Moluccas. In 1616, two expeditions were Asia–bound from Honfleur in Normandy: three ships left for India, and two ships for Bantam. One ship returned from Bantam in 1617 with a small cargo, and letters from the Dutch expressing their hostility towards French ships in the East Indies. Also in 1616, two ships were sent from Saint-Malo to Java. One was captured by the Dutch, but the other obtained an agreement from the ruler of Pondicherry to build a fortress and a factory there, and returned with a rich cargo.
  In 1619, an armed expedition composed of three ships (275 crew, 106 cannons) called the "Fleet of Montmorency" under General Augustin de Beaulieu was sent from Honfleur, to fight the Dutch in the Far East. They encountered the Dutch fleet off Sumatra. One ship was captured, another remained in Asia for inter-country trade, and the third returned to Le Havre in 1622. In 1624, with the Treaty of Compiègne, Richelieu obtained that the Dutch would stop fighting the French in the East. Isaac de Razilly commented however:
  As regards Asia and the East Indies there is no hope of planting colonies, for the way is too long, and the Spaniards and Dutch are too strong to suffer it.
  — Isaac de Razilly, 1625.
  However, trade further developed, with the activities of people such as Jean de Thévenot and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 17th century Asia. Gilles de Régimont travelled to Persia and India in 1630 and returned in 1632 with a rich cargo. He formed a trading company at Dieppe in 1633, and sent ships every year to the Indian Ocean.
  In 1638, the Honfleur sailor Pierre Berthelot, after becoming a Carmelite in Goa in the mission of Francis Xavier, was martyred in Aceh.
caption: "Fleet of Montmorency", led by Augustin de Beaulieu, in the East Indies (1619—1622)
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 12.00", "Image DateTime": "2009:11:14 07:53:10", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "190", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "422", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9031", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "677", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "727", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "\u0001\u0001\u0001\u0001", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[3, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "280"}