Christophe Richer

Who is Christophe Richer?

Christophe Richer de Thorigny was valet de chambre to Francis I, a secretary to Cardinal Antoine Duprat, and a French ambassador of the 16th century. He was born in Thorigny. He was ambassador to Scandinavia and Germany.

In the 1530s, Christophe Richer was sent by Francis I to Constantinople. In 1540 he published a study of the Ottoman civilization, De rebus Turcarum, also published in French that same year under the title Des Coustumes et manières de vivre des Turcs.

In 1541, Francis I sent Christophe Richer to Denmark and Sweden, the first official French embassy to a Protestant state. Richer was French ambassador to Denmark in 1547.